icechick
07-18-2008, 04:50 AM
Just wanted to introduce myself to your forum and tell you why i'm here.
For 4 years i've been working in a job i hate which is customer facing and involves a lot of confrontation with the public as well as other departments and members of staff.
Although i've always woken up feeling physically sick at the thought of going in every day i've learnt to deal with it and subsequently have become confident dealing with people being abusive. I would look forward to every evening and weekend not working but gradually get a churning feeling in my stomach when thinking about the following days work.
The last couple of months however i have been constantly verging on full blown panic attacks from waking to coming home at night. I would panic constantly when driving, i would sink into a temporary depression when i sit down to relax at night (maybe cos i'm uptight all day?). I had a weeks holiday recently, having looked forward to escaping from work and enjoying the sun in my garden for a week, ended up spending the entire week wondering why i was feeling so depressed. after returning to work i noticed that after feeling anxious all day i would be depressed at home. I also started to worry about potential social outings which hadnt even been arranged. I worried about going to work on warm days (seem to associate feeling hot with feeling anxious for some reason). I also began to worry about my planned holiday later this summer (going camping in the outer hebrides - what should be so stressful about that).
After worrying about all the symptoms of anxiety i was feeling - feeling sick, churning stomach, wanting to run away, aches and pains, chest pains (very scary!!!), disliking bright sunny days (does anyone else get this?) - i went online and read about anxiety. One public health website advised to avoid all situations which cause the anxiety symptoms. RIDICULOUS!!! What a good way to become a recluse!
For the last week i decided to take control. At first i was angry about these feelings, especially when on the surface i have everything i want. I decided to acknowledge the fact that i had never suffered a heart attack or passed out from the symptoms. i now try to embrace feeling spaced out when i'm driving and just let it wash over me - i havent panicked when driving since this. I have also tried to let the symptoms wash over me at work - this has worked to a certain extent, with a few symptoms beginning but i just accepted them and remembered that i would not pass out, at worst, i have spent most of the day feeling spaced out.
Just wanted to let you know that one person has been able to begin to control it, dont get me wrong, i'm sure i'll probably feel worse again at some point but at least i can tell myself that i have controlled it before. Good luck to everybody out there who feels the way i do.
For 4 years i've been working in a job i hate which is customer facing and involves a lot of confrontation with the public as well as other departments and members of staff.
Although i've always woken up feeling physically sick at the thought of going in every day i've learnt to deal with it and subsequently have become confident dealing with people being abusive. I would look forward to every evening and weekend not working but gradually get a churning feeling in my stomach when thinking about the following days work.
The last couple of months however i have been constantly verging on full blown panic attacks from waking to coming home at night. I would panic constantly when driving, i would sink into a temporary depression when i sit down to relax at night (maybe cos i'm uptight all day?). I had a weeks holiday recently, having looked forward to escaping from work and enjoying the sun in my garden for a week, ended up spending the entire week wondering why i was feeling so depressed. after returning to work i noticed that after feeling anxious all day i would be depressed at home. I also started to worry about potential social outings which hadnt even been arranged. I worried about going to work on warm days (seem to associate feeling hot with feeling anxious for some reason). I also began to worry about my planned holiday later this summer (going camping in the outer hebrides - what should be so stressful about that).
After worrying about all the symptoms of anxiety i was feeling - feeling sick, churning stomach, wanting to run away, aches and pains, chest pains (very scary!!!), disliking bright sunny days (does anyone else get this?) - i went online and read about anxiety. One public health website advised to avoid all situations which cause the anxiety symptoms. RIDICULOUS!!! What a good way to become a recluse!
For the last week i decided to take control. At first i was angry about these feelings, especially when on the surface i have everything i want. I decided to acknowledge the fact that i had never suffered a heart attack or passed out from the symptoms. i now try to embrace feeling spaced out when i'm driving and just let it wash over me - i havent panicked when driving since this. I have also tried to let the symptoms wash over me at work - this has worked to a certain extent, with a few symptoms beginning but i just accepted them and remembered that i would not pass out, at worst, i have spent most of the day feeling spaced out.
Just wanted to let you know that one person has been able to begin to control it, dont get me wrong, i'm sure i'll probably feel worse again at some point but at least i can tell myself that i have controlled it before. Good luck to everybody out there who feels the way i do.