It’s incredible how much emotional labour social care workers take on but rarely discuss. We work intimately, often alone, with some of the most vulnerable people in our society. We see, hear and intervene in situations that can be distressing. We witness the realities of abuse, poverty and addiction. Processing the emotional impact of our work takes time and effort.

I do not wish to paint our work as relentlessly grim; there is much joy, laughter and reward in our work from supported people and colleagues. But our emotional labour, and how we are supported by our employers to perform it, is an important issue to discuss.

I’m sure that any social care worker has taken at least one experience home with them that has left them restless when they are trying to unwind. But finding avenues to discuss and deal with these experiences is often difficult. Talking to our friends, partners and families seems to be a clear answer, but it often feels unfair to burden them. There are also data protection issues with discussing individual cases. We can attend counselling outside of work if we are troubled and need help, but we would be performing emotional labour and spending our wages on a need created by the conditions inherent in our work outside of work hours. Sharing with colleagues is also possible and desirable, but a challenge when we all have heavy workloads and limited time.

The consequences of not having the time and space to adequately perform our emotional labour can be disastrous. As a recovery worker for a mental health charity, I’ve seen staff break down crying, signed off due to stress or simply leave halfway through a shift, unable to cope. A high staff turnover, an over-reliance on agency staff and inconsistent support all appear to be near-endemic in social care.

We benefit from being well managed and I am grateful to have a manager who is attentive to staff needs. We have regular, involved supervisions and can discuss issues in team meetings. I have been poorly managed before and the difference to my mental health is astounding. But either way, this makes us reliant on an individual manager’s attitude to emotional labour, as well as the space our organisations provide for it.

There is no legislation for emotional support and not all social care organisations seriously consider the emotional impact of the work on us. The support we need is not regularly embedded in our workplaces. In my organisation, there is support available via time-limited, one-to-one counselling and a phone service. In other organisations I have worked for, this has not existed or – if it did – I was not informed of it.

At the many training and induction days I have attended, there has barely been a mention of where appropriate support could be found, let alone of strategies to help manage our emotional labour. This creates an isolating work culture where emotional labour is unacknowledged and discussing such issues is implicitly discouraged. The brief conversations I’ve had with co-workers indicate that many feel they are forced to deal with the emotional impacts of work as an individual issue, but during discussion acknowledge that more could be done by organisations to support them.

Our mental health needs protecting as much as our physical health, and this is deeply intertwined with our rights as workers; emotional labour should be considered part of our jobs. Speak to your colleagues about how they could be supported more effectively. Speak to your manager about opening up a space at team meetings and staff supervisions to discuss concerns. Speak to your union and encourage them to enter into negotiations with management to provide appropriate support if it is lacking.

We all want to support people to the best of our abilities. This can only be fully achieved if we are properly supported ourselves.

• Paul Case is a mental health and housing support worker living in Edinburgh

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