Working when dealing with panic/anxiety

[PhoebeE]

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if you have trouble working when you're dealing with panic or anxiety and its symptoms.

After graduation I worked for 8 months before I couldn't keep it up any longer. I called in sick and eventually my contract wasn't prolonged and I became unemployed. I didn't work for 1.5 years and then found my current job. After 10 months in the job, it got too much. I stayed home for two weeks (flu...), and got back to work, because I didn't want to lose my job again. I have been working less hours than I should ever since. I'm too tired, get headaches (which are so bad that it's almost to totally impossible to work) and anxiety and panic attacks make it even harder. I have been crying at my room at work because of emails and requests I received.

Sometimes I think I should just ask for a contract with fewer hours, so that I have time to rest at the days off. Or I should just keep trying and one day I'll be fine. Not sure if that will happen though. I'm also thinking of starting a small therapy business at home for two days and keep working a regular job for 2 other days.

I'm really interested in what you have been able to pull off, what your experience is (what works for you, what doesn't), if you have made certain decisions because of your panic/anxiety, etc. I look forward to hearing from you!

[Mikke]

I have had a lot of trouble with anxietyproblems and work.

Getting psychological therapy lately has helped med realize that my anxiety is not job-stress related, so I am no longer afraid of working hard.
When I start to feel anxious I work with myself and the problems causing anxiety as soon as possible so that I don't get so ill I can't work.

I am fortunate enough to be my own employer, so it's easier for me.
But I have worked for a lot of companies the past years, and found that the best thing for me to do was to be honest.
At a big advertising company I once worked, they even let me work two days a week from home in periods when I wasn't feeling well, and they would let me sit right by the door in big meetings etc..
If there was an award for best employer or something, this company should have won all the medals, because they were outstanding at beeing sensitive and understanding.

Beeing honest at your work is probably the best thing to do, but it also depends on your employer and kind of work.

[mothermac]

I used to work full time in an office based role before having my daughter 5 yrs ago.I left this employment so I could be at home when she was a baby,I took the decision not to send her to nursery which I wish I had done now but hindsight is a wonderful thing.
I recently decided that I wanted to go back to work part time and living just a few yards from a Morrisons store decided to ask them for a job.I have to add here that I suffer terribly from anxiety and have had good times where it hasn't bothered me much to terrible times when I have symptoms every day.Anyway they gave me a position on their checkouts on 16 hrs a week which I thought I could handle ok,how wrong I was.
When I started my contract my husband was starting to lose weight dramatically and suffered symptoms conected to his bowels,we were very worried and this in turn made me feel very anxious and stressed out,there were days when he was ill and I couldn't do my shift.I always made sure I was honest with them and at first they were ok.However my daughter began to have problems at school and we found out she was being bullied by another child,this was something else to worry about and my health began to suffer,I confided in a supervisor there and everything went downhill thereafter.To cut a long story short they put me through 2 very stressful disciplinaries with the manager from hell who delighted in telling me I was an absolute nightmare and she didn't know what to do with me.I knew that I had to go to work but I was honest with them and always had doctors statements to back me up.This escalated and I began to dread going in,the girls noticed and I was given the nickname of the "hypocondriac" and they didn't even know the full story.I handed my notice in one Saturday night as I just couldn't take it any more,they were the worst employer I have ever had and I have had numerous jobs.I spent 10 yrs at BT and 6 at Abbey National and they were all fine.I am sure my anxiety was the cause as mental illness is a taboo subject and they judged me on it which was wrong.The supervisors and personnel bosses are all women and power mad and they are all clicky and stick together.I felt frightened,alone and scared whilst working there and didn't get any support at all,I know I was off a lot but there were valid reasons and I wasn't off with hangovers etc they were all genuine.
I am sorry you are having problems whilst working and I hope your employers are more sympathetic than mine were.You must put yourself first and do what you feel is best even if it means letting them down,if they are a good employer they will understand.Try not to have too much time off though as it is always better to get on out there and make new friends and working takes your mind off problems.I only wish I could have handled it better and unfortunately my husbands illness came along at the same time.I am glad to say he is ok now and is suffering from Chrohns disease not anything too sinister.
I hope everything improves for you and anxiety doesn't get a hold like it did with me.

[PhoebeE]

Thank you Mikke and mothermac! Thanks for sharing your stories! I really need to hear stories like yours at this moment to relate to. I'm super stressed that I won't be able to work and keep my job. Some days I'm too afraid to do what I have to do and just sit at work and don't do much helpful things. When I'm stronger I catch up, nobody notices. I don't like to speak about it and apparently nobody is interested enough to care.

