help

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I am generally not anxious all the time but I experience an extreme amount of anxiety when there is change. Generally when I confront the problem I am okay. However, with my new job I have been having anxiety for about two weeks. I am worried that I am going to be bored and I know how ridicilous it sounds but I am almost scared of where my mind takes me when it is not occupied. I was wondering if anyone can offer any insight onto this. Thank you!! Any opinions would be helpful!!!

[Squire]

Hi. I'm sorry that you are experiencing anxiety in this way as you start your new job. I guess its perfectly normal to worry when starting a new job, so perhaps if you are susceptible to anxiety anyway, especially around change, then it is not a big surprise that it can be triggered or made worse than normal by starting a new job. I used to always be nervous when starting a new job even before I started suffering from anxiety. I'm really new to this but did find it slightly unusual to see you say you're worried that your boredom may be the root cause of anxiety, but I think I know what you mean. I think it may be quite common to worry about the path your mind takes when its not otherwise occupied. Do you mean that you're worried about the kind of things that you think about because they are bad in some way or do you mean that you sort of feel like you may go a bit mad. The only reasons that I mention these two is that I have experienced both. The "going mad" thought was very distressing to me - it varied from thinking I was going to harm myself or be dangerous to others or just go totally out of my mind. Its almost like the more you try not to think about it the worse it gets. However, as the weeks have gone by I havent actually "gone mad" or done anything dangerous. I try to remember this when the feelings come on again, and tell myself that although in the past I was always convinced something bad was going to happen, nothing bad ever did happen.. except the awful anxiety of course. But not the bad things I was expecting. I dont know how relevant any of that is but I do hope things get better for you as soon as they can.