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New job OCD & Stress


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Hello all.

 

I'll try keep this brief.

 

I suffer from panic attacks. Used to take Citalopram but stopped because of the side effects so I've recently discovered St Johns Wort at the lowest dose before night helps me for the next day.

 

I recently started a new job and I get this everytime I start a new place but there's so many things for me to learn and things I don't know. I'm constantly worried, stressing thinking about how I'm going to do all of this. My OCD has seemed to kick in a lot as well since I had a fever and I just kept thinking certain thoughts over and over again and it just did my head in. I'm starting to get a bit better but its really annoying. 

I think when I'm under extreme stress my body does this and I don't know why. I wish I could just get on with things and be more confident. I always put myself down. I know everyone in my team is a lot smarter than me but I just keep making my self feel even worse.

 

Any advice would be great. It's tough as well considering the social distancing we are dealing with as well and being confined inside with ones thoughts.

 

Thanks.

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Hi Trillion and welcome to the forum. :welcome:

It's normal to feel insecure and a bit stressed in a new job, at least for the first few weeks until you settle into it. You sound as though you unnecessarily give yourself a very hard time.

Where others seem better than you it's most likely just they're more familiar with the job. So a matter of time ,not ability. You'll catch up quickly after a few months doing the same work. Meanwhile, you need to boost your own confidence by reminding yourself that you're succeeding just by learning, doing your best and having fun in the process! (If your job doesn't feel like fun or doesn't interest you much try to find bits of it you enjoy and remind yourself it's not all bad rather than lump the whole situation into a mental file labelled 'boring'.) 

Boosting confidence comes from tasting success. So look at what you've got to learn to enable you to do the job and set yourself one small task per day to master. Don't bite off more than you can chew! Keep the goals small and enjoy the feeling of multiple small successes. Day by day your confidence will grow. If you have a setback or don't achieve your goal one a particular day, simply let it go as par for the course. NOBODY is perfect, and not succeeeding at everything all the time is normal, so label  the 'failure' as normal and let it go. 

Have you had any specific therapy to help you manage your anxiety? 

 

 

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3 hours ago, snowbear said:

Hi Trillion and welcome to the forum. :welcome:

It's normal