I just got a new boss (reorganization...) and he's more interested than my old boss was. She managed a full department of 40+ people (now 100+) and didn't have much time for me. My new boss cares much more and that's nice, but also scary! What if he finds out that I don't work all the time that I'm here? I'm even afraid to type this at work, but I guess nobody notices. I have a room for myself now that my co-worker is on vacation and that's nice. She's really loud and social and her assertiveness scares the hell out of me.

Do you also feel alone, because you cannot really share this with the people at work? I mean, they might know that you're suffering from anxiety/panic, but you cannot really tell them what it means and how you feel on a day to day basis (although you're there)?

[jenfromdenver]

i have been having alot of problems working while dealing with this panic/anxiety stuff. i'm fortunate enough to have an employer who is sympathetic, which is good because im just coming off my second 2 week vacation in the last 3 months because of panic. im working half days this week with a plan to go back to fulltime next week.

i really dont have a solution to make things easier. i wish i did :)

just know that youre not alone and there are plenty of us struggling through the work day right along beside you. And in time things will get easier.

my only real advice is to be up front with your employer and let them know whats going on. Its hard to do but I think you'll be surprised how sympathetic most folks are to this disorder, and ultimatly they just want you to get well and be happy.

[PhoebeE]

Thanks for your support, Jen. I'm sure to tell my employer more about my problems when I understand myself better. I think I have PTSD, so if I'm sure I'll tell them. Now they know that I'm in therapy and that that costs too much energy for me to work 4 days.

[freakedout]

Hi,

I have to say that I am in full admiration of you working with panic and anxiety. With hindsight, perhaps I should have been more open and discussed my panic and anxiety with my former employer as it sounds like some of you have had good support.

It is a nightmare, well it was for me, I hope that you can work through your anxieties and begin to feel more comfortable at work soon.

I haven't got any words of advice really, but there is a terrible sense of failure when you let panic get the upper hand and quit your job. I struggled for a long time and only really got the support I need since I went off long term sick. Get as much support as you can now, if you can.

Take care and good luck with it.

Freaky

[Steffijade]

Hey there, I worked for 8 years in a pharmacy before my first panic attacks hit and i had to leave, i got too sick. Since then i have always stuck to "safe" jobs where there is no pressure. Some things ive done are delivering catalogues for home shopping companies, jobs from home on the internet, working some shifts with my husbands work on a very casual basis, i only go when i feel up to it. There are loads of things you can do to work from home and stop the panic getting worse because trust me if you force yourself to work you will explode and get very sick.

[titchjd]

Hiya ....Im currently off work again with my anxiety and panic ive been off 7weeks now and in 12months ive lost count of times ive been off and that annoys me as Ive always had a good sick record. I work in a supermarket and it was one place I rarely had anxiety ..even though I couldnt shop in a supermarket I could work there ....but i had a really bad attack 7weeks ago at work and have been through the roughest patch ever ....I have a meeting 2day with the personnel office to discuss me going back and I feel sick just thinking about it but I have 2 go back as have a mortgage to pay ......because I look ok people think Im over reacting and that theres nothing wrong or they say oh we all have stress but its not stress its anxiety and panic before I had my daughter i was a teacher in a nursery and now i panic at working 4hours a day in a supermarket x

big hug Titch x

[PhoebeE]

Hi Freaky, thanks for your nice words! It helps that they're OK about my 25% sickness leave (one day out of 4 I'm staying at home), but I haven't told them about the anxiety yet. Some co-workers know now, I told them last Monday and they were really supportive. I let panic get the upper hand in my last job and really didn't want that to happen again. That's why I'm working so hard on keeping this job and sticking there. I'm not sure that it's the best thing for my health in the long term, but at least it's making me feel less of a failure. They say that doing what you fear most is one of the best things you can do to get over it, so maybe that helps.

Hi Steffijade, thanks for sharing your experiences! It sounds really appealing to find a safe job, but it's also scary to give up my current job and income. It helps that I have a room to myself on Thursdays and Fridays, that most of the time I can plan my own days, nobody is keeping track of what I do, how long I work, etc. It's quite relaxed. When I really cannot work one day I can call in sick and that's fine too. I feel safe here, but some days when I'm not feeling so well, those are the ones at which I feel scared even in my room, too scared to pick up the phone. But that doesn't happen too much. Dealing with my co-worker at the same room is also something that I don't like much. She's really assertive, almost agressive.

Hi Titch, thanks for sharing and for the big hug! Here's one back at you! How did your meeting go? Too bad for the mortgages to be paid, otherwise we'd all be much more able to handle our anxieties. In my last job I stayed home due to anxiety that they didn't let me stay after my contract was ended. The longer you stay home, the worse it's getting back there. But I loved staying at home over the anxiety at work, and couldn't care a bit (I was probably depressed too). People who don't know anxiety think that we all have that and that you shouldn't be so sensitive. Some people don't understand mental health, they think that you should stop behaving so weird and move on.

Take care everyone,
Phoebe