So nervous about change not coping, help please

[Yonks]

As part of my job role I now need to take the minutes of the meeting.

The thought of doing this scares me to death and I don’t want to do it. I feel physically sick at the thought of sitting with parents, professionals, school and the police doing this and listening to them talking about cases (abuse, neglect, harm, etc). I’ve spoken with a Manager who says it all part of the new structure!

Help, how do I overcome this? I don’t want to do this job?

What is it about this part of the job that's worrying you? Not being able to cope with the role or not being able to cope with what you will hear?

I’d say both things are worrying me, but being able to do the job is probably the main issue.
I much prefer to be ‘behind the scenes’ and now I have to go into work to do this part of the job. Also I’m an ok typist but concerned about listening and typing at the same time picking up all of the relevant information.
I just feel sick with nerves.

OK. Have you had any training? If not you need to make your manager aware - it's not fair to ask you to do something you've never done before without preparation.

But on a general note, it's entirely normal to feel anxious about doing anything new for the first time - it's your minds way of telling you that it's important. Feeling sick is also normal! Your body is firing up the fight or flight response to deal with the challenge - have a look at the sympathetic nervous system on google.

You've done many, many things for the first time from going to school on the first day to starting your first job. You survived them and you will survive this and - more than that - you will learn from it and you will get better at it; as you've done with everything in life. But do have that conversation with the manager and let them know your concerns.

Good luck!

I think it’s helpful having a practice run of anything that makes you nervous. Or multiple. Would some family members or friends be willing to hold a mock meeting with some sad things being spoken of so you can practice with them? My friends and family don’t mind me asking (I do practice interviews with mine every time, people seem happy to help).