What is Anxiety?

Anxiety is the feeling of fear or worry that can be mild or severe. Dealing with Anxiety in different situations can be proven a lot more difficult, especially in the workplace.

Whether it be starting a new job, going for an interview for an upcoming job or meeting your new employers, it is normal to feel anxious, however, if you start to feel like this more than usual, thinking about addressing the issue with a professional may be the best next steps to take.

In 2019/20 there were an estimated 828,000 workers affected by work-related stress, depression or anxiety. Another recent survey revealed that out of all British adults in employment, 75% commonly experience work-related stress.

 

Different Types of Anxiety Disorders

There are five major types of Anxiety Disorders:

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder, GAD, is an anxiety disorder where you tend to experience worries within your everyday life about many certain things, which cause you stress or worry.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

OCD is an Anxiety Disorder that is caused by repetitive behaviours (compulsions). Repetitive behaviours such as counting, checking stuff over, or constantly cleaning are signs of OCD behaviour.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD, is an anxiety disorder that can develop over time after experiencing a terrifying event, where there was physical harm or a feeling of being threatened. An example of soldiers returning from the War, experiencing PTSD from the terrifying events of fellow soldiers losing their lives.

Social Anxiety Disorder or Social Phobia

Social Anxiety Disorder, also known as Social Phobia is an anxiety disorder that occurs due to everyday social situations (such as parties, gatherings, or within the workplace).

However Social Phobia can be limited to one type of situation, this could include speaking out in social events or big groups or even just walking into a shop on your own. Other situations include the fear of eating or drinking in front of others.

 

Signs of Anxiety at Work

Despite there being no work anxiety disorder there are numerous signs and symptoms to look out for and be aware off:

  • Sweating
  • Dry Mouth
  • Racing heart
  • Feeling tired
  • Jittering

 

Talking to a work colleague or manager

Other situations you may be experiencing in the workplace may be affecting your work ethic. This could be dealing with bullying in the workplace, working long hours, having a lack of direction or communication with certain tasks, the high expectation of workload to be completed or even having a low reward, no benefits or low pay.

While you may fear that sharing how you feel will lead to being labelled weak or treated poorly, most employers will probably be responsive and offer help.

Below is a list of tips for employers about helping employees with work anxiety:

  • Treat all employees with the same respect in the workplace
  • Treat others how you’d want to be treated
  • Respect employer’s private issues and talk to them about them behind closed doors
  • Approach the matter in a respectful manner, don’t go headfirst into the topic of anxiety

 

Seeking help elsewhere

Approaching people within the workplace whether you feel judged or don’t feel as though they are approachable may be something you don’t want to face.

Here at the Depression and Anxiety Advice are available 24/7 to help with any work-related or general worries you have surrounding situations you are concerned about, so contact us today!

 

Sources

https://www.hse.gov.uk/statistics/causdis/stress.pdf

https://www.breathehr.com/en-gb/blog/topic/mental-health/7-workplace-stress-statistics-that-will-blow-your-mind

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