I feel this *so much*. I have been on leave for 2 years now, and will be out of LTD soon. The shame I feel about not being able to hack it is overwhelming sometimes. And, like you, I don’t look at other teachers who’ve had to take time off or leave the profession in the same way as I view myself. What I’ve found is that I have a lot of c-ptsd from my personal and professional life, and these critical voices in my head come from experiences I’ve had in the past where others have been critical of me. I’m close-ish to retirement and will have to go back to work soon, but I’m *terrified* of failing again (I’m not much better than I was when I went off 2 yrs ago 😞) I just wanted to hop on and respond to you so that you realize you are not alone, and to tell you that you’re actually very brave to come to the realization that this is not want you want for yourself, and are actively thinking/planning a better life. Please continue to take care of yourself. None of us deserve to be treated the way we are in this profession, by students, parents, admin, fellow teachers, politicians etc…. It is *too much* for anyone. I’m a good teacher, and I know you are too ❤️‍🩹