Jobs for people with social anxiety

[Nozorel]

So, which kind of job do you think is best for people with social anxiety?


I guess there are 3 options:


1) a job with lots of human contact like retail which will help you in overcoming it by getting you accustomed to people .


2) a job with normal human contact, a normal office job.


3) a job with no human contact, like a lighthouse keeper or a writer, they're hard to find though. Any common job still requires you to go into an office or stay with other people nearby.


I prefer the first option now, it's what I'm going to do with my life and there is no escaping from other people if I want to work in a hospital. But if you asked me some years ago I would probably have choosen the latter option.

 

[Fae]

I tend to get anxious when dealing with social situations, but mostly it's ones where I don't have prior experience. I will freeze, spout off random things, or other things that hope will "solve" the unknown issue at hand. It doesn't work so well.


Personally, I don't mind working around people. What I DO prefer is working around people in very predictable ways and where not much extra input is needed. I could work a retail job okay if I knew where most things in the store were and was not often engaged in small talk with customers. I might actually prefer it to doing the office job because it wouldn't have social and business situations based in office politics I couldn't make sense of...


So I think I'd like working in a place where, regardless of the number of people, I'd feel insulated from presence of people around me. Right now, that feels like working mostly with data and occasionally delivering it to people who seek the interpretation before disappearing to be with the data again.

 

[x0xLikeMex0x]

Everyone has social anxiety in a different way. For example, I think my social anxiety has gotten worse while working in retail. Why? Try having a really busy day at work while you run around the floor people ask stupid questions and some yell at you for no reason. Ofcourse you shouldn't take it personally (whatever they yell at you), but at the end of the day, you got yelled at, not the brand you represent.


I've also worked in a stockroom of a shoe shop where I rarely had human interaction. It was awful. I felt physical need for communication. I won't talk to a shoebox, will I?

 

[kgord]

I have tried options 1 2 and 3 it wasn't so great. However I think it has to do more with my work behaviors than social anxiety. I can deal with people as long as they are respectful and don't give me a hard time. My last "real job" involved heavy people contact, but it wasn't prolonged, I was by myself a good bit of the time, so it was OK. I got some slow times in order to regroup and have some peace and quiet. When I was teaching though, that was very hard. I would go home emotionally exhausted.

 

[hades_leae]

I wanted to say they should have jobs with normal and regular day to day human contact, but sometimes this could be a phase that they are going threw and could be better off working where there isn't many people or sometimes alone. People with social anxiety at times when they shouldn't have it like in a restaurant working at a register might start having panic attacks, or some other problem that will keep them from getting their job done.


I would recommend them to stay away from lots of people until they can get it under control, but for now just take their time trying to understand why it's occurring.

 

[Ashley0323]

Is working from home an option for you to look into? Thats what I do, I am a freelance writer, and work solely online. I never HAVE to deal with people, if i decide I dont want to. Can you talk on the phone without your anxiety getting in the way? If so, maybe try call centers.

 

[GrubbyRose]

I currently work in the office of a automotive repair shop, where customers are not allowed. I only have to deal with the boss and the mechanics, all of whom I know. I think this works out good for me, as I get some social interaction, while still not overwhelming myself dealing with the public. I think it is best to get your toes in the water some, but don't dive right in to a situation that might be too much.

 

[Zeesi]

It depends on the person and where they are in their life. Me, I like to write, and I like spending time with myself, so writing would be a good option for me. Dealing with people all day, every day can get a bit tedious to me, especially if the people are full of it, and not really talking about subjects that are interesting to me in particular.


I've been on jobs where my co-workers talked about sex all day, their boyfriends, their girlfriends, or spouses, or talked about other people all day--gossip, gossip, gossip. I've been on jobs where the environment was professional and everyone basically did their job, but during lunch, before and after work, there was always some type of drama. I'm very low drama, so I think a job where I can avoid a lot of nonsense is best for me. I like being around people sometimes, but not 5 days a week, 8 hours a day.

 

[jennywren]

I agree with Zeesi, it depends on the social anxiety. My personal social anxiety is only when I am in “special,“ social events like family vacations, birthdays, Christmas, Halloween…” So I can work in most any social situation but I prefer to work from home and to be my own boss considering I am a bit ODD.

 

[Alex]

Most people need some social contact, but it depends if people are looking to overcome it or have a job where they can cope. Jobs such as cleaning, working in a warehouse, or working in a kitchen require less social interactions, but still need some communication. I use to volunteer in a center and some volunteers would choose tasks where there was limited interaction, and that was always housekeeping or the kitchen as they didn't have to deal with the public and would only have to communicate with certain people.


