Anxious about going to work in Friday's heat

[Infinity07]

I work in a public sector job, it's very demanding, fairly physical and carries the responsibility of others.
I have a long term anxiety and a panic disorder (under treatment) which work are aware of but it's not really an issue there. However, I do have certain triggers and one thing is when the weather is extra hot like it's predicted to be on Friday (33°c here in the SE). The heat really makes me panic as I get anxious about how it physically makes me feel. I have health anxiety. The older I've got, the worse I seem to experience this.

So I'm debating with my conscience whether to take Friday off work or maybe part of the day off. Work will not accept my anxiety reason regarding the weather, I just know what they're like. So I'd have to say something else.

It's only Tuesday and I'm already getting so stressed about this. Don't know what to do.

Rest days in lieu from overtime? In teaching?

People continue to suggest that she takes leave - she can't. She's a teacher.
Nor rest days in lieu, not leave early.
She either goes in, or calls in sick.
Some good keeping cool advice on here, though OP if you can manage it.

As an Aussie, I can understand your anxiety about a predicted hot day (although our predicted hot days are usually 10 degrees hotter 😉). As you don't have air-conditioning and you can't take leave, could you try and prepare as much as possible? Maybe buy a breathable outfit (linen etc) and a battery portable fan? That way you are prepared for next time also.

It would have helped if you'd at least read the OP's contributions.

😂😂
Made me laugh, too!

@Whitesapphire

ok Dr White

I expect you're the sort that doesn't 'believe' in anxiety/MH Issues.

I totally sympathise, teaching in the heat is hell, the kids are so sad or hyper or sweaty or whiny or all four!!
I’d still go in but I’d completely change the schedule to any activities they can do calmly in a quiet, dark classroom, keep the blinds shut and windows closed for as long as you can, it keeps the room cool. Lights off gives the impression it’s cooler too and take in a fan or two. Watch News round, have the class story for longer, make some tasks easier like colouring a map, make maths more on whiteboards or with manipulatives. Just reduce transitions and movement as much as possible.

AND to the poster who said “of course you have air con at work” hahahahahahahaha … you don’t know shit about shit. Go back to school on Friday, you might learn something.

@ilovesooty yep my best friends are both teachers and have done this recently for a joint function. They teach one specific subject and this was on an admin day ( think sixth form where the students were on study leave ). Not necessarily something the OP can do but just trying to help someone out who so far has had a plethora of lovely but also rude and horrible comments. At worst, it's not possible and she can ignore the advice, at best it might be something she can arrange and then she's received he help she's come here for

It got pushed up some knobs arse

HTH

This is the painful truth I'm afraid, to all of you who get anxious about working in weather that is absolutely normal and not at all extreme in the south east of England.

Summer of 1976 anyone?

True, @MooPointCowsOpinion - why on earth do some kids get hyper in the heat?! Plus the complaints about the heat...non stop. Good ideas - I'm secondary and definitely have slower, "calmer" activities when it's like an oven.

😂😂😎

I think I’d do coping strategies.
take a fan into work and get it PAC tested so you can. Use Friday.

get a hand held mini fan

wear really cool clothes ( maybe a change of clothes for afternoon)

get those spray cans of mist to cool you down

cold drinks

be positive think 1.5 hours to break then 1 hour to lunch and break it up in small sections

As I said I also hope that the OP's anxiety will be helped by moving to a year group she's more comfortable with in September.

I'm self employed and if I don't work I don't get paid. I work outdoors and it's challenging and exhausting when it's hot, but it's a lot less stressful than the worry about how I'm actually going to get to work next week during a week of train and tube strikes.

It's weather OP. I know you feel uncomfortable but you have to think f coping strategies such as cool clothing, water sprays etc and deal with it. You will be ok.

Stop being so nasty. The OP suffers from
anxiety!

what do you get out of being so nasty to someone??

I sympathise with the hot, stuffy classroom scenario and am also dreading Friday. I don't, however, suffer from health anxiety so appreciate I will experience it differently from you. My school is a PRU; can't have doors open and the one opening window barely opens so there's no chance of a breeze. We can't have fans in the rooms nor can we have water bottles freely available as the children tend to empty them over one another/work they're unhappy about. The high temperatures are likely to exacerbate the children's own anxieties which is likely to heighten tricky behaviours. There's not much I can do about a lot of that but I can change the plan for the day to make it less demanding for everyone so that's what I'll do. I'll let them all go outside and tip water over their heads to cool down if they want, will have a day of consolidation rather than teaching new material, will avoid using laptops or other devices that give off heat and will pick my battles very carefully.

As others have said, not going in on Friday won't reduce your anxiety but will postpone it. I wonder if it would work for you to inform SLT that because of the high temperatures, Friday in your class is going to be adapted to take account of this in the best interests of the children. Are there activities in which more of the class is calm, or that more of them are able to be independent at? Would it be calmer in class if the children were able to take off their shoes and socks so their feet weren't so hot? Could you do the same?

Taking control of the aspects of the day you can, may help to reduce some of your anxiety as may shifting the focus to the pupils in planning ways of how to make them cooler.

Hope you’re ok OP. It sounds like other anxieties have been mounting and the heat is adding to the stress. There are loads of helpful tips on this thread and I’ll be using some of them as a pregnant teacher! Make sure to not overdo it, hydrate, eat properly etc. If you feel overwhelmed/ill don’t hesitate to ask a free member of staff to pop in and mind your class while you take a quick breather. Look after yourself.

Assuming you’re not on medication you could take a piriton if it’s safe for you to do so (I think they help with anxiety). I also find this mist lovely to spray on my face on a hot day. Can you wear natural fibres and have all the windows in your classroom open? Sympathies to you op, I know how awful it is to struggle with anxiety 💐

All these people saying "just take annual leave" make me laugh. Even if OP wasn't a teacher, not everyone can just take annual leave at the drop of a hat. I'd have no chance of getting that approved at short notice. Even with several weeks notice I'd have no chance at this time of year. Especially on a Friday. The first Friday I'd be able to book off is the very end of September.

@Infinity07

call in sick, the world will keep spinning!

keep getting help for your anxiety, consider switching if this one isn't helping very much x

ignore the stupid & shitty posts🌸

@Infinity07

and definitely look at which year group you're teaching & at what school (they don't sound good)

I really do sympathise, I don't handle heat well at all. It makes me physically ill and I'm an emetophobe so now I also panic in hot weather, it makes me miserable and tired and I burn through factor 50. There is no escaping the heat in the UK, my old workplace would send me to go and stand in the walk in freezer! (when they didn't send me home due to fainting /vomiting). People who say 'suck it up' really don't understand the affect heat can have on some people. As you are a teacher in a school is there not a temperature at which you are all sent home? I know there is for cold weather? Personal fans, ice packs and cooling sprays might be helpful as well as bottles of ice that melt though out the day and comfortable loose clothing. I'm panicking about Friday too so I do understand how awful it is.

Senior management will not be sympathetic at all. I know

Do you have medical support you can provide to your employer? Without that it sounds like you are massively taking the piss.

As an anxiety/panic attack sufferer I can relate to heat induced feelings of panic and weirdness. A very cold drink always helps me :) But given your circumstances I would arrange whatever I could for Friday and long term I would look to therapy. I'm developing this increasingly persistent anxiety over swallowing food which I fear is going to kill me one day. You must address these things before they limit your life. So much sympathy from me though