How many of you remember “a bad day at the office” Offices are synonyms with anxiety nowadays. The daily burnout gives rise to anxiety. People are skilled at hiding anxiety at workplace. They often feel proud to keep anxiety under wraps and often see this as a sign of strength, until the day it becomes impossible to keep it under the wraps.
Work from home (WFH) model has given a big relief to the ones who fear office environment. Some people find it nerve wrecking to join back. The extreme version of this is called “ergophobia” — excessive fear of the workplace. Ergophobia was first described in the 19th century as both “the art of laziness” and “a morbid fear or hatred of work.” One is controlled, intentional idleness while the other is an unavoidable anxious state, closely related in the modern day to burnout, panic attacks and depression disorders. These emotional storms give rise to eating disorders in extreme cases (https://drmadhumitamandal.com/eating-disorders-men-women/)
Situations that might make you anxious at work include:
- Dealing with tricky issues at work
- Public speaking
- Keeping up with personal relationships
- Meetings, staff lunches, and office parties
- Meeting and setting deadlines
There are some tough questions to be asked-
How can you lead with authority and strength when you feel anxious? How can you inspire and motivate others when your mind and heart are racing? And if you hide the fear in an attempt to be leaderlike, where does it go?
Some answers need to be traced out-
Humans today aren’t chased by predators, but are chased by uncertainty about the health of their loved ones, whether they’ll have a job next week or next year, whether their company will go bankrupt — worries that provoke the same neurological and physical responses as their ancestors faced. According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, “Stress is a response to a threat in a situation. Anxiety is a reaction to the stress.”
The solution
Anxiety isn’t useless always. In an economic crisis, the anxiety that keeps us up at night may help us fathom a solution to keeping our businesses open. But left unchecked, anxiety distracts us, zaps our energy, and drives us to make poor decisions. Anxiety is a powerful enemy, so we must make it our partner.
let’s begin
- The first stage is learning to identify your anxiety: how it manifests itself and how it feels.
- The second stage is taking action to manage it both on day-to-day basis and in challenging moments.
- The third stage entails making smart decisions and leading others in anxious times.
- Finally, the fourth stage involves building a support infrastructure to help you manage your anxiety over the long term.
If you have workplace anxiety, you might have symptoms like:
- Avoiding friends or family
- Constant worrying/ Crying at times
- Feeling irritable, tired or tense
- Feeling like you need to be perfect
- Sleeping trouble
- Chest tightness
- Having trouble concentrating or remembering things
- Losing interest in your work
- Overeating or loss of appetite
Most important – The more you will speak about it with your seniors, colleagues or family about it, the more support you can gain You should be able to go to certain people at work and tell them I’m having a really bad day.
Finally, if anxiety is persistent and hampering your days, you might consider consulting a therapist or mental health professional. Talking to someone trained in helping others manage anxiety may give you additional coping mechanisms to address debilitating symptoms.
You can’t run away from anxiety; you have to stop, turn and look at it face on. Not in defense, or defiance, but openly and bravely.
References-
- https://hbr.org/2020/05/leading-through-anxiety
- https://www.ft.com/content/0239be22-a04a-4d80-9490-180484f4f9cf
- https://www.webmed.com/anxiety-panic
- https://www.ft.com/content/0239be22-a04a-4d80-9490-180484f4f9cf
- https://sheroserevolution.com/team/my-story-of-overcoming-anxiety-at-work/