Workplace anxiety - place to chat

[sdan4]

I thought it would be useful to start a thread for those working and struggling with workplace anxiety.

Personally I have a long-standing (since childhood) social anxiety around figures of authority - I have difficulty talking to those more senior than me, especially those who can determine my career progression (e.g. my boss). I also have a dread of making mistakes and what people are thinking about me.

At its extreme this manifests itself in panic attacks (off to the toilet I go to hide and cry...) but mostly it just manifests itself as constant thinking all day at 90mph - when I get home from work I am too exhausted from all the constant thinking and the effort of socialising all day that I can't do anything that I need to do for myself, like exercising or cooking a nice meal, and just end up with my face in a ready meal on the sofa.

I'm lucky that I have been able to share with my boss that I have anxiety and she does understand, but I still try to keep discussion of it to a minimum and pretend it's not happening because like it or not, there is a stigma, and my supposed 'lack of confidence' has then been used as a bit of a stick to beat me with in feedback meetings.

What about everybody else? What are your workplace difficulties? How do you cope? Are your manager/colleagues aware of your anxiety?

[Peench]

I am 44 and have always had a social anxiety disorder as long as I can remember. I try to put on a persona of being a calm and confidant person. I certainly have my days that I struggle with. I don’t share with people at work about my disorder. I am very selective when it comes to trust. I feel if I tell anyone they will judge me and think I’m crazy. I definitely feel alone with this. I have been to several psychologist and have been prescribed several different kind of anxiety medicines. None of them has worked for me nor has the counseling. I am currently taking prestique. That doesnt seem to be working either but it’s better than nothing. I try to do lots of cognitive thinking when I am have an anxiety attack. Nothing seems to help when I am overcome with this overwhelming burden. I may look calm on the outside but my inside is screaming .Then that’s where the problem really starts. I can’t remember things and I get totally disoriented. It’s so frustrating! Then I do stupid things. This is why I don’t try for promotions. I do lots of reading on this disorder to try to help myself find some kind of relief. I do try to eat right, and go for walks when I feel up to it. I pray that one day it will go away or atleast get a little better.