Managing Panic/Anxiety In Relation to Work

I was wondering if you could give me your opinion on how I've been responding to a certain situation.

I'm transitioning into my dream job.

I've been having a really hard time dealing with my emotions around it. I had the worst panic/anxiety on friday about the new job that I've had in years. Then I cried myself to sleep.

I woke up and decided to confront the anxiety and went out to get some things done to prepare myself for the career change. This gave me some feelings of control and now I'm feeling very empowered and confident.

I continue to swing back and forth between the extremes. If you haven't experienced a panic attack or intense anxiety, I guess it would be hard to understand what I'm talking about.

When I started my last job, I had severe anxiety for the first month, almost all day. I'm worried I'm going to go through this again and not survive it.

What can I do? I'm in therapy and on meds.

HI wotchermuggle,

Congratulations on getting your dream job I imagine this should be a happy time for you as your dreams are being achieved. Do you know what is causing these panic attacks? I have never expereinced them but my ex used to get them all the time when she cried and they are extremely scary to witness so I can only imagine what it is like to experience them.

Since you are in therapy I am sure your t has suggested this but have you tried to meditate, this really helped me with calming myself when I get stressed or sad.
Or just to sit and be present iin the moment and feel the chair under you and feel the air around you, the clothes on your skin and smell the scents around you?

My Pdoc recommended meditation, but I'm not able to whip it out during a panic attack. You know about 'returning to the breath'? I'm not able to do it during those times, which to me, makes it fairly useless. I don't know, I guess I'll just have to muscle through the anxiety?

Anxiety feels like you've just run a race and you can't stop your over-breathing and racing heart. You also feel nauseous, shaky, faint, your stomach turns, etc.

You'd think I'd have come up with some meaningful coping skills after having this issue for like 5 years, but no.

I can see how meditation would be useless in when you are having a panic attack then. Is there anything else you can do to distract your self while you are minding your breathing? I mean like thinking of something that makes you happy and feel safe, is there an object like a teddy or something that can ground you?

Hi Wotchermuggle,

I had a pretty severe anxiety attack on Thursday before my PDOC appt. Instead of reaching for the xanax in my desk drawer at work, I tried the 8-8-8 breath method. Inhale for 8 seconds, hold breath for 8 seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds. I learned this in an IBS class. I did about 10 reps of this and calmed down enough where a xanax was not needed. I had to repeat this in the waiting room at her office. When I'm at home, I do lacosse stick drills(requires pretty intense concentration) and it really seems to calm me down. I just can't take the stick everywhere. Also, my PDOC recommended making your leg and glute muscles tense as that will force blood upward towards the head. I haven't tried it yet.

What kind of meds do you take? Ativan works wonders, but it can cause sleepiness and reduce productivity. I understand, as I have anxiety attacks (maybe panic) also, which makes me dread going in. Just out of curiosity, did you find that the more panic attacks you had at your last job, the more intense your anxiety became? Did you start dreading going to work out of fear, and experience anxiety even when you were off on the weekend? Yes, this is my experience, and I was wondering if it was yours also. I know that facing your fears and keep moving forward is supposed to help, but it keeps getting worse. I wish I had some words of wisdom, but I'm really looking forward to hearing other replies. Thanks for the post

That must be so frustrating to be experiencing anxiety about your dream job. Do you think that perhaps part of it is that it is your "dream job" and so you might be putting a lot of pressure on yourself and have such high expectations? I only ask because I could certainly see myself struggling with this.

As far as dealing with anxiety and panic attacks, I have tried a number of things. Occasionally I will resort to taking an ativan but I prefer to manage with out them because I am so worried about becoming dependent upon them. Doing the deep breathing stuff sometimes does help. Sometimes I will write out a quick "venting" email to my T or even just journal to myself in order to get the stuff in my head "out". The other thing that sometimes helps is sort of an EMDR technique I guess. My T does EMDR and he suggested that when I am very anxious that I can sort of do a type of it on myself. I try to visualize my safe place and alternately tap either my hands on my knees, my feet on the floor or a new method is to cross my arms, almost like I am giving myself a hug and tap on each side of my neck. It does actually help, when I remember to do it.

I'm on Seroquel and Zopiclone. I was prescribed lorazepam (which does work) but it was only so I could get through the interview process for this job. I'm not on any "emergency" anxiety meds like Xanax or anything and I'm pretty sure my Pdoc wouldn't give it to me except in cases like the interview.

I've only had a few panic attacks on the job, and I can usually hide them. It's the anticipatory reaction I can not control. Once I get there, I am usually okay. I have to force myself to go to work, because if I don't go, it gets harder to leave the house. Like on the weekends, I find it hard to do anything outside of the house because I don't *have* to go out like I do for work.

I think it's because I've been working so hard for this that I don't want to mess it up or be unsuccessful.....so yeah, a lot of expectations. Mine, and perceived from others, like my family.

I try so hard to rationalize what is going on or find the real cause of the anxiety, but it is often all I can do to just hold onto my sanity through the attacks I can have extra appointments and email my T, I just wish that I could get through it better on my own. I often find that when I have extra appointments, I'm so anxious that I don't end up even talking much.

I think the thing that finally made me round the bend & start really beating the panic attacks wasa making myself a list of things I could do in the event of a panic attack. Once I started feeling prepared for an attack I stopped worrying about new panic attacks and broke the cycle.

Things I do to prove to myself that I'm tougher than a panic attack: chew gum, look up positive sayings on the internet, remind myself that the panic attack is coming from my head - if I am creating it, I have the ability to eliminate it, find specific small tasks to perform to show myself that I am in control (I used to panic a lot in the car so I'd change the radio station 4 times or roll down the passenger's rear window), talk out loud, think about ANYTHING else other than my panic attack, hold my H's hand, tell myself that I am going to focus on a work task and just let the panic happen in the background because nothing bad will happen and it is not a huge deal.

Now I am to the point when I start feeling an attack coming on, I acknowledge that I'm feeding the panic and I can make a choice to starve it instead. It took a long time to get here, but it is VERY empowering. If you'd have told me I'd get to this point, I'd have said you were crazy and I was too scared.

WM, do you understand how and why you developed your anxiety? Is your family anxious? I can see that new situations, because they are unknown, cause your anxiety? You probably like to control situations in order to feel secure?

My first panic attack happened when I was considering going to teach english in a foreign country. I don't know if anyone else has anxiety issues in my family, it's not something we really talk about it. Even in situations where I have the control (like in therapy, I can choose what to talk about) I'm anxious because I'm worried about what the other person wants, and not me. It's so messed up!

Were your parents into control?