Going to work when you have severe anxiety

[cattia]

My anxiety has been spiralling recently and since I started on meds I have added panic and waves of dread and depersonalisation into the mix. I am really struggling with work. I get panicky driving there every day and have panic and anxiety a lot of the day when I'm there. I know I could get signed off but I don't want people I work with to know about my anxiety, also and most significantly, I worry that if I stop going in the relief would be so great that I might find it impossible to go back. At least if I keep going I'm facing it every day but I also worry that pushing myself through my anxiety like this might make me more ill. What do other people do when your anxiety gets really bad?

[KK77]

I worked most of my life with pretty severe anxiety/depression. Ultimately it made me worse, as I had a very stressful job. But this is something you have to weigh up carefully.

Have you seen your GP for advice regarding this? Some can be very helpful and supportive so you make the right decision.

[cattia]

I'm seeing my GP in a couple of weeks to review my meds. I can't afford not to work as I am the sole breadwinner but that makes me feel under even more pressure which makes it worse. My job is pretty stressful but when I'm well I do enjoy it. I guess I have to take one day at a time. I hope you found some relief for your own depression and anxiety. My anxiety is chronic and long term but mostly I control it ok and manage to live a relatively normal life. Lately though it's got pretty out of control.

[Murdock]

My health anxiety is currently at an all time high and I’m signed off sick, with my GP yesterday refusing to sign me as fit to work. I work as a teacher so it’s prerry stressful. I’m also very lucky to have a boss who’s been amazing about it. I popped in yesterday and he’s giving me some admin work to do so a have a little goal each day, this was on my request. I’ve been really honest with him and it’s paid off, but he’s a very good guy. I found myself in the same situation 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with cyclothymia and it ultimately cost me my job; they constructed a situation where I’d have no other option but to hand my notice in. Do you have a good relationship with your boss meaning you could talk with them?

[cattia]

I'm also a teacher by profession although now I'm in a management post so I don't teach that much but as you can imagine, it comes with its own stresses. I do actually have a really good relationship with my boss and I think she would understand if it came to it. The main thing that worries me about getting signed off is that it would make it harder to go back. Today has been a much better day for me but then I haven't left the house. I suppose I'm worried about falling into the trap of only feeling safe and well when I'm at home and that reinforcing my desire not to do things. On the other hand there is only so much panic and exhaustion a person can take! I hope you start feeling better soon.

[MyNameIsTerry]

My health anxiety is currently at an all time high and I’m signed off sick, with my GP yesterday refusing to sign me as fit to work. I work as a teacher so it’s prerry stressful. I’m also very lucky to have a boss who’s been amazing about it. I popped in yesterday and he’s giving me some admin work to do so a have a little goal each day, this was on my request. I’ve been really honest with him and it’s paid off, but he’s a very good guy. I found myself in the same situation 5 years ago when I was diagnosed with cyclothymia and it ultimately cost me my job; they constructed a situation where I’d have no other option but to hand my notice in. Do you have a good relationship with your boss meaning you could talk with them?

Your GP can't sign you back as fit to work, that was changed years ago. The FIT note is ended mid term by you & your employer deciding you are fit for work if you want to go back early.

What a GP can do is make recommendations for restricted work but again it's a bun fight with the employer as this is not seen as a legal requirement.

Why doesn't your GP work with you over reduced duties then? It seems a bit pointless to sign you off completely if there is a way around it as your GP will be assuming you are having a complete break from work unless you are telling him otherwise.

Aside from that, I can understood why you want to keep yourself moving forward and if you feel well enough to do it I think you're making the right decision. A bad employer will exploit this attitude though for the sake of money so a good relationship is key to this, as you say you have with yours. My last employer would have been happy to dump on me.

[jordanbdailey]

I have a really good relationship with my boss and she is aware of my health anxiety. Usually if I’m having a really bad day, I let her know, just so she is aware.

[hopeful1]

Hi Cattia, I worked for years with health anxiety. The best way for me was to be open and honest with my boss. I was a bit scared at first as I thought it would go against me but it actually helped. For one: being honest stopped me stressing that I would be found out and two: she actually made allowances for me to enable me to work. The fear of having a panic attack subsided because my boss made it Ok for me to have one, if you see what i mean. I could leave my desk whenever I wanted if i felt panicky... which I didn't do as there was no pressure. Hope that makes sense. X

[Ethansmom]

Hi, sometimes doctors can give you a benzodiazepine to deal with the starting effects of medication. Maybe a low dose of Xanax or klonopin would work for you. That's what's helping me right now. I am trying to gradually taper off of it as my Lexepro seems to be helping a bit.

[swgrl09]

Hi Cattia, I am going through the same thing. I just posted about it on my own thread. I am pregnant, was off meds, and my anxiety has spiraled out of control. I am working a stressful job in a school too and the job makes it worse. The past week I have hardly slept and have had panic attacks daily. I have had to call out all week unpaid.

I did tell my supervisor and coworker about what was going on because we are a team and rely on each other a lot. I have to work financially or we wouldn't be able to pay our bills. It's definitely a lot of pressure. I am back on meds and I am just hoping that they start to kick in soon and I can go back next week, even though I don't want to...

[srinux27]

Hi Cattia - I am also going through the same thing. Severe health anxiety and totally unable to bring myself to do anything other than worry about symptoms and what if's. After my health anxiety kicked in - I decided to take 2 weeks off and realized that it was a terrible mistake. Staying at home with access to Google and all the free time is terrible when you have health anxiety. I ended up reading more than I should and aggravated the condition even more. I am now dragging myself to work every day and stopped searching the net for my symptoms or anything else health related. It is helping a bit but cant seem to keep my worries at bay!!