GAD sufferer

[NE21 worrier]

Hello,
I'm a male, aged 29 (on Thursday), living in NE England. I have general anxiety disorder (GAD) though my worries seem to latch onto one thing then another then another.

At the moment, I am primarily worrying about my job - I work in the civil service on a fixed-term basis only and the terms of my contract have changed whereby I am being moved from a back-office administrative role to a frontline contact centre position.

I have previously had problems working in this sort of role, quitting a similar position for the Student Loans Co after just five months, last October. It took until I effectively had a nervous breakdown at the start of May before a holiday to Thailand* to realise I had a bit of a problem.

I went to my GP and I have been referred to the local NHS Mental Health team. So far, I have had two sessions of CBT - the first one basically just established where I was at, but the second has introduced the concept of 'Postponing worry'.

This news about my job has hit me like a train, to be honest, so I'm not doing a very good job at all of postponing my worry. The dread of taking the brunt of complaints in a contact centre is all that seems to be dominating my thoughts and, physically, I get a sharp pain right under my breastbone - perhaps related to the fact that I also have a hiatal hernia and acid reflux problems.

Any worries/thoughts on the concept of postponing worry would be helpful!

(*BTW, I still went on holiday to Thailand after much persuasion by my friends. Ultimately, it was my decision, though, and I absolutely loved my 16 days there. Never give up on your dreams, folks!)

[nomorepanic]

Hi NE21 worrier

We just wanted to welcome you aboard to NMP. We hope you enjoy your stay here and get all the support and advice you need.

Please take some time to read the website articles on the left as well for loads of advice and tips.

[akadawny]

This is what happened to me!! I was returning to work after a period of 9 years at home looking after my autistic son, and it was a contact centre. I had worked in another and thought I would be fine, but in the 2nd week of training suffered a huge panic attack and the next day the thought of returning terrified me. After 2 weeks on the sick I handed in my notice, I just couldnt handle it. Its just happened to me again in another job (after 3 months off to recover) and it happened again, this time it was an office but would still have had to deal with people on the phone. I have had to leave again, within weeks it all happened again and now I am struggling. Been diagnosed with gad and have to see a therepist this friday, so will let you know how I get on and if I have to do the same thing you have been advised. I have other issues though so have no clue how they will help me, I just want to be normal again :(

[Sparkle1984]

Welcome to the forums, NE21 Worrier. :) I have GAD as well. I hope the situation with your job will be OK. I've been to Thailand a few times in the past as well, and I've enjoyed it there.

With regards to postponing worry, I think the concept is that you should set aside 15 minutes each evening specifically to think about your worries. If you feel worried about something during the day, you have to tell yourself to stop and that you'll think about it during your allotted "worry time" instead. In this way, the worries won't take over your entire day and you'll feel more in control.