It's never to late to make a change...

Well, ya may need to find an antidepressant that works for your body chemistry. I had tried a few in the past that made me feel the equivalent of a human slud or seem to make me spazzier...if that was possible! And one of the very hardest things for us anxiety folk to do is look for work. We might as well be naked with toilet paper hanging out of our butts, it makes us feel that creeped out, right? Volunteer work is great if money is not an urgent issue. At a nursing home, the animal shelter. I mean, they CAN'T fire ya. You can take as much as you like in the form of anxiety and walk away. But you will find us anxiety folk are THE VERY BEST workers around once we get in the groove of things. We are articulate, smart, thorough, and can beat the pants off the other employees when it comes to endurance. If money is an issue at this time, there's warehouse work, behind the scenes stuff. Housecleaners, paper deliverers (if driving isn't a challenge...tho most delivery people are up at the crack of dawn before the rest of society has their first cup of Joe).Baby steps hun. I mean, it's not like your working goal is to be a topless stripper...is it? ha.

yeah, I also have a fear of looking for work and right now, that's exactly what I am doing. My fear is because of my Social Phobia and other stuff.

I have the exact same problem. My husband has a very good job and supports me just fine, but he would prefer that I work too because he's always worried about money. I don't mind making money at all, but I have really bad social anxiety in stressful situations and just the thought of looking for another job scares the heck out of me.

I do want to look, because I think I need to fill my time better, but getting started is so hard! I like Sawyer's idea of looking for volunteer work first and/or things where you don't have a lot of interaction with others. I hope you are able to do this...I wish you the best! (((HUGS)))

I went through this about 2 months ago when I was starting a new job....and the only thing I can tell you is that I have a feeling of self satisfaction that no matter how bad I am feeling, I make it to work. and it is true...never too late to change.....we grow when we change or is it the other way around :)

I am faced right now with looking for work either to supplement the hours I have or a new full time job. It is very daunting to say the least. Among other things I don't like change and when I think of most positions that I could do I get very insecure and feel that I can't handle it. Self sabotage before I start. I don't have a solution but for me I have to push on and do it anyhow. Soryy that I don't have any great advice but you are not alone.

I can totally relate. I have this same problem. I had an "out" though. I always told myself that it didn't work...and I was too anxious..I could just leave (or walk out for a few minutes) or walk out and never come back. There is always disability. This was my "out" to get in. I lost my job of 7 years ago about 2 years ago. I had to find a job and did. I was nervous but had that "out" and a boyfriend that made me believe that "out". If I had to leave, I could. You are in control, even though we don't feel like it. I then, went looking for another job as I am a single mother and needed better benefits. I just "went for it." I was nervous. In the interview, I was sweating and was thinking of excuses to leave. I could've ran out..but before you knew it...I was done the interview. Out of 600 applications received, I was one of two people hired. I could never have imgained doing this. It will get better. Try not to add second fear. Please friend me and I can try to work with you on this. Baby steps. Are you in any kind of therapy?

I understand what you are going through. I have not been able to work for the past three weeks and I am seriously considering quiting my job. i dont know how we will make it. i make more than my husband and i have the benefits. i just cant bring myself to go back.even on meds it is not working.

My General Anxiety made aggressively looking for work very difficult; however I tried to use it to my advantage. Fortunately for me I was (and still am on unemployment). Because I have this safety net I made a list of the attributes of a perfect job for me.

I wanted a short commute, opportunity to advance, and make good money, be able to start off slow, and work with my hands.

I had previously worked in a cube, and managed a customer service call center. It was terrible. I would never go back to that line of work if I can avoid it.

What I found was a job working for a local body shop. I was honest about my complete lack of education, but b/c I'm on unemployment I can start at a reduced payrate, and hours until they decide if they want me, and I decide if I truly like the job. I get to make extra money, and still keep my unemployment benefits (legally of course). I can make up to $125.00/week before my benefits are affected.

So far (one week later) things are going well. I really like it, and I think they like me.

I couldn't believe how well everything seemed to fall into place here. If you have faith that good things can happen to you, I would encourage you to use any time you can to your advantage to try and get a job you will truly enjoy.

