How to use your mental health leave from work?

Taking a mental health leave can bring relief, but it can also create a new kind of pressure.

Once the day is approved, you may start thinking about how to use it “properly”. Should you exercise, journal, meditate, clean the house, book an appointment, and come back to work feeling completely refreshed?

That expectation can turn a day of rest into another list of tasks.

Here’s the thing: you don’t actually need big plans. You don’t need to travel, attend a wellness retreat, or fill every hour with something productive. Staying at home, sleeping, watching your comfort series sitting in the garden, or having lunch with someone you love can be meaningful uses of your time.

The most helpful choice is often the one that matches your energy, your needs, and what has been weighing on you.

What counts as mental health leave?

Mental health leave is a broad term, and it doesn’t actually refer to one specific leave entitlement under Australian employment law.

Some employers offer mental health days, wellbeing leave, or recharge days as an additional staff benefit. These may be available every quarter, after busy periods, or at certain points in the year. In some workplaces, the whole team takes the day. In others, you need to request it yourself.

You may also use an existing leave entitlement for your mental health.

Personal leave may apply when stress, anxiety, depression, or another health concern means you’re not fit for work. Fair Work Ombudsman guidance states that paid personal leave can be used when you can’t work because of illness or injury, including stress.

Taking your annual leave may suit you when you want to plan a day off before you reach exhaustion. You may also use it simply because you need personal time, without saying that the reason relates to your mental health.

Full-time employees generally accrue 10 days of paid personal and carer’s leave each year, while part-time employees receive a proportionate amount. Full-time and part-time employees also generally accrue four weeks of annual leave each year, based on their ordinary hours.

Your contract, award, enterprise agreement, and workplace policy may contain additional rules. Check your relevant workplace documents if you’re unsure which type of leave fits your situation.

Do you need a major reason to take the day?

You may feel that your reason needs to be serious, visible, or easy to explain.

In reality, mental strain often builds gradually. You may notice that you’re sleeping poorly, losing patience, struggling to focus, or carrying work stress into your evenings and weekends. You may still be functioning, but only by using more energy than you can sustain.

You may need one day because you’re exhausted. You may want to step back after a stressful project. You may feel emotionally overloaded and need fewer demands. You may recognise that you’re close to burnout and want to respond before your health declines further.

You may also need a day with no specific agenda at all. Rest doesn’t need to produce a measurable result. If you spend the day at home and feel slightly less depleted by the evening, the time has still served a purpose.

Do you have to tell your manager why?

You don’t always need to tell your manager that your leave relates to mental health.

If you’re requesting annual leave, you may simply say that you need time off for personal reasons. If your workplace provides wellbeing days, the policy may allow you to use them without sharing personal details.

You could write: “I’d like to request annual leave this Friday for personal reasons. I’ll make sure any urgent work is handed over beforehand.”

Personal leave usually comes with different notice and evidence requirements. You should tell your employer as soon as practical that you can’t work and advise how long you expect to be away.

Your employer may ask for reasonable evidence, even for a single day. A medical certificate or statutory declaration may be accepted, depending on your workplace and circumstances.

You may choose to tell a trusted manager more if you need adjustments, reduced duties, or support with returning to work. You can also keep your health information private. Consider what you need from the conversation before deciding what to disclose.

Different ways to use your mental health leave

There’s no single right way to spend a mental health day.

Your needs may change from one period to another. A day that helps when you’re physically exhausted may look very different from a day that helps when you’re feeling disconnected, anxious, or uncertain about your job.

1. Stay home and rest

You may need nothing more than a day at home. That could mean sleeping in, staying in comfortable clothes, eating simple meals, and keeping the day free from demands. You may want to watch a familiar series, listen to music, read, nap, or spend time outside.

You don’t need to turn rest into a structured recovery program.

If your body feels heavy and your thinking feels slow, reducing expectations may be the most caring response. Rest can help you notice how tired you’ve become, particularly if you’ve been functioning on adrenaline for weeks.

Try to let the day remain spacious. Avoid filling it with household jobs simply because you’re home.

2. Catch up on sleep

Poor sleep can affect your concentration, emotional regulation, patience, and decision-making.

If work stress has disrupted your sleep, your mental health leave may give you a chance to recover some rest. You might sleep in, take a nap, or have an earlier night without worrying about the next morning’s commute.

Try not to judge yourself if you sleep for much of the day. Your body may be responding to an accumulated sleep deficit.

If sleep problems continue for several weeks, speak with a GP or therapist. Persistent insomnia can both contribute to and result from mental health difficulties.

3. Spend time with someone you care about

Mental health leave doesn’t have to be spent alone.

You may feel better after having coffee with a friend, eating lunch with a family member, visiting your partner, or spending time with your child. You may also want the company of someone who doesn’t expect you to explain or perform.

Connection can be especially helpful if work has left you isolated or emotionally drained.

The time together doesn’t need to involve a serious conversation. You can cook, walk, watch a film, sit in a park, or run a simple errand together.

A supportive person may help you feel less trapped in your own thoughts. They may also notice changes in you that have been hard to see from the inside.

4. Return to a hobby

When work becomes demanding, personal interests are often the first things to disappear.

