Anxiety about new job

[emmielou00]

Hi,

I’m 17, just starting tear 12, and have really horrible anxiety. It isn’t really horrible but it is something i’ve dealt with for a long time. Last week, some people i very rarely babysit for offered me a job at their house doing some admin work for them (shredding papers, scanning photos, spreadsheets etc). When i first said yes and went to their house it was all okay, i had some general nerves like i do before doing stuff like that, but after spending 7 hours at their house (the agreed time), i felt really anxious and tired and didn’t want to go back. They are really nice people and are paying me more than what i would earn at a part time job, but i am having really horrible anxiety about having to return there. I agreed to another two days but just the thought of having to go back there makes me start to cry, and its good money that i need. Previously before this i got a job at a mcdonalds, but quit after the first day because of how stressful it was and how anxious it made me feel. How can i get over my anxiety about going there and working for them without wanting to cry? Any help would be wonderful, thanks

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Emmielou00,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for being here 🙂

I'm sorry that you've had to deal with anxiety for such a long time! I hope that you find the forums helpful and find a way to better manage it so it's not so awful.

First though, it would be great if you could tell us a little bit about what that anxiety looks like for you; so you said you had some nerves before going there but it was all okay - so what did that anxiety look like while you were there? I.e. sometimes people notice that their heart races and they get all sweaty - or might even go to panic attacks. Others might worry that they're going to screw up all the time or that their boss will yell at them. It's really different for everyone.

It would also be great to know what sort of things you might have tried so far in the past. There's no point you coming here and listening to us ramble on about meditation or breathing exercises if you've tried them and they've driven you crazy! Even though there are things that are helpful it's about finding out what might work for you and how you can manage it the best 🙂

Sometimes seeing a counsellor can really help; perhaps this is something you'd be interested in? Especially since you've been dealing with it for so long.

Hope this helps,

[emmielou00]

Hi romantic_thi3f,

My anxiety before going the first time was basically heart racing, sweating, nausea type stuff. These are the common things that happen when i get anxious, plus i felt like i could cry. How i usually deal with it is that I reassure myself everything will be okay, breathing techniques, listening to music etc. When I used to see a psychologist, she said to try that thing where you list 5 things you can hear, see, smell, taste and stuff like that so i usually tend to do that, but in the lead up to going again i feel all those symptoms i said before and I start crying. I have no idea why this is effecting me this much when it is literally nothing, but I'm considering just telling them I can't do it and that they will have to find someone else.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Emmielou,

Sounds like you are pretty familiar with your anxiety and how it works for you; and I'm really glad to hear that you've got some techniques up your sleeve. Those are all great ones!

It's completely up to you whether or not you want to quit. I guess on one hand it would be good so then you don't have to deal with all this anxiety but on the other hand sometimes anxiety doesn't care what we're doing or where we're working, whether it be at a busy place like mcdonalds or a quieter place like your current job.

I'm wondering too if it might be helpful to go back and see your psychologist? That way you can keep practicing some of these techniques so that instead of just using them when you need to; you use them often enough so that it doesn't have to become intense at all.