Working With Anxiety?

[Tim]

Hi everyone. :)

Basically I have had anxiety 'issues' for as long as I can remember along with OCD and a few other things.

But over the last year its really got bad and I'm struggling to know what to do now. Luckily I have been talking to someone who I met on a car forum with similar problems who has helped me a great deal however he can only help me so much.

Just to give some background info - In august last year I had a bad 'incident' which I'm not going into atm BUT I will say I was a long way from home when it happened and it was related to anxiety. Since then I have not been able to travel further than ~30mins from my house....which would be alright if I lived in town, however I live around 25 mins drive from town! I also get really panicky and bad stress related IBS every time I go out, wherever I go. I also can't eat, drink or use the toilet whilst I'm out.

Now I have been trying to put up with this and was in denial for a while but have finally given in and admitted that I do have a problem.

Now, I'm a 19 y/o student and have had to give up my p/t job at a supermarket becuase I just couldn't handle it anymore. And also missed a lot of college towards the end of the academic year (still scraped a pass though!).

So this is where I'm stuck basically, its the holidays and I have no job and no income! I don't know whether to continue with college next year OR give up and look for a full time job. Either way I'm going to keep having these issues, I realise that, but I also have to think about the money as well. I'm also not sure that I could do a full time job or what jobs would be appropriate (maybe warehousing/shelf stacking without much social interaction?) in my current 'state' so don't know whether I'm applicable for JSA or even (reluctantly) any sort of benefit because of the anxiety.

So what do you guys do for work? Any of you on JSA or anything? Any studying at college? Basically any help will be much appreciated.

Cheers (and sorry for the long thread!)
Tim

[Marlow]

Im in college, have thought many times about giving up and not doing it anymore. I have a thirst for knowledge and would hate that. I also missed alot of school my freshman year due to anxiety but wasnt lucky enough to get passing grades. I failed almost every class.

The next semester however I did well and the one after that even better. Im back on track and hoping I can make it through another year strong but have been having alot of problems lately as well. I keep thinking I should just look for a full time job but I wont be happy doing that If it isnt challenging enough. I dont want a stressful job but I kinda think any job you get that needs a college background will be stress related but I will handle that when it comes.

Im overall resiliant I think, I dont want this anxiety ruling my world but its hard when I have those down times to even see good. Do what makes you happy. If knowledge and learning are your thirst, do that. If making money is what you really want, get a job.

Good Luck,
Marlow

[jessed03]

You're English right? JSA? I don't think Americans or the Aussie's use that abbreviation? :)

I can only tell you what helped me, and hope you take something small from it. Sometimes the body needs time to over come anxiety, in a natural way. If you feel your body needs more time to outgrow this anxiety, then maybe prolonging study is a good way to go.

If you feel it's sort of set that way, then you can only move forward, and sometime's its tough, the right options aren't always there for us to take. When receiving JSA, they give you a period of around 4-5 months, before they give you major hassle. In that time, it's possible to take on part time work experience placements. The JC don't mind it, and neither do employers. You're under no obligation to stick at anything. It's a great chance to test the waters, see what environments are better for your anxiety, and which ones worsen it, you could do this maybe 2 days a week. This way, if you like it, you'll build up confidence of being able to handle it, with the option of leaving if it worsens your anxiety. All while improving your CV. Hopefully after that, you'll be in a more confident state about what you can and have handled.

Just a thought. It was what I sort of did to help me get slowly back into things after 3 years of nothing. Good luck with what you do.

[suraj463]

Anxiety is a normal human emotion that everyone experiences at times. Many people feel anxious, or nervous, when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or making an important decision. Anxiety disorders, however, are different.You should know the symptoms of anxiety so that you can remove it.