My first day was full of anxiety, but I was ok at the end. I came home ate some adivan and passed out for about 3 hours. The next day was easier, and now I'm so happy to be working there that it's made a huge change in how I look at this anxiety. Being productive, and not in my house everyday has made this much more bearable.

For the first time in almost 6 months I really feel things are turning around.

I am currently on leave from work. my job is so stressful and only adds to my anxiety. I am a 911 dispatcher for my local sheriffs office. I would like to find something that is not as stressful so I could go back to work. Not having any luck right now. I was wondering is there any programs that help people with this disorder find a job that is right for them?

I left my job about 4 yrs. ago mainly because of the anxiety and stress. I am feeling a lot better and have decided to maybe look for work again. The thing is that I am a bit afraid to get back into it, the driving to work, meetings, etc...I keep saying I'm going to look, but I keep pushing it back. The anticipation is probably worse than the actual thing, but I won't know until I actually do it.

Wow, thanks for sharing this....I am feeling this way today, and it helps knowing I am not alone. HUGS! I will pray for peace for us....

Remember...your anticipation is making you anxious. All of the things that we are telling ourselves are thoughts. It's not reality. We are afraid of what COULD happen. However, what are we missing out on if those things we fear don't happen. Trust me when I say I know exactly how you feel..about looking for a job. I had to prove to myself that I could leave a job and find another. I have anxiety at work...sometimes I have it bad..sometimes not so bad. I have been at my new job for almost a year. I have had my share of feeling ill and crying and anxiety, etc. I was able to open up to two people that I work with. Granted, the Lord put me in an office where I only have 1-2 people in there with me at the same time. I am not out in the open like I use to be. Would I be able to do it if it were different and I was actually in a different environment..I don't know. It would be tough..but all I can do is the best that I can do. This has me thinking...I wish you all luck. Is everyone in therapy with a therapist that specializes in anxiety disorders?
I wish there were places out there that would help people like us find jobs..for companies that understand. Thank God we are protected by the Disablity Act.

I'm in the same situation, and good to hear I'm also not alone with this one.

It can be really draining searching through jobs, knowing most of them aren't suitable and when you do find something that is, it can be a worry thinking am I good enough for this and what would happen to me if my life changed and I ended up working for these people?
And then when you've put it off for a long time it can be even harder to get back to looking for work since all the time you've been out of the 'looking for work game' the more you've procrastinated about your worthiness and ability to do the job you want in the first place.

It is tough, but hope you can find a way to overcome it.
all the best

I'm a firm believer now of good things will happen to those of us that try.

My last job was a nightmare, and much of why I'm on this forum. I left work because of the overwhelming anxiety, and inability to cope with it. I spent the last 6 months trying to get out of this "funk" and I must say the only thing that seemed to help me was pushing myself out of my comfort zones. The more stuff you do, even if its driving around, or going somewhere anywhere just for a walk you begin to feel better. After about 3 weeks of making myself go somewhere, and do something and stay out of my house for at least a few hours a day, I began to feel a little better. At night, or the next morning I could think about where I was going to go, what I was going to do, or just remember what I did the day/days before.

This helped me because I was very obsessive about constantly thinking about my anxiety and how I was feeling at the time. This isn't to say that it went away, but it was reduced by about half.

I then began to seriously look for work but made a list of what type of job I wanted. I wanted it to be close to home, no more than 20min drive, not be in a cube, not have a phone or a desk, and I just wanted to do something with my hands.

I searched on craigslist for a few days and thought about working in a kitchen or as a laborer in construction. I then found an Auto Body shop position, talked to them and with no education it all just somehow worked out. I work part time, make my own schedule pretty much as long as I work 15hours a week, and I really enjoy it. Now my anxiety is down to nearly nothing. (hope I don't jynx myself there), but working helped me a lot to feel better.

Long story short, even if you don't work, try and get out of your house/apartment, wherever you spend most of your time to help build your confidence, and get you use to the idea of a work schedule if that is your ultimate goal.

Anyway I hope this helps. Oh, last thing, don't be hard on yourself. If you feel like going out then don't its ok, but try to I promise it will help.