Anxiety over applying for jobs and interviews

[misguidedghost18]

Hi 🙂

I'm new here and haven't even made a introduce yourself post yet (which I do hope to get around to doing)

I’m not sure if this is the exact right place to post this on the forums but here it goes....

I am currently 22 years old and have been battling severe major depression and anxiety for over 8 years now. I am currently seeing a psychologist but these past few months I have been finding my anxiety worsening to the point of panic attacks, I guess it might be due to a lot of stressors going on in my life at the moment. I feel I have no purpose in life and it is really making me feel more depressed.
I really want a job, not only for financial reasons but to give me a sense of purpose as well as actually doing something then staying home all day and building my self confidence.
These past few months I have been applying for quite a few jobs even receiving some call backs for interviews but the whole interview process is making my anxiety worse. I have no issues with actually working it’s just going for an interview that makes my anxiety go into overdrive. I know its normal for people to feel anxious for interviews but mine is causing me to not even go through with some.
I’m a perfectionist and hence I like to make sure I’m properly prepared, I began prepping potential answers to interview questions but the anxiety took over and I worried that my answers weren’t good enough or that I was thinking of the wrong questions being asked and the next minute I was trying to write answers for over a 100 different questions and I became quite overwhelmed and went into a panic attack. I then find myself not wanting to apply for jobs at all anymore even though I really do want one.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how I can overcome this? Are there any professional services out there that can help you prepare for job interviews?

Thanks for your help 🙂

[CJames]

Hi misguidedghost18,

Welcome to the forums, I'm only new too. 🙂 You're free to be yourself.

Good to see you're speaking with someone about your major depression and anxiety. How's that going for you? Do you mind sharing the "stressors" going on in your life?

You are not worthless or not don't you have a purpose, you're as good as anyone else.

I can understand your reasoning for a job, I to wish I could leave school now to work :).

It's terrific to see you've taken the first step by applying for jobs. In short, Yes it's normal to be extremely nervous before a job interview, but it's how you manage them nerves that matters the most as you've mentioned.

Regarding the prepping for potential questions, if you give this a go again, limit yourself, eg, Set yourself a goal, let's say 20 questions and after that take a break or come back another day.

A lot of interview prep sites will say "Don't Panic," that's easier said than done. Try slow deep breathes before attempting them questions.

Is there anything that usually helps with your anxiety?

Regarding Mock Interviews, Professionals Australia offers a service as such, but before looking at that option, I would suggest speaking to your psychologist, Maybe asking if they would set up a mock interview?

Regards

C