Finally stood up to my boss, didn't make a difference

[qualityOV3Rquantity]

I'm in my second year of working as an administrative assistant and barely earn more than minimum wage. My boss is constantly pushing me to accomplish more, work more efficiently, learn new skills (outside of work hours), take on more responsibility, be more proactive. I work from home, and negotiated my 40 hour work week down to 30 hours because I suffer from multiple physical and mental health issues. A week ago he put me in charge of a new project that I do not feel capable of, basically I'm required to accomplish something in a ridiculously short timeframe (because my boss for several weeks delayed me from working on it in order to do more background research into making it better) without asking me or even meeting with me to discuss it. I'm working 10 hours more weekly than the hours listed in my contract. I've been having panic attacks and can't eat. Barely feels like I can breathe from the stress.

Finally sent him an email that explained the issue with the timeframe being impossible and explicitly mentioned "panic attacks, trouble eating or sleeping, extreme anxiety, at risk of nervous breakdown, can't continue like this". He replied in a sort of empathetic way, but basically he responded as if I had just said "hey boss, I feel a bit in over my head, could you maybe give me some reassurance?" His message communicated that we could talk about how I can work on this more effectively, but that nothing else will change. At this point I didn't fucking care anymore, I wanted him to fire me. So I told him that the stress was making me suicidal and I am literally not stable enough to lead on this project. He offered me today off as a wellness day, but still indicated that nothing about the workload or timeline of the project will change. So really this day off is just making the work pile up even more.

I literally offered him an option in my original email. I said I can continue working, can continue doing everything I am currently doing, we just need to tone down the complexity of the project, make it a bit more basic. After all, the only reason my boss expanded the scope is because he saw some example on LinkedIn (done by a company much larger than ours). He didn't take my offer. I said if we continue with this same plan, I risk having a mental breakdown and the entire project will fail. He read that and decided "that's a risk I'm willing to take".

I'm putting in my notice tomorrow. I'm giving them 4 month's notice. It's more than they deserve. I'm not indispensable to the company, they could easily find someone else to do everything I do. But good fucking luck trying to find someone to do it for pay barely above minimum wage. I just hope I can survive the few months before I leave. Nothing in my entire life has hurt me as much as this fucking job.

 

[UnrulyNightmare]

I know we're strangers, and this is really weird, but I just feel so incredibly proud reading that!

You already gave them information about yourself that you shouldn't have to share just to get a normal workload.
You offered a solution which is pretty nice as well.
And you still got run over a couple of times in a row by your boss and you said fuck that.

So here's to you Good job!

I hope you can last the final few months there and find something better!
If possible, you should try just working your hours and nothing more? If it doesn't get done, you say, yep, I told you from the beginning.
You're gonna be gone in four months anyways.
Why you give em four months though? Was it for you or them?

Still. I'm sorry you had such shitty experience Most employers should take mental health a lot more serious!