Anxiety attack find it paralysing

[Snoopy88]

I feel like a complete failure. I’m 31 working in the checkouts 3 days a week for 5 hours shift. So in total I work 15 hours. I get really bad anxiety attacks first week of the day back at work. So I work Friday Saturday and Sunday I usually get it on Friday even when I have days off I get really bad anxiety attack I feel paralysed and can’t do much. On my off days I need to lye down and relax til the anxiety goes away. On the Friday at work I can’t focus much and I get uncomrtable body sensations and racing thoughts. I feel scared am I going to get better one day? I’m starting this new medication in July I really hope it can help me with my anxiety and eventually I can work 5 days in a week doing basic admin job that’s my dream. I even went counseling for a year it didn’t help. I saw a holistic counsellor. Now I’m going to start a session with a clinical psycologist who does CBT and ACT. I wanted to know are there others out there who work 5 days a week 8 hours shift and suffer from anxiety? Do you manage well at work? I feel like crying I just want to be normal and work more days and earn money. I’m scared in the future I’ll be homeless. At the moment I have support but my dad is getting old. I don’t know how to overcome this anxiety it’s so distressful. Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.

[Soberlicious96]

Dear Snoopy88,

You are NOT a failure, and being a check-out operator is a job I have had before and loved it! In fact sometimes, I wish I could go back to doing just that! I have told myself many times that it would be so much less stressful than what I am doing now ....... but that style of thinking ("The grass is always greener ......) is not only unhelpful, but often also inaccurate.

One thing I find helpful to remember is that life only ever happens one day at a time; in other words, if you just focus on what you can do, and what you do have today, then the rest will take care of itself. Perhaps part of the trick to overcoming anxiety, is to not try and fix your whole life problem at once.

I too have had CBT and found it to be really helpful.

Also, I have not worked full time for more than 10 years now, and I too thought that when I stopped working full time I would be unable to support myself ..... but I now have a mortgage; on my own and in my own name, I work part time about 20 hours a week, and I have a car to run and a cat to feed ........ and I don't go hungry and my bills are paid. True some weeks are easier than others, but I always remind myself that if I have food clothing and shelter, then I'm doing pretty well.

So yes, it is most certainly possible to only work part time and still support yourself.

Anyway, I hope that helps a little, and I hope also that you get as much benefit from the CBT as I did. Truly I found it to be a great help.

All the best. And in the meantime, remember that BB is here and 'open' for you 24/7. Take care. I'll keep an eye out for your reply. xo

[Snoopy88]

I’m glad CBT worked for you. I hope it works for me too.

wow you only work 20 hours and are able to pay all your bills and not to mention you have a mortgage to pay off. How do you do. Do you do all that on your own or do you have support? What sort of work do you do at the moment? Is it good pay?

i want to eventually go into office work and also start up my own business on the side. I hope I can do it. It sounds really hard and diffcult though. I would like to just keep working part time and support myself. Can you share how you do it? How you manage and support yourself working part time?

[Snoopy88]

Btw which state and suburb are you in? Just wondering because I might need to move to live in a cheaper place to survive on a part time job. I’m at the moment in NSW northern beaches. I love it here but it’s too expensive.