How can I stop imminent redundancy triggering of anxiety again?

[samtheman]

I've hated my job as long as i've had it (5 years) My boss is a really horrible man so this is for the best but the one thing that worries me over anything else is my anxiety coming back full force.

Last time I was made redundant thats what triggered my anxiety problems, I started of with depression, this then progressed onto generalised anxiety and panic attacks, then onto agoraphobia and social anxiety over the space of the 2 years I was unemployed, even when I found employment again it was a good 12 months before I got my head sorted out and even now I still have social anxiety which is why I've never really fitted into my current job.

So as I say, this is what worries me most, how can I minimise the impact? and not let things get out of hand again?

[blueangel]

Hi Sam

Sorry you've had to wait a bit for a reply. It's tough knowing whether or not anxiety is going to be triggered by being made redundant again. I would imagine that you will at least partly feel a sense of relief at being "out of it" as you work for someone really unpleasant.

However, I know from my own experience that not having enough to do will make me anxious, so I suppose there are a few things that you can do which might help.

On a practical front, you could try signing up with some agencies for temporary work. I used to do this years ago before I worked for the NHS and found I picked up quite a few jobs this way.

Other things you could do to keep yourself busy include volunteer work, or doing projects at home that need to be done (like DIY if you're any good at it).

I would start looking for jobs sooner rather than later though, as for a lot of us, having a job matters a lot to our self-worth.

[samtheman]

Hi Sam

Sorry you've had to wait a bit for a reply. It's tough knowing whether or not anxiety is going to be triggered by being made redundant again. I would imagine that you will at least partly feel a sense of relief at being "out of it" as you work for someone really unpleasant.

However, I know from my own experience that not having enough to do will make me anxious, so I suppose there are a few things that you can do which might help.

On a practical front, you could try signing up with some agencies for temporary work. I used to do this years ago before I worked for the NHS and found I picked up quite a few jobs this way.

Other things you could do to keep yourself busy include volunteer work, or doing projects at home that need to be done (like DIY if you're any good at it).

I would start looking for jobs sooner rather than later though, as for a lot of us, having a job matters a lot to our self-worth.

Thanks for that, I have been looking for a new job for quite some time, the only time I have got an interview is when the job centre made a cock up and didn't list the qualifications required for the job which I didn't have.