Dealing with anxiety disorder at work

[Danijel]

Hello to everybody,

I am new to this forum. I am 27 years old dealing with anxiety disorder. I was anxious since I was really young. I thought this was depression but just after my mother died in an accident and I had to be hospitalised because I could not cope with my anxiety attack any more that I was diagnosed properly. It is a big struggle, some days are easier than others but the last 2 months my anxiety became worse. I am working now 6 months as a legal counsel in a big company. I am constantly worried something bed will happen, I try to be "a step forward" and be always prepared for every thing that could happen. I am afraid of making mistakes and I think constantly about work, almost panicking that I wil not have time to finish everything. My manager is till now satisfied with my work and does now I have a généralised anxiety disorder. Despite of that I am afraid of losing my job. (I have also adhd which makes it harder to relax). I am going to a psychologist but I would like to know how people that are in my situation deal with this? Any advice is deeply appreciated.

Thank you

[Orcas2018]

I recently suffered from really bad anxiety at work but not the same as what you have described I was more worried about fainting because I got really bad dizzy spells and this led to me crying in front of my manager who thankfully was very understanding and it did make me feel a lot better

You said that your manager is happy with your work and everything which is really good. Maybe you should try talking to them like I said it really helped me and my manager told me he had anxiety in the past so it was nice to hear he did understand.

You never know your manager could be the same it’s surprising the amount of people who do or have suffered from anxiety.

I would say I managed to get through it with support from my manager and a colleague who is my friend.

Not talking about it did make it a lot worse.

[Dying_Swan]

Hi Danijel

Welcome to the forum :)

Sorry to read you are finding things difficult at the moment. I can relate to much of what you've said in your post. I don't know much about ADHD but it's great that you're going to see a psychologist who I'm sure will be able to help you. Being able to relax and switch off is important but I'm not sure how your ADHD affects you. Is there anything you can do to help you unwind after work? You really need a mental break from it when you aren't there.

Is your manager understanding? If so, how would you feel about talking to him/her about your worries? Do you get much feedback on how you're doing? Positive feedback can be helpful and maybe if your manager knows how much you worry, they'd make sure to give you feedback a bit more often.

It sounds like you're a really hard worker who is doing their job to the best of their abilities. If you were doing something wrong, I'm sure they would have told you by now. I hope you can have some faith in yourself! :flowers:

[Lavender12]

Hi, I think it is better to consult a therapist. I also have some anxiety related issues. So I am planning to consult an anxiety disorder therapist.

[kelly135]

I have been having issues lately with getting myself to come to work regularly. My supervisors know my situation and are amazingly supportive, but I continue to dread coming into the office. Everything at work is very doable and people seem to be happy with my work, so I can't figure out what my avoidance is about.