I'm with you on this one. Although, my anxiety is constant whether I'm at work or not...but it makes it 200 times worse when I'm under pressure at my job. I work in advertising, and since I've been back, it's been out of control. I usually like going to work because it keeps me distracted from how I feel, but when work itself causes anxiety...then it's just double trouble. Have you tried any medication yet?

first, i would like to recommend that you switch fields. work is not supposed to be so stressful and demanding. work is supposed to fit our personalities and limitations. if a boss places superhuman responsibilities on us, then we are morally obligated to ourselves to look for another job. our systems are not designed to carry high stressors daily.

second, religions teach us to walk in the world without being a part of the world. that is extremely good for us. at home, nurture and habitually do things that really destress you. really develop destressing thinking, activities, and relationships. then, when you walk out the door, put your shields up to sidestep stressors.

anxiety should be manageable. please develop your anxiety offsetting strategies. this culture we live in is a rushed, multi-tasking unnatural society that goes against human nature of calmness and relaxed pacing. we do not have to buy into hectic lifestyles.

I definately can relate to the anxiety at work thing! It works both ways for me. If I don't have enough on my plate that day, I get anxious because I don't want to just have to sit at my desk for the half the day trying to find something to do. On the other hand if I have too much of a work load it makes me nuts! You know what I do that really helps and I don't know if you would be able to do this or not but I keep a little legal pad on the side of my desk. I take a couple of minutes to decorate a page in the morning and label it to do. Anyways I write all the things that I have to do from my everyday tasks to once tasks. Anyways it really helps to see how much you've accomplished and then decide what you want to do from there. I don't think that just because your job is stressfull you need to change careers. Especially at the current time in our economy. When I'm really really busy I still do my do list but I set a goal for myself thats reasonable that way even if I didn't get everything accomplished on the neverending list I did accomplish my goal. I hope that made sense!

Thank you all so much for your input! I appreciate it very much.

Cas, I haven't tried any medications yet. At this point, I think my anxiety is manageable w/o medication. I talked to my Dr. about it, and he thinks that I just need to adjust to my new work environment, and if it remains troublesome to come back and see him.

I totally agree with you, faithful, about the extreme demand on us from today's society. I definitely try to detach myself a little bit from work when I go. However, I'm not going to switch fields because I truly do love the legal field. I went to college, got a degree, and then went and got a paralegal certification and hope to go back to law school some day! It's a demanding, stressful feild, but I'm in for the long haul. Since this is my first job in the field, I am using it as a jump start to get me to better things. Just as a resume booster and for experience. I definitely don't plan to stay in the forclosure field much longer.

Niki, I totally understand what you mean. Checking off to-dos is a great way to feel as if you've accomplished something. I do it all the time!

THANKS AGAIN GUYS!

Work has always been a main trigger for my anxiety. I actually had to leave my last job because of it (although that was in live TV, so I'd imagine it would make even people without anxiety issues).

Anyways, I just try to focus on what I need to do, and remind myself that I've made it through plenty of anxiety-provoking situations and always wound up ok. Sometimes I need to get up and walk around or go to the bathroom or something, but I always end up ok.

There have only been a couple of times that I've actually left work because of anxiety, and those were some of the worst nights I've ever had. On the other side of the coin, if I had actually stayed and fought through the anxiety, I could have viewed it as a triumph. Because of this I try to stay through anything because it feels so much better once you make it.