My Views On Anxiety

Hello, so myself and a couple of people that I know suffer from Anxiety. Yes, the word that most common ''Job seeker'' people use nowadays. I suffer from two forms of Anxiety both ''Normal'' and social anxiety. I've always wanted to explain about my Anxiety and my views on it.

What do you think of the people that use anxiety to get out of jobs?

I believe that if you are seriously suffering from bad anxiety and you can't physically talk to people on a day to day basis then you should probably be looking for online jobs. I currently look every day for social media jobs, blog jobs and sometimes even youtube jobs that I can do because although I have a problem with speaking to people in person talking to a camera isn't too hard for me. But, what I don't like is when people don't suffer from anxiety set a bad example for us, they use this mental illness as a way of getting out of doing jobs and getting onto sick pay because it's easier for them. A close friend of mine, Abby, has bad anxiety issues and she still manages to work 12 hours a week, some of those are at home because some days she has breakdowns but she still works.

When was your last breakdown?

A couple of weeks ago. I had a phone interview for a job, I didn't want to apply for, but I had a phone interview and I was doing okay. She asked me about myself and we spoke about the job. As she continued to speak about the Call center job everything sort of sunk in that I would be speaking to people and then I found it hard to breathe. I said I would let her know and I hung up the phone. From the moment I placed my phone down on that table I broke down. I went into a full breakdown. I was crying, I couldn't breathe properly and I could feel myself shaking. Throughout the years my anxiety has gotten worse and I still think that that one has been my worst one yet.

When was your first breakdown?

When I was in school. Around Year 9 we had to start presenting class presentations to people in a group of 20 students and I couldn't do it. I did everything in my willpower to get out of doing them. I didn't even have friends in school how was I supposed to present a presentation to a bunch of people I got bullied by on a day to day basis.

What caused your anxiety?

Well, sometimes anxiety can be caused by may environmental factors, medical factors, genetics, brain chemistry and substance abuse. We quickly ruled out that it wasn't genetics as none of my family seem to have bad anxiety like myself and Substance abuse wasn't it either. My doctor seems to think it's things that I've been through, like car accidents (I've had five) bullied for five years, my dads all walking out on me and the fact that I really don't like speaking to people and doing so makes me unstable.

Do you have any tips for anyone going through anxiety?

Get yourself an online friend! I have one, she's Abby, I've known her for 4 years and we talk every single day through snap chat or iMessage but never on the phone as it freaks us both out. If I'm having a bad breakdown I message her, or if I can feel a panic attack coming on I message her. Have something just for when you're having a breakdown. I have a small box full of snacks, drinks and little quotes to read when I'm having a bad day.

Any other things?

I want people to stop saying you can just get over anxiety, it's not as simple as snapping your fingers and being cured. It's about mental illnesses. Many people don't see this as a mental illness because some forms cannot be treated but it is.