I just recently began a job at a call center, something I normally would have stayed far away from because of my social anxiety, but it was the only job I could land with decent pay and benefits. I thought I could do it, but one of my triggers is yelling, and I had a panic attack during training. They held me for an extra week of training because of this, and now that I'm finally out, I'm struggling much more than I thought. I've also noticed that minor side effects of my meds, once nothing more than mild annoyances, are now very bad- tremors, dry mouth, loss of appetite, bad stomach problems. I work the night shift so it quiets down on the last hour or two of work, but until then calls are non stop and it overwhelms me entirely. I can rationalize exactly how unreasonable I'm being, but my body physically will not listen to anything rational. I don't know what to do anymore, I'm averaging 2-3 panic attacks a day even on my medication, and all seems like there's no light at the end of this tunnel. I don't want to quit because I need the job but I also don't know how long I can keep this up. I just needed to tell someone who may understand.
I hear you. What about the job gives you anxiety? is it talking to people on the phone? or the responsibility of a job? or that others will see you having anxiety?
I found that the more knowledgeable I was with my call center job the less anxious I felt and actually came to enjoy it at times (not to say that I didn't have emotionally exhausting days, I did) but for the most part I could do my job with my eyes closed and one hand behind my back, figuratively speaking. It became kind of a distraction from my other anxiety.
But everyone is different so perhaps you should begin searching for a new job if you do not see a light at the end of the tunnel. I'm not on medication so I have no advice to offer except that maybe you need a different dose or medication for working hours. I would talk to your prescribing doctor about it.
Hugs to you! Panic attacks and anxiety is the worst! I’m having one as we speak and I have no idea why! I would suggest giving it some time and if you still feel entirely overwhelmed, you might want to consider a less stressful job. I’m the Director of Sales and Marketing for a large company so I know my work triggers my panic attacks at times! I wish I had some better advice but just know you’re not alone!
Hugs to you too Sarah, thank you for saying that
The training wasn't too bad because there were people there to help me if I ran into something I wasn't able to handle but my first week on the floor by myself has been torture. A call center was my last resort as a job specifically because I didn't think I could handle it and surprise, I was right!
I'm very glad to hear that you've come to enjoy it though. Anything that helps distract from other anxieties is a blessing. Thank you for sharing.
The problem is that now I'm not sure what is setting me off so much. I went into it anxious that people would yell at me on the phone, and a week in that's only happened twice. Then I thought it was messing up people's accounts, but I haven't yet. I'm thinking the source may be a mix between not having time to breathe between phone calls, my slow pace being incompatible with the volume of calls I get, and having my anxiety show to my coworkers how incapable I am. My only other jobs were at a fabric store and a zoo for Halloween, both things I enjoy. But the fabric store cut my hours down to nothing and treated me badly my last year there, and the zoo is seasonal, so this full time position doing something I'm uncomfortable with is stressful.
Jeez sorry for the novel, I'm long winded.
Has it just been a week? I was anxious the first month! Lol
I messed up more than once and felt like it would never get easier. My training was cut short when my trainer went into labor early and they threw a person newer than me on my shift (there were only 2 people on 2nd shift!) By three months I could have three phone calls in progress at the same time. My job was specifically in the security system business so it could be highly stressful at times but I really did end up finding it rewarding. Try sticking it out for a few more weeks. You might just surprise yourself! You can always be on the lookout for a different job just in case. I think sometimes the anxiety forces us to believe we can't do things, then when we validate those feelings it reinforces the anxiety (I hope that makes sense)