Is there nobody else who gets VERY anxious from working?

[PerkyParsnip]

I drive myself mad. Am job hunting but already so anxious. I have got to the next step of an interview process (for something I'd love) and need to do a test.

How does everybody manage the stress of working? How do you keep reassuring yourself that your work is consistently good enough? How do you not just panic?

I always feel so embarrassed and shit about myself over the workplace and need some kind of therapy, but not sure what one.

Me! It doesn't seem to matter what the job is but I am constantly in a fight or flight mode at work. Or was, I quit a year ago and I've never felt more relaxed. Haha.

I know I have an anxiety problem so I have been working on it, but it got a bit ridiculous last year so I burned out nice and proper. I think I would have managed somehow but my boss was rubbish and gave me zero guidance and randomly trebled my workload and I just could not do it anymore. I will get myself another job eventually, but I need to find something less challenging I think. I was kind of climbing up the career ladder but in quite a technical field and I always felt like I was not quite "getting it", and often felt like I wasn't good enough or I was just stupid for not understanding certain technical things. Being dyspraxic and having a muddled brain doesn't help either! I wouldn't mind going back to a little office job with a small team where I could just push papers and have a laugh. We'll see.

I was put on pregabalin at some point, and in one day my anxiety was gone. I could do everything I wanted, speak up, get things done, I had zero fear for a couple of weeks. Then it came back and I had to adjust my dose. I was ok again for a while, but the effects kind of faded so I was anxious again. But I fondly remember those days when I felt like a superhero. Maybe some ADs could sort me out in the future.

Sorry OP, I have no advice but I like to ramble. Lol.

Yep I totally relate to this! I have bad work related anxiety - I am constantly doubting myself and feeling like I’m going to screw something up at work and nearly had a breakdown as a result last year. I have since started taking a low dose of Sertraline and I am amazed at the difference in how much better I feel - for me it has really been quite life changing so would recommend speaking to your GP if you haven’t already. Looking back I wish I had gone a lot sooner! x

I do a job I am overqualified for, too. I don't have work related stress and it's not a competitive environment so I have a good relationship with my colleagues .

However, it massively impacts on my self esteem and I am starting to find the low pay quite restrictive.

If I were to move on, I'd have to retrain and seriously update my skills which is even more scary.

I don't know what the answer is. I suppose I widh I'd addressed it more or got more support when I was young

I have had this for years. I always dread going to work. In my last job there were many tears and feelings of dread. I hated turning my laptop on to see what work awaited me. My workload was huge and it was expected that I could do it all in one day. One day I just flipped and handed my notice in. It was totally a spur of the moment decision.

I have now got a new job. I felt really good about this job even before my interview. I had a good feeling about it. My last job I came out of the interview thinking I really don't want that job, but yet I still accepted the offer. I'm just clinging onto that original feeling about this job. Yet on Sunday I was starting to get the same nervousness again about my new job.

I did go to my GP late 2019 and medication was mentioned, but all I wanted was a break (to be signed off work) which didn't happen. I haven't been back about it since. I feel like it would help me (I'm anxious in other areas too), but not sure how to ask. Just thinking about asking for something is making me nervous too. Especially ATM with covid going on.

I used to be very anxious at work- to the point that I left a job because I was so worried about doing something wrong, despite being excellent at it and never doing anything seriously wrong. I'd struggle to sleep at night on a Sunday knowing I'd have to be in work the next day. It was a job I loved but I was so worried about failing I didn't get to enjoy succeeding.

It's interesting/depressing to see how many people feel like this. I constantly feel not good enough, and stress at the prospect of tasks makes me put them off and I get myself in a right mess... I've never thought its 'bad' enough to go to the doctors about (though I did receive counselling for anxiety as a teen) but now I wonder, how bad does it need to be? Like, I sleep fine, I eat fine, I don't have panic attacks... Its just constant low-level and I wonder how much that is affecting my quality of work and wellbeing.

I definitely understand this. My tactic is to do my best and not overstate myself then assune that if I'm not getting pulled into the office (metaphorically!) then they are content.

It's really hard though. My previous bosses gave loads of praise and my new boss is quite stilted but seems happy so I just have to accept it. I try to be objective and take a breath, recognise that the feeling is anxiety and just a feeling and put it back in its box and wait for it to pass. Other days I decide that I have to be confident, play kick ass music and tell the voice to shut up. You just need to find ways to keep it at bay. It is so hard and I do feel you. Reading other comments for tips!

Sertraline has helped. Yoga too. And gradually learning to give less fucks over a job that is not nearly important enough to be keeping me awake at night. Therapy helped with the latter.

Yes I do and really it's the only thing I do have constant anxiety about. I often don't sleep because work stuff is whirring in my head. I changed from a very stressful career to a not so stressful one thinking that would help but here I am a few years later still anxious. I get new jobs easily but soon mess up or am on the look for something else. I landed a new job last week as I'm so fed up with my current work situation but then started having doubts/ anxieties about the new role and turned it down, now I regret it but it's too late. It's all down to work anxiety.

