Stress Center Peer Support

It sure seems like work has really stressed me out more than ever over the past couple of months. I'm in sales and that in itself causes most stress. When I have a day off I have my best days, but around late afternoon, the stress and anxiety start to rise and then have heart palpataions and trouble falling asleep. The I wake up often during the night and then feel worthless at work the next day. Each day closer to another day off and the symptoms ease up and my sleeping habits get better. I can't afford to up and leave and I have a lot on my plate at work, so I can't just ignore it. I'm sure there are a lot of you out there that get stressed out from work, but I wanted to hear how everyone copes with it or tries to. Yes, there are other things besides work that gives me stress and anxiety, ie: money, bills, the house, the wife and kids... but who doesn't have that from time to time. My temper is getting shorter and shorter and I just want to be the "old me" that didn't worry and had more fun. Any help on how to cope with these issues would be great.

Which session are you on? Did Session Two help you understand how your thoughts are exacerbating this biology response? My suggestion on how to cope is go back and listen to Session Two again, do the homework again, apply it to your life. Then repeat Session Three, too. Wish I had a better quicker answer. This is the one I believe will help.

Are there any positive things you can associate with work? I mean I know it's hard to think anything is fun or good about work but if you keep telling yourself how stressful work is, you are always going to be uncomfortable when you are there. Also, the constant negative thoughts are ruining the days you have off.

Here are some of the positive things I try to say to myself when I"m having trouble. 'Work is a good distraction from my anxiety', 'I have a lot of friends at work and enjoy their company' etc... etc...

Maybe try that and see if it works. Or could you get a new job that's less stressful?

Quitting your job is not the answer. It took me three years to figure out that it's my anxiety and depression that is causing my stress and anger at work. Yeah there are difficult people and situations, but no matter where I go I am always going to have to deal with stress and other people's crap. I quit the job I was at three years ago because I couldn't work for my boss any longer. There was mold in my work environment (which I didn't know at the time) and I was getting very ill. My boss mentioned my sick time during my review and I quit with no job in line. It worked out, but I started having the same problems at the following job and my present job. This program has helped me realize that the problem isn't my job, boss, co-workers, ect.. it's how I react to those stressors. I loved session two because I feel the six steps really do help me from letting stress and anxiety build into a panic attack. I am just starting session three and am very hopeful I will continue to improve. I am having success with little stressors, but work stressors are still hard for me. I am finding myself becoming very angry at other people's crap (my high unrealistic expectations and other people's bad attitudes which I have no control over). I think I want to quit this job as well and switch careers into something that is less stressful, but who am I kidding? I work in a children's museum, what can really be so strssful about that. Yeah it does have its stress, but I am sure it is a heck of a lot less stressful than what a lot of what other people do for a living. I am not going to make any decisions until I have my emotions under control and can think rationally. Practice the six steps and use the relaxation cd first thing when you wake up and right before going to bed. That has helped me. I used to worry about having to go back to work in the morning and felt anxious right when I woke up because it was time to go and I didn't want to. I know exactly what you mean about just getting by work and shooting for the weekends and vacations. Good luck and take care.

Hello

I agree with you on this Amy ,Unlike most here I dont have a problem at work ,but after work good reaction manegment is key for me .

wether you work here or there its always the same anywhere you go . Someone above you is going to drive you to perform better (produce ) depending on their the motivational tools they use on you ,that person will always be there no matter where you go .
It could be a sobordinate who pushes your bottons .or someone trying to move up ,the corporate ladder that makes you job harder ,even if you owned the company ,the overhead alone would stress you out .

Sometimes the phrase IT JUST A JOB has to do .

smile

Thanks for everyone's insight and ideas. I can see that most of all I just need to relax and think about the positives and block out the negatives. All in all the positives during the workday outdo the negatives. Today is already better, maybe it's just a Monday thing.

Thanks again everyone, I needed the pep talks.