Work Anxiety

[alicia10]

Hi everyone,

I have suffered from quite severe anxiety and OCD for about 8 years now after a breakdown during my second year of University. I am proud to say that despite this I finished my degree, as well as the LPC and I am now a solicitor.

My difficulty now is that my GAD seems to be really focused on my work at the moment. My job is quite stressful and unfortunately I am not coping very well. To put this into perspective I had an appraisal about a month ago. I barely slept for over a week before this and thought I was going to be told that I was absolutely terrible at my job role and pretty much convinced myself I was going to be fired. This is not at all an exaggeration. In reality I achieved an 'outstanding'. However, even this didn't really give me any peace of mind. I find myself constantly worried that I have screwed up, or will screw up (legal work does involve quite a few calculated risks) and that I will be fired. This is devastating, because I have worked so hard to get to where I am.

It has got to the point where I am so irritable and stressed that I snap at those I love and don't spend enough time with them because I just collapse with mental exhaustion from the anxiety each day. All I want to do on weekends is sleep for hours and hours to recharge my batteries. It breaks my heart because the anxiety means I hate a job that I really should love. I also don't see any way around this? I have to keep doing what I'm doing, but over time I am getting more and more burnt out to the point where I can't stay late as much as I used to because I am just so tired that I need to go home and sleep.

Does anybody have any advice? I have recently upped my Citalopram prescription to 20mg from 10mg but this has not helped. I used to take sleeping tablets (Zopiclone), which was great but of course are only a really short term fix.

Thanks!

[Rick(amateur)]

Hi Alicia,

Anxiety can really mess up people's lives and I can understand your frustrations. We all wish it would simply disappear so we can get on with our lives. My question is do you think the source of your anxiety being the stress from work? I find that, until you determine the cause of the anxiety, it's really hard to deal with it properly. The cause has to be quite specific if you really want to get to the root of it.

If possible, try to have a short vacation. Even a week off might be good to see if your situation improves. Depending on the outcome of this break, you can determine if it's your job that's causing you so much grief.

I've never been a fan of medication and choose to find more natural methods. I have friends who prefer meditation. I think keeping a journal where you can talk about your anxiety helps. You mentioned snapping at your loved ones. I see that as a way of venting all that negative energy inside of you. Writing in a journal and, doing your best to articulate how you feel and even ranting, is a good way to release everything in a non-violent way.

I also find talking really helps. Finding people who are willing to listen and give feedback would be the best way (for me at least) since I no longer had to hold it in and, the more I learn to articulate it, the better I can understand my issue and tackle it head on.

Sorry for the lengthy rambling! These are some of my ideas of coping with the issue. I'm happy to chat more if you want to discuss further. I wish you the best of luck in fighting your anxiety! :)