@TotorosFurryBehind

Sertraline has helped. Yoga too. And gradually learning to give less fucks over a job that is not nearly important enough to be keeping me awake at night. Therapy helped with the latter.

Exactly. I take Sertraline and it has helped, I was prescribe it after a horrible work situation a couple of years ago. I am constantly plotting how to escape my current shitty job.

I felt the same for many years and started the lowest dose of Sertraline 6 weeks ago and it is starting to make a huge difference. In the sense that I am way more relaxed and in turn doing a better job!

This is a really interesting thread. I've always had terrible anxiety relating to work (even when I worked in a fast food place with zero responsibility as a teen). I honestly thought it was just me. Unfortunately, I've never managed to get to the bottom of it and sadly, having clawed my way up the career ladder, I had a (work related) break down while pregnant and left my job. Been a SAHM ever since and terrified of trying to get back into the workforce. No advice, but you have my sympathies OP. Following with interest.

@PerkyParsnip yes it’s just made me so much more relaxed. I used to think really negatively about myself at work and now I just don’t seem to dwell on those thoughts as much. It’s meant I’m able to communicate with others so much better at work. I also sleep much better. Things just seem so much easier for me now! I know that medications are not a cure all for everyone though as people react differently, but for me it’s been a god send at work. I have been promoted since, before I would have been too scared to take on the extra responsibility/felt like I was an imposter.

You're not alone in feeling this way, OP. I spent nearly every day of my working life feeling inferior, wondering how on earth I even got the job and living in fear of my next mistake and being sacked for being useless. Even when I performed well, I believed it was just a fluke. I suffer badly when anxiety, stress and low self esteem, with odd bouts if depression thrown in for good measure. I don't know if one caused the other or which came first, but I dreaded going to work most days and lived for hometime. I did try CBT once but didn't find it much help. I knew what I was doing wrong but couldn't distract myself enough to get away from the destructive thoughts.

Ultimately, I had to stop working due to mobility issues and the relief was massive, both physically & emotionally. Leaving isn't always an option for all of us suffering like this, I know.

Yes, to the point of burning out earlier this year and having some time off sick. CBT has helped. So has a very supportive colleague, who it turns out is very chilled and calm precisely because he's found the right anxiety medication and swears by it! So it's nice to know that there is someone around that gets it and has my back if I need it.

I get intrusive thoughts relating to this, often: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome

You sound like you’d benefit from some therapy- ask your GP if they can recommend a counsellor.

You shouldn’t have these irrational fears every day at work.

I'm quite anxious person and I often find my job stressful even though it's only a part time role. I also feel like I am not very good at my job and I hate that. I've really tried to make it my priority to be calm and not worry about whether I am good at the job I always think in 100 years no-one will even remember if I did it well or not. I also try not to worry about the nearer future too much and just try to stay in the present and not catastrophise what might happen if I do a bad job and get the sack etc. Maybe I would end up better off if that happened anyway, who knows, and worrying about it will only make me stressed, unhealthy and likely to do a worse job than I would if I was calm. I'm not saying this always works but I just keep trying to think that way.

Yes, I get this often. 8 years ago after working on a hideous project, I had a breakdown and started having the most horrific intrusive thoughts. I took a month off work and take sertraline and therapy. But I still dread work every day (different company), and have had a few absences due to Mh issues since. I have bad days and good days. It doesn’t help that a few of my colleagues are superstars and my work looks shit in comparison to theirs

I feel the same and it’s horrible. I constantly dread messing up and losing my job and when it’s particularly busy and stressful I find it really hard to sleep and have awful dreams about it!

I’ve always been very anxious about money (having been brought up in a single-parent household with very little money) and I wonder if that has something to do with it. I knew my mother always worried about losing her job, and knew we were constantly behind on mortgage, often struggled to afford food, etc. I think maybe that’s where it stems from. Stupid really because I am a high earner and could easily step back to something less stressful that still pays well, but I think I’ll always feel like this no matter what.

I could have written so many of these!

I have the same anxieties about work, scared of messing something up, high workload, superstar peers, lack of support. I had voiced my concerns previously, but maybe not directly enough. I tried to take holiday but never got enough of a break mentally from it and the work continued to pile up while I was off, making me feel like I couldn’t get away.

I also started on Sertraline and at first really felt the side effects, I’m a week in now and those are subsiding. I’m also on a couple of waiting lists for therapy.

I asked my boss for time off to deal with the side effects and to get away. I was open about how anxious I had got. Actually, he’s been great. I guess I’ll see how things go over the next few weeks.

If you can, please speak to your GP. I was resistant to medication but I’m so pleased to see it works for others. Speak to work if you feel you can and read up on your rights on the ACAS website.