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    swoocetown's Avatar
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    Jobs?

    Hi there! I am a first time poster, and I haven't posted on any forums for a long time. I've had anxiety issues for as long as I can remember, but I've been diagnosed with GAD and agoraphobia last year and medicated for it. I was diagnosed after I had several major panic attacks at my job and had to leave. Recently, I thought I had made a pretty good recovery from my old job and decided to try tossing myself into the job mill again. I had a really easy interview and was offered the job, but had several severe panic attacks the day I had to go in for training. It was so bad that I nearly passed out, and I don't understand why. I wanted that job really bad, and I was very excited for it, but couldn't bring myself to actually go. I am going back to therapy soon, and I am also seeing a psychiatrist. I've been recommended CBT before, and am considering going through with it.

    What are your experiences with jobs and anxiety? Do you have any tips for managing anxiety and stress while on a job? How about panic attacks at work? I would love to hear your opinions on these things.

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    Hi and welcome to the forum!

    Going to work can be one of the hardest things ever to do. I used to have an option to work or not work when I was married, but now I have no choice if I want to eat. So panic attacks or no, I have to show up there everyday.

    I found one of the things that helped me was to first get into the door and get the job. I had to keep saying over and over before the interview, "You're ok. You're ok." I just had to remind myself to keep breathing over and over during the training and to just think of other things like, "Now I can buy things I want." It was almost like convincing a child that she could have ice cream if she just endured the shot at the doctor's office.

    Once I was hired, I scoped the staff to figure out who was the most trust-worthy. I then let on that I had PTSD that led to panic attacks sometimes.

    You'd be surprised how many working people suffer from depression, panic, anxiety, and other problems. When you share, they share. I eventually found out that the majority of staff people struggled with something. Those who didn't share...............well, it was obvious what issues they had and they just didn't see it.

    A comradery of struggles formed. I could start to tell when my co-worker fell into depression and tried to help her through her day by taking some of her workload. My boss knows when my PTSD is overwhelming me and lets me take a sick day. We try to bolster each other up, especially since we have a public job and need smile all day long at patrons.

    We even make jokes on how we're going to die if we open the door that day, so why don't we just turn out the lights and act like nobody's home.

    So rather than hiding our struggles, we embrace them and support each other. We're together 40 hours a workweek, so we're all we have during most of our waking hours.

    Just make sure you know when to speak about your struggles and when not to speak about them. Don't disclose to everyone right away. There will be some people who use it against you. I had that happen with a supervisor at another job.

    It sounds like you're marketable if you had an easy interview and was offered the job. So just get your foot in the door and you'll be surprised how many other people who work are struggling to get there mentally everyday too.

    And welcome again!
    The Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about

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    swoocetown's Avatar
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    Quote Chantellabella View Post
    Hi and welcome to the forum!

    Going to work can be one of the hardest things ever to do. I used to have an option to work or not work when I was married, but now I have no choice if I want to eat. So panic attacks or no, I have to show up there everyday.

    I found one of the things that helped me was to first get into the door and get the job. I had to keep saying over and over before the interview, "You're ok. You're ok." I just had to remind myself to keep breathing over and over during the training and to just think of other things like, "Now I can buy things I want." It was almost like convincing a child that she could have ice cream if she just endured the shot at the doctor's office.

    Once I was hired, I scoped the staff to figure out who was the most trust-worthy. I then let on that I had PTSD that led to panic attacks sometimes.

    You'd be surprised how many working people suffer from depression, panic, anxiety, and other problems. When you share, they share. I eventually found out that the majority of staff people struggled with something. Those who didn't share...............well, it was obvious what issues they had and they just didn't see it.

    A comradery of struggles formed. I could start to tell when my co-worker fell into depression and tried to help her through her day by taking some of her workload. My boss knows when my PTSD is overwhelming me and lets me take a sick day. We try to bolster each other up, especially since we have a public job and need smile all day long at patrons.

    We even make jokes on how we're going to die if we open the door that day, so why don't we just turn out the lights and act like nobody's home.

    So rather than hiding our struggles, we embrace them and support each other. We're together 40 hours a workweek, so we're all we have during most of our waking hours.

    Just make sure you know when to speak about your struggles and when not to speak about them. Don't disclose to everyone right away. There will be some people who use it against you. I had that happen with a supervisor at another job.

    It sounds like you're marketable if you had an easy interview and was offered the job. So just get your foot in the door and you'll be surprised how many other people who work are struggling to get there mentally everyday too.

    And welcome again!
    Thanks for such a warm welcome! I seem to have gotten that advice mostly when I reached out for it. The answer always seems to be to just go for it. Do you think there is anything I could actually do to ease myself into a job? I feel like applying and jumping straight into the deep end isn't good for someone who panics so much like me. I have therapy soon and I'm on meds again and whatnot, but I'm wondering what other kind of exposure therapy I could do myself. Everything seems so easy and dreamlike up until it all becomes an actual routine, then I start to panic and freak out and psyche myself out of it. It's so difficult.

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    Quote swoocetown View Post
    Thanks for such a warm welcome! I seem to have gotten that advice mostly when I reached out for it. The answer always seems to be to just go for it. Do you think there is anything I could actually do to ease myself into a job? I feel like applying and jumping straight into the deep end isn't good for someone who panics so much like me. I have therapy soon and I'm on meds again and whatnot, but I'm wondering what other kind of exposure therapy I could do myself. Everything seems so easy and dreamlike up until it all becomes an actual routine, then I start to panic and freak out and psyche myself out of it. It's so difficult.
    Well, when faced with something really scary like a new job or something hard I have to do, I acknowledge that I'm scared. I literally say it out loud. Psychologically it lets the kid inside know that I hear "her" fear and will do everything possible to not let her get hurt.

    Does that make sense?

    Because I think sometimes our fear comes from a sense of powerlessness. We don't know what will happen just like a child being brought into a new situation is clueless to her surroundings. Unknown things can be scary. Kids are powerless to control their surroundings, and therefore the fear is heightened into pure terror.

    So I literally say out loud, "I'm scared." Then the adult side of me says, "I know you're scared. I'll protect you. It will be ok."

    A sense of security comes over me. I know it's a false sense, but like a child who is briefly appeased, I relax a little. I also remember to breathe. Slow breathing will let more oxygen flow to your brain. The more oxygen, the clearer you can think.

    It's easier to remember that you're an adult who has the power to get the job or to walk out of the interview because you don't like the people.

    If you tend to hold your breath or hyperventilate, then your oxygen decreases and it's easy to go back in time to a place where you were young and vulnerable. Where people forced you to do things like "go to bed, brush your teeth, eat your broccoli,etc," and you convince yourself that you're powerless. That sense of powerlessness can freak anybody out in a new situation.

    So basically I try to find my adult self with slow breathing so I can convince my child self that I won't die in the situation. EFT sometimes helps too. It's a tapping technique that trains your pressure spots to relax. You can just google it or there may be something on the board about it here. I think we talked about it once. I know I will do it in the car going to things like radio interviews. It looks silly, but it works for me.

    Hope this helps.
    The Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about

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    I can't really give the best advice cause I haven't ever really held a decent job. Only a mascot position for a year but I was mostly off by myself. Sometimes I was required to chat with customers & that's when my panic attacks kicked in. I often got sent home early cause of them until one day they gave me the boot cause people were saying that I wasn't talkative enough.

    I've spoken with my doctor about my options for my condition. She has told me to avoid anything like cashier, receptionist & fast food which are really the only options available usually. She suggested that I take on something more isolated like a maid, night janitor or library where there's limited talking.

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