Anyone Working a full time busy job who suffers from anxiety?

[CleoD]

hi there
keen to hear from people who are working full time in busy, stressful and demanding jobs and suffer from anxiety - its Sunday and have spent most of today worryiny about the week ahead... am on fluoxetine and diazepam... and tamazepam at night.... am keen to hear how you do it and share any tips............... finding it tough going.. have been on fluoxetine for 17 days.............

tks Cleo

[nomorepanic]

Hi CleoD

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.

[AnxiousBaker]

Hi CleoD,

I work full time in a job that has its fair share of stress etc. This plus anxiety/depression doesnt seem like a good mix but for some reason it is massive help to be kept busy like i am. Not always though, there are plenty of days when i have to force myself to go to work or really force myself to be productive, some of those days are right at this very moment. Its getting harder lately.

You will find plenty of help on here and lots of people to talk with :)

[panickyme]

I don't think I can be of much help, considering I do the same thing, already worried about this week and getting back to work tomorrow. Just want you to know you are not alone, and if you figure it out let me know. When you get to work do you still feel as bad. It seems once I am there, it gets a little bit better. However I am still anxious, and 1 wrong feeling, and I panic. :) I just try not to worry, it will be what it will be, I try to take one day at a time.

[Jen Sat]

Hi, I work full time and had to take 3 weeks off because the anxiety was too much. I am day 8 into taking Paroxetine and feel awful. Went back to work of Friday to ease myself back and have been stressing already about the week ahead. When things get too much I go to the bathroom and have a quiet moment to breathe and get things back into perspective. I try not to eat much at work in case I feel nauseous, I start stressing about 1/2 before I leave to come home, in case something happens to me on the tube. Some days I have the attitude of what will be will be and I relax, other times I am so aware of every sensation, nausea, flushes, heart rate, scared feeling it is unbearable. I try to get so engrossed in my work that that is all I am concentrating on.....but other times the feelings come out of the blue. I just hope the meds kick in soon.....

[CleoD]

Thanks for your messages - I dont feel so alone now!!! its so hard to explain this to people who dont understand that feeling of dread..........
your words have given me a lift xo

[Thumbelina]

Him cleo,
I work full time but uselesss at fhe moment, probably will struggle to furn up tomorrow.
Will see

[Tessar]

Hi Cleo, I'm really glad that the messages here made you feel less alone - I can relate to your feeling of dread. Some years ago I was being bullied at work (I got bullied as a child too so became a bit of a target elsewhere as well). Anyway, following CBT, I stopped people bullying me and lo & behold, I didnt dread going to work as much.
Something else very useful I learned through CBT is focus. My focus is very imporant & its something I can control. For example, I could choose to spend my weekends/evenings thinking about work or other dreaded things. Or I could choose instead to fill my time & my mind with more pleasurable activities. Things that keep me occupied enough to prevent me from obsessing over other less pleasurable matters.
Of course it doesnt work all of the time & I have to agree that Sunday does always seem to be the worst day. By distracting myself & lessening the worry, I feel better. Instead of spending hours/days thinking about negative things, it might only be seconds or minutes now.
Of course I still think "oh no it's Monday tomorrow" but I remind myself that weekends & evenings are my time. Time I dont want to be thinking about work. So I do my best to get busy & if I do start dwelling on work & its hassles, then I do my best to get my focus elsewhere. I put my focus where I want it to be.
Like you, I take fluoxetine as well. It helps me with several things & I hope it'll be helpful for you too. Reading your other posts, it's clear you have a stressful job. I'm hoping that things might settle down for you in time. Again that's another good reason for keeping posting here - because by sharing your anxieties & worries, hopefully the intensity of them will lessen.
Like Jen Sat, when things get too much I go to the bathroom and have a quiet moment to breathe and get things back into perspective. In the evenings, a relaxing bath -during which time I do not allow the negative thoughts to overwhelm me. I make myself focus just on where I'm at now. Right now, Not yesterday or tomorrow. just enjoy a relaxing moment to myself.
I also take quiet moments at work sometimes. Leave my desk. Maybe go to the loo. Disconnect from my surroundings & relax. Breath slowly & realx. It helps to break the cycle of stressing. Like AnxiousBaker, I have days when i have to force myself to go to work or really force myself to be productive, but doing that is part of what keeps me going. Routine is important to me. I know that if I distract myself from the stress by getting busy, time starts passing & before I know it, it's home time.

[Jamesk]

I work in a very stressful role full time (Partner in an financial firm) and I really don;t know how I keep on keeping on some days.

What is really a problem for me is that many of my anxieties stem from my work and the inherent risks and problems that I have to deal with so some days I feel I have just about picked the worst job in the world I could possibly have gone for.

The numebr of times I think about jacking in it, but then I would just stress about not having any money.

I suppose I kind of know if I was being anxious about this it would be something else, but that is cold comfort when it is 2.00am and you are lying staring at the ceiling wide awake and stressing.

[macc noodle]

I don't often post on here these days but came across this post and thought I should add my thoughts to this.

I have suffered stress and anxiety for many many years and throughout it all I have never not worked, never stayed in bed and never given up.

Now some of you will think that I am mad for not taking better care of myself and that I should have taken time out along the way but I simply could not afford to and like James the stress and additional worry of having no income was a scarier prospect than carrying on.

And you know what, I actually believe that in some ways having to keep going was something of a salvation because I do not know what would have happened had I just stopped and given in to it - but then I also don't know if it would have been beneficial or not.

It is indeed a conundrum !

But for me personally, I know that there were times when my effectiveness in the business environment must have been questionable but everyone around me was far too polite to say anything about it !

Horses for courses - what works for one won't work for another. And sometimes having to focus on our performance in the workplace provides a distraction/salvation away from constantly worrying about not feeling right.

For me, years down the line, I am thankful that despite having peaks and troughs in my mental health, I have always managed to keep on working. For me, spending a lot of time at home with my particular issues would have been, in my opinion, worse and detrimental to my mental health in the long run.

Hope all on here find their pathway that works for them and that we all have more better days than bad ones :hugs:

Macc Noodle

[CleoD]

hi all
tks so much for all the wishes and comments - it really helps after a tough monday reading these comments xo

[Oink]

I too work in what would be considered a stressful job and suffer anxiety.

I broke down in January and didn't make it in for around 4 months. I had a steady re-introduction and have been back at it now for around 4 months. I do same job, but have learned to manage it better. You will too. The anxiety is your reaction to a situation, and you can learn to better deal with it.

All that said, I of course still have my moments.

Oink

[Sparkle1984]

I've worked in several stressful/demanding full time jobs over the years. I had several awful experiences with my previous employer - it was a large corporation which had re-structures nearly every year, which meant having to reapply for my job. I was moved from department to department every 18 months or so, which meant I could never feel settled. As soon as I got friendly with anyone, either they or I would be moved to another department!
It was very stressful, particularly as there were never enough staff due to all the redundancies. Towards the end, I was even afraid to leave my desk to go to the toilet in case the lost time caused me to miss a deadline! The senior managers were always very strict about deadlines, and if you couldn't meet the deadlines you'd get angry phone calls or emails. After being at the company for nearly 5 years, I was really fed up so when I was offered redundancy I looked for another job elsewhere, and I'm much happier now in my current company.