Things such as proofreading, and database entry work may also be good as no one gets disturbed doing those jobs too.

 

[John Snort]

The best jobs for people with social anxiety are those that don't require a lot of human contact. Jobs like: being a writer, a translator, legal assistant, accountant, truck driver and others like them. Working in retail from my experience might not be that good for people with social anxiety because you must interact with rude people every day. It could make your anxiety worse.

 

[djanx]

Yeah true. I mean I realized that I couldn't really "exist" in a crowded workplace. So, I chose writing and tech. There was some contact, but it wasn't as if I was hosting a hundred guests or something. It was the same small team every day, so I got used to the workplace.

 

[Aree Wongwanlee]

I voted for a job with no human contact. Actually, what I meant was a job with no actual physical contact. It's quite impossible to have a job which is totally devoid of human contact. What I have in mind is a job which can be wholly done online. You still are in touch with other human beings but you are shielded by time and space. Plus you can disconnect when things become too uncomfortable for you. The market for online work is growing. You can join a company which offers such work or you can create such work yourself. The big advantage of online work is that it is global in nature and it's the kind of work which will only improve over time, with no limitations of skin color, race or religion to hamper your progress.

 

[fuzyon]

I would choose a job with normal human contact. I know you suffer from social anxiety but after a while you have to start fighting for your happiness, and a job with normal social interaction would be the wisest choice. That way you won't feel overwhelmed by having to talk to people ala the time but you still leave a window open for you to practice talking to others. Programming would be a wise choice, usually you'll work in a team so you'll learn a lot from that.

 

[KW2496]

I've gotten really bad anxiety working at jobs where I am always around and communicating with other people. I now work from home which I find much better for me personally. However, I do make a point to go out to do work in coffee shops every now and again, so I am not completely shutting myself out from everyone else. I also don't like alone so I am still around people. Just thankfully not irritating, angry customers.

 

[kelden]

The lesser quantity of huma contact, the less likely are you to suffer from social anxiety. But even with zero contact, depending of the job, you'll get anxious when expecting the clients feedback. Like developing websites or apps for money, and fearing your work may not be f the client's liking.

 

[rz3300a]

I currently work in the office of a automotive repair shop' date=' where customers are not allowed. I only have to deal with the boss and the mechanics, all of whom I know. I think this works out good for me, as I get some social interaction, while still not overwhelming myself dealing with the public. I think it is best to get your toes in the water some, but don't dive right in to a situation that might be too much.[/quote']
Well that sounds pretty ideal for someone who is not your traditional people person. Even though I would not consider myself good with people by any means, I think I need a little more contact than something like that, or at least I would prefer it. I would think that it would get pretty dull, although if you love the work then you probably have nothing to worry about. Seems like administrative roles are kind of up this alley, but I guess it all depends on where you work. Glad to hear that this works for you though.

 

[CT422]

I worked on a production line a couple of years ago, and I did really well there. What I didn't understand is that I was working well there because I was only working with six or seven people. This was before I was diagnosed. I'd say option two is best for me, but only in a relatively non-stressful environment, once things get hectic my productivity tends to go out the window.

 

[janemariesayed]

As an anxiety sufferer, I think it is best to have a job where I don't have any kind of physical human contact. To say what is best for us who suffer from anxiety, though, is to have a job where we have regular human contact as throwing us in at the deep end is the only way to overcome it. I am going through counselling at the moment and after a while, I hope to return to work as it would help me to gain confidence. This in turn, would give me a lot of interaction with people and the anxiety would be a lot weaker.

 

[WorkAtHomeGal]

Even though I do have social anxiety I have worked jobs involving customer service in the past but it was very hard, so hard that I had days where I actually faked sick because the feeling of me being so anxious was to much. I find in my town there mostly only is sale jobs and cash jobs, and I have no interest in either but also am afraid to work both. My experience in the past as a cashier made me end up leaving my job after people stole on my shift and I didn't confront them... The call center I was doing well with for 6 months or so then it went down hill too. Working in the garden even though it is hard is highly desirable for me because there is a lot less human interaction. It is just me and my dad mostly. Sometimes even team work seems hard too which also is kind of annoying. With therapy though I am trying to find new new ways to overcome these problems, but it looks like for me it could be a long road.