Tips with how to deal with panic attacks/general anxiety when at work

[Zoestars]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to see whether anyone has any tips for coping with panics and anxiety at work? I'm really struggling at the moment. I've been working for 9 months after being too unwell to work for the previous 7 years. I'm training to be a dental nurse and whilst I love that I'm getting my independence again I'm finding it a huge challenge to manage my anxiety. I find myself running to the local park in my lunch break to cry :( I spend all day shaking trying to hold down the panic and it totally sucks. Any help would be much appreciated!

Zoe x

[MrAndy]

Hi Zoe have you tried mindfulness ,i had major issues at work and it really helped.
Sorry your feeling bad,take care

[Zoestars]

Hiya,

Thanks for replying I'll definitely give mindfulness a go - thanks

[PunkyFish]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to see whether anyone has any tips for coping with panics and anxiety at work? I'm really struggling at the moment. I've been working for 9 months after being too unwell to work for the previous 7 years. I'm training to be a dental nurse and whilst I love that I'm getting my independence again I'm finding it a huge challenge to manage my anxiety. I find myself running to the local park in my lunch break to cry :( I spend all day shaking trying to hold down the panic and it totally sucks. Any help would be much appreciated!

Zoe x

Hello

I'm in the exact same position as you. Work flares up my anxiety. I've been in my current job almost eight months and find myself going home on times in tears because of the stress that it causes me. Are you on some kind of medication or having CBT? because this could help manage your anxiety. If you feel like your going to have a panic attack go to the toilets and take five minutes out to calm yourself down. Try and take each task as it comes. Try and keep yourself busy at work because this will make time go quicker and will get distract you from your anxiety. Take each day as it comes and try not to worry! Have you tried breathing exercises which can help lessen anxiety?

Do you know exactly what causes the anxiety in work?

You must be doing something right with your job because you've lasted nine months which is a long time!

[GingerFish]

When I suffered from really bad panic attacks during lectures at college, I found them hard to deal with and control. Little tips to them more bearable in my opinion are - avoid anything with caffeine in it at all costs, put a fan in front of your desk if you can or make a paper one and whenever you feel a panic coming on, put the fan on to cool down and it'll take away the hot flushes and nausea.

[grace.M]

ah i used to suffer with anxiety really badly at work too! my best advice would to be to find a distraction, something to stop you over-focusing on the anxiety trigger, this could be as simple as talking to someone or a little mental exercise i always used to do was to count in my head, five things i could see, then five things i could hear, and so on until i calmed down a little.. if anything breifly taking yourself out of the situation like Punkyfish suggested by getting a drink or going to the toilets could help i agree with GingerFish too, avoiding caffeine is a must for me too! all the best xx

[anthrokid]

Firstly, I just wanted to say congratulations! It's a really big deal to go back to work after so much time off, and I understand that this is a difficult time for you, but you are doing a great job! 9 months already

Have you informed your workplace of your panic attacks? I found that after I had told my manager and a couple of team members my panic attacks at work were few and far between. I think letting them know took off the pressure of "Oh my goodness what if I have a panic attack at work and everyone sees and I screw it all up?" I was pleasantly surprised at how supportive my workplace was. If they know

As others have said, some form of therapy would be fantastic to help you learn to control the panic - through a lot of hard work with CBT and medication I was able to recover and I haven't suffered an attack in years.

[alexcook765]

Hey ZoeStars, I had this problem and tried so many things. My anxiety was so embarrassing and so prevalent at work that I am really embarrassed to even speak about it even now......it was that bad!

When I saw your post, it brought back a lot of memories and I hate to see another person go through that same torture because it is very tough and it feels as if no one else in the world can understand what you're going through Different things work for different people and I was lucky enough to find one that worked for me.

If anyone actually cares to hear what I've been doing then I'd be happy to help in any way. Just shoot me a PM and I'll tell you about how things are going for me with the stuff I've tried. I wish someone would have helped me out when I was struggling to find a solution so if I can help you then it would make my day!

[Zoestars]

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for all your advice! I've been trying cbt to help me at work but I'm still struggling. I think it might be worth going back to a cbt therapist again to hopefully get me through this. I've started going to the gym at lunch so I'm hoping the excercise will help too, and I'll definitely stop having caffeine!!

My work colleagues know about my anxiety but I think they struggle to understand it. I work with only 2 people so it feels quite intense. It's just so annoying as even when I'm not having a panic attack/feeling one coming on, my social anxiety is so bad it's laughable so that's a whole other issue too! When I first started I coped really well and for some reason that I just can't work out everything has been getting worse and worse :( I feel sooo stressed at work and am just counting the hours until lunch and then till home time.