Hey guys,
I've struggled with Generalized Anxiety Disorder for my most of my adult life. Somehow I've managed to succeed in my career though I'm facing more frequent and severe anxiety attacks at work lately. I'm fearful of it all "unraveling" and everyone seeing the "real" me.
For example, in recent months I've:
- Had an anxiety attack while presenting to a large audience, having an "outer body" experience while trembling and shaking through an awful presentation.
- Vomited in public settings (work lunches, meeting introductions, etc) after being overwhelmed with fear or anxiety
- Frozen when a meeting is "turned over to me" and decided to just get up and leave the room.
Its terribly embarrassing and the worst part is that I actually like my job. I'm just overwhelmed with anxiety and keep having these awful experiences.
I'm not sure if I ought to use my situational medications each day to get through it, ask for a demotion to try and hide "behind the scenes", or leave the work altogether and try to encourage my wife to earn enough to support the family. Its been a very hard time for me.
Would appreciate advice or input from those who have been there.