I've messed up at work, sick with anxiety now

[EatingWormsMichael]

Hello I've been churning all day about this and am expecting a sleepless night.

I've fucked up at work, sent the wrong info to hundreds of people. They are now sharing the info with other people thinking its right. I tried to recall my message as soon as I realised, but was too late to completely shut it down.

I've spent the day trying to recall or fix somehow and now I'm dreading what the rest of the week will bring as my mistake comes to bite me on the arse. I was too scared to tell anyone,thinking I could make it right.

My day of panic means I've not done another piece of work which had to be done today. Sob.

I just want to call in sick and hide.

I'm alone so have nobody to talk to and my anxiety is spiralling.

Did you send another email to the same people correcting your error? If not do it first thing tomorrow.

Also you’ll feel so much better if you fess up and deal with any consequences m, half the anxiety is just worrying about people finding out.

Hope it all gets sorted OP, it’s a horrible feeling but everybody makes mistakes

Oh no, that sounds awful

Roughly what was the incorrect info about - will anyone lose their life, their health or money as a result? What has your manager said?

If not serious for the reasons above - is it not just an embarrassment and will blow over?

I would accept you feel shit and just take good care of yourself. Deep breaths, a bath, a film - anything to help your nerves a bit.

I'd do a follow up email asap. A simple ' such and such was incorrect in my previous email. It should have been blah blah. Please disregard the former email'

Just remember it could be much worse, you could be liz truss.

it’s fixable. Own up and get it over with it’s almost definitely not as bad as you think

Don't worry, everyone bombs out at work at least once in their lifetimes ... I've made at least 3 horrific cockups that I thought at the time were the end of the world, but actually they blew over pretty quickly. Just be upfront about it and ready to do whatever you need to do to minimise the damage.

It happens a lot. I got one yesterday, in fact, and the apology email today. Just send the correction/apology email. It'll be fine.

Absolutely no problem, we regularly have mass incorrect email on our big organisation.

Can you just recall it before everyone reads tomorrow with an additional message with a correct message or just to say to simply disregard the old email?

Please don't worry. These things happen

It was send via a central helpdesk. So I told them the error and they said they'd reissue. But I know they can't control who uses the original.

My boss doesn't know cos I'm the only one who has spotted the mistake so far and I thought I could fix it. I'm an idiot.

Me too, sorry OP, it’s rubbish isn’t it? Dreading going in tomorrow.

How do people 'use' the incorrect information?

If you've reissued, surely they are required to use the right info now?

I had a "previous email sent in error" the other day, thought about the poor person who made the mistake and how dreadful they would have felt, then forgot about it. The likelihood is that it's not such a big deal to everyone else. Tell your boss, do what you can to fix it, take a deep breath and move on.

It's not a life and death issue so that's good. However I've been having a terrible time at work, I've felt bullied by my manager and we are not on good terms. I feel like this mistake will confirm their poor view of me and make my life even worse. I've tried so hard to get it all right and failed.

It was asking then to forward x to their contacts. So people might go ahead and do it (or have done it) before seeing the recall. Then their contacts will do likewise, spreading my mistake way beyond my control.

We've all done it. I bet your manager has made mistakes at times. The way I deal with feeling small is to role play. Pretend you're a confident person and just brazen it out. Apologise, ask for help to put it right if necessary, but don't act like you know it's the end of the world. Because it isn't. Good luck!

It doesn;t sound like anyone will die from it though? Like if the info you sent was 'take four tablets' when the correct dose was two - that would be dangerous.

It sounds shit but not dangerous or costly?

It sounds like your relationship with your manager is causing anxiety rather than the mistake itself

Yeah it's mostly just shit for me and my pride/reputation really, not harmful in the grand scheme of things. But my stupid brain is worrying and my stomach churning

100%. Anyone else and I could just talk to them and say I was sorry. With this manager I've tried to hide it and fix it before they find out, clearly a silly thing to do but I panicked.

I do understand. I had a real wobbly the other night over something I had fucked up, I did manage to resolve it.

You just have to decide to put it down, somehow, watch your favourite film or go and make a cake. When your body starts to calm down, your brain will follow suit.

Everyone makes mistakes, it’s what makes us human. Holding your hands up and owning the mistakes is hard but I would admire someone more for admitting their mistakes than someone who tried to hide it.

You have taken action to fix it. I would send him an email saying what happened and what has been done to sort it so he cant say he doesnt know. He would be unreasonable not to accept that we all make mistakes. Are you able to get support from anyone else to help with how your manager treats you?

@Redhotchllisteppa I complained about feeling undermined and bullied to their manager. They were spoken to, apologised to me, and are now very careful in how they talk to me...but still clearly hates me and can't wait for me to trip up. Now I've delivered.

Will it help if you write yourself an action plan of what to do tomorrow (e.g. emailing manager, sending apology email)? Personally I would also find it helpful to draft those emails now, otherwise I find my mind is terrible for keeping me awake drafting and redrafting in my head all night.

Very sorry you are feeling this way, lots of us have had this experience one way or another.

It is good he was spoken to but it sounds like it has left you with an awkward working situation. Honestly if he makes a big deal about this people will see he is being unreasonable. Easier said than done but try not to worry too much about it tonight so you can get a good might sleep

As pp suggested, send an email saying it was incorrect.