Anxiety Attacks At Work

[HappyKoi]

What do you do if you have an anxiety attack at work?  Do you "push through" it, excuse yourself and take a break, get help, or something else?  Sometimes mine hit in the middle of a huge customer rush, and I have to lock down on myself to keep from panicking or crying, all the while hoping that customers don't notice.  Doing that often causes physical pain in my stomach, chest, and head.  When I can get away, I try to do something like folding the clothes on a rack in the corner or cleaning out the fitting rooms and hoping like crazy that no customers come up to me until I can get my feelings taken care of and calmed down.  It's rough sometimes.

 

[sidney]

Well it seems like you work in the mall. That would be a hard predicament indeed, because you are exposed to people all the time. I think if I was hit by an anxiety attack then I will try to divert my thoughts from what is making me anxious and just concentrate on what I'm doing since I'm in a public place, and I certainly don't want it to affect my level of productivity.

 

[LionTurtle]

I've had several anxiety attacks at my job over the years, the last one less than a year ago.  When it happens I need to get away from everyone to calm down or else I will burst into tears. Last time I locked myself in the bathroom until the feeling passed.

 

[misszerable]

I've had anxiety attacks at work a few months before my father died. I didn't want to pick up the phone because I was scared to hear bad news about him. He was always in my mind and there are times when I can't work on tasks that required me to make decisions. I would look for clerical tasks to do like typing or filing just so I would get busy and not be forced to think hard. I would cry out of the blue whenever it crosses my mind that he was about to leave us. This was specially true in the last two weeks of his life. I felt so helpless because he was in a hospital on the other side of the globe and I can't do anything to help him. I eventually quit my job immediately after his death.   

 

[CT422]

Whenever I had anxiety attacks at work, it would present itself as me getting flustered and almost completely unable to finish tasks that were too complex. This usually only happens when I have to talk to customers or if a boss criticizes my work. Usually, if I can get away, I do, but if I an't, I end up making stupid mistakes because I'm so self conscious. But, when I do get away, I usually find somewhere to be alone and just try to calm myself down. Most of the time I'm fine again after a break.