How I Coped with my Anxiety at Work

Tash is a mental health blogger and copywriter. Here she shares her story of struggling at work when you have anxiety and how getting support made all the difference. You can view more on her blog and follow her on Twitter!

You’d think having finally found a job, my anxiety would have subsided. It did for a while but after the excitement of getting a job wore off, it got much worse. The tasks and targets seemed daunting; I felt like I didn’t understand what I was doing.

All of a sudden, I wasn’t top of the class anymore; I was back in primary school learning the basics. But my mentality was that I had to be the best I could be. I wanted everything to be perfect and I wasn’t comfortable with making mistakes. Impressing my employers was the most important thing to me.

I was piling the pressure on myself and my anxiety was at an all-time high.

I found myself having to go outside of the office for up to an hour at a time, to calm myself down after panic attacks. One week, this happened every day.

I started to worry my employers would think I was slacking and that pushed my anxiety up further and further…

That’s when I went to the GP. It was then that I was diagnosed with anxiety and it was then I could start to understand what was going on in my mind. I’m currently undergoing Group Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy and I’m starting to be more relaxed at work.

I’m coming to terms with the fact that everybody makes mistakes and it’s not the end of the world if I do.

Sometimes, mistakes can highlight problems in the business that can be improved. In fact, being in an entry level job, they’re expecting me to mess up. It is inevitable that I will make a mistake at some point and just knowing that has helped me relax somewhat.

I don’t have panic attacks even half as much now; weeks go by without having one. I can get on with my work without the constant fear of messing up. And slowly I’m starting to regain the confidence that I am good at what I do.  

You can also view Tash's first blog about her experiences straight out of university, looking for work.

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