Re:Do you struggle with anxiety from work?
by Jtsummers on Tuesday July 28, 2020 @05:39PM
(#23980981)
Sometimes. I sought out counseling, it really does make a difference. And if you don't feel like you can, presently, discuss these feelings with your husband or other close family/friends, a counselor is a good option. Or a priest if you're religious.
An important thing to face is that anxiety, severe anxiety especially, has a tendency to spiral. You feel stressed and your thoughts get dark ("I'm not good enough." "They all know I'm a fraud."). These thoughts increase your stress and the rate of such thoughts. You also tend to find yourself procrastinating or otherwise underperforming compared to your previous levels which again increases the stress and thoughts and leads to further, potential, drops in performance.
You have to break the cycle. Knowing that you're experiencing anxiety is incredibly important to accomplishing that. The next step is to seek help or, and this can be very hard to do, break that cycle yourself. You're already taking a break from work. Seek out a therapist or counselor, and just vent. Discuss what you're feeling. A good one will not prescribe anything unless it's actually needed (none of mine have ever even brought it up, as we found CBT and other approaches worked for me).
Also consider discussing with your boss ways to lighten your workload. I have had bosses do that for me in the past. Usually a month or so with fewer things on my plate, an ability to focus on the high priority things, was enough to reset myself. A lot of anxiety from work (for me) is caused by having too much to do, and feeling like nothing is getting done (too much multitasking, what should be 1 week tasks take 1-2 months because I'm not able to dedicate a solid week to them, things of that sort).
An important thing to face is that anxiety, severe anxiety especially, has a tendency to spiral. You feel stressed and your thoughts get dark ("I'm not good enough." "They all know I'm a fraud."). These thoughts increase your stress and the rate of such thoughts. You also tend to find yourself procrastinating or otherwise underperforming compared to your previous levels which again increases the stress and thoughts and leads to further, potential, drops in performance.
You have to break the cycle. Knowing that you're experiencing anxiety is incredibly important to accomplishing that. The next step is to seek help or, and this can be very hard to do, break that cycle yourself. You're already taking a break from work. Seek out a therapist or counselor, and just vent. Discuss what you're feeling. A good one will not prescribe anything unless it's actually needed (none of mine have ever even brought it up, as we found CBT and other approaches worked for me).
Also consider discussing with your boss ways to lighten your workload. I have had bosses do that for me in the past. Usually a month or so with fewer things on my plate, an ability to focus on the high priority things, was enough to reset myself. A lot of anxiety from work (for me) is caused by having too much to do, and feeling like nothing is getting done (too much multitasking, what should be 1 week tasks take 1-2 months because I'm not able to dedicate a solid week to them, things of that sort).