I found an interesting question on Yahoo Answers yesterday:
What are the suitable jobs for panic attack suffers?
I get gag up and choking sensation. Some time spinning heads sensation, light headed, etc, etc. I am terrified and can not function. I am on medication, I go to church, I was working out…… but now pressure is on since I have not been able to work. I need a job, but I am so terrified.
Amazingly, the best answer given was this:
something with very low stress and probably where you dont deal much with people
This got me thinking about the best jobs for panic attack sufferers. I totally disagree with this answer, by the way. While it’s super important to keep the drama in our lives to a minimum, this does not mean that we can shut ourselves off from the world and all the people in it.
The nature of panic attacks and anxiety makes us think this is the right thing to do- that we’ll be safe if we avoid people at all costs. But this is distorted thinking.
My favorite author Claire Weekes, in my favorite book, Hope and Help for your Nerves, states on p.88 that “occupation helps regain stability.” She says this to a patient who insists he is too exhausted to work because of his anxiety.
When you push forward and keep on living- going to work, having a schedule and sticking to it, interacting with others- this is the path to freedom.
Anxiety and panic have and do try to rear their ugly heads in my everyday life, but by keeping busy, staying occupied with my job, and being engaged and active with the people around me, I keep them at bay.
So if you don’t have a job in a corner office or a cave or whatever, be glad! You need outside stimulation and other things to focus on besides your “anxiety disorder.” Being in normal surroundings like a job that takes you out of the house is one of the best things for you.
What do I say to the original questioner above? I have been there- more times than I can say- over the course of my working life.
When I am in crisis mode, I do use medication to get me through. And I pull out the big guns: prayer, my anxiety self help program, my books.
And it is very, very hard for awhile. My sleep is disrupted, my thoughts are messed up. I have panic attacks.
And then the crisis passes. It always does– and life goes back to normal.
I wish you peace,
Jill G.
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I, too, am more relaxed in the fall. and I look forward to the dark evenings when I can hole up and do things I love like just sit and read, knit, sew. I don’t feel obligated to go out and do something. Summer is too frenzied for me.