You may stop reading, drawing, gardening, cooking, playing music, gaming, crafting, or spending time outdoors. Over time, your life can start to feel organised entirely around work and recovery from work.

A mental health day can give you a few hours to reconnect with something that feels like yours.

You don’t need to finish a project or become skilled at anything. You can paint badly, read one chapter, tend to one plant, bake something simple, or play a game you enjoy. The value often comes from choice, curiosity, and enjoyment rather than achievement.

5. Do something ordinary that you’ve missed

Not every restorative activity needs to qualify as self-care.

You may want to go to a weekday café, visit the library, browse a bookshop, take your dog somewhere new, cook lunch slowly, or sit in the sun without checking the time. Ordinary experiences can feel grounding when your days have been dominated by deadlines and meetings.

You may also find comfort in doing less. A slow breakfast or an uninterrupted shower can feel significant when you’ve been rushing for weeks.

6. Take a break from screens and work contact

A day off can lose much of its benefit if you spend it monitoring workplace messages.

Unless you’ve agreed to remain available for an essential reason, sign out of work platforms, mute notifications, and let colleagues know you’re unavailable.

You may also want to reduce personal screen time if constant scrolling leaves you more tense.

There’s no need to remove every device. You may enjoy films, podcasts, games, or online conversations. Pay attention to how you feel afterwards. Choose the activities that leave you steadier rather than more overstimulated.

7. Attend an appointment

Mental health leave can give you time to see a GP, therapist, psychologist, counsellor, or another health professional without trying to fit the appointment around your working day.

You may use the session to discuss stress, burnout, panic, sleep problems, workplace conflict, or a drop in motivation.

You can also ask for help understanding what type of leave or workplace adjustment may be appropriate. A health professional may help you consider reduced hours, changed duties, further time away, or a structured return-to-work plan.

The appointment doesn’t need to take up the whole day. Leave space around it so you’re not rushing directly from work stress into a difficult conversation, then back into another obligation.

8. Reflect on what’s no longer working

A mental health day may give you enough distance to think about your job with a clearer sense of proportion.

You may notice that one project has become unmanageable, your boundaries have slipped, or your workload has expanded without proper support. You may realise that a particular relationship at work is affecting your confidence or health. You can write down what has been happening, how long it has been affecting you, and what changes might help.

Keep the reflection practical. You don’t need to solve your career in one day.

You may decide that you need a conversation with your manager, clearer priorities, more flexible hours, a transfer, professional advice, or time to explore other jobs.

9. Consider other options

Sometimes, a day off work gives you the first real opportunity to consider alternatives. You may want to think about applying for another role, reducing your hours, requesting flexible work, changing teams, taking a longer break, or retraining.

You don’t need to make a final decision that day. The goal may simply be to acknowledge that other options exist.

If your current role is affecting your health, feeling trapped can intensify the distress. Looking at possibilities may help you feel more agency, even if you stay in the same job for now.

You could update one section of your CV, browse a few roles, research a course, or write down what you want from your next position. One small step is enough.

10. Catch up on personal tasks, but keep the list small

Practical tasks can reduce stress when they’ve been sitting in the background.

You may want to collect a prescription, attend an appointment, buy groceries, pay a bill, or make one phone call you’ve been postponing. Choose only a small number of tasks. If you turn the day into a long list of errands, you may return to work feeling just as tired.

Ask yourself which task would reduce the most mental load. Do that one first, then stop if you need to.

11. Try not to turn the day into a test

People sometimes evaluate mental health leave too harshly.

You may expect to wake up refreshed, understand every source of stress, and return to work with new motivation. Recovery rarely follows such a neat timeline.

You may still feel tired at the end of the day. You may feel emotional once the pressure drops. You may realise that the problem is larger than you thought. None of these outcomes make the leave pointless.

The day may show you that one break isn’t enough. It may help you recognise the need for treatment, longer leave, stronger boundaries, or workplace change. Information like this is valuable, even when it isn’t comfortable.

Preparing to return to work

Before you return, think about what would make the first day more manageable.

You could identify your first task, ask your manager to confirm priorities, or leave some space between meetings. Try not to compensate for the day off by working at an unsustainable pace.

You also don’t need to give colleagues a detailed account of how you spent your leave.

If your manager asks how you are, you can keep your response brief: “I’m feeling more settled, thank you. I’m reviewing my priorities this morning and will let you know if I need clarification.”

If the workload has affected your health, consider asking for a practical change: “The recent workload has been affecting my health. Could we review the deadlines and agree on the most important priorities?”

Notice how you feel over the following days. If the same distress returns immediately, the conditions around your work may need closer attention.

Final thoughts

Mental health leave doesn’t need to be ambitious. You can use the day to sleep, rest at home, spend time with someone you care about, return to a hobby, attend an appointment, or think through your options. You can also leave the day largely unplanned.

A simple reason is meaningful enough. Feeling worn down, needing space, or wanting one day without workplace demands can be valid reasons to pause.

Pay attention to what the day gives you. You may feel more rested, notice what has been affecting you, or realise that you need more support.

If work-related stress keeps returning, speaking with a therapist can help you understand the pattern, strengthen your boundaries, and decide what changes may protect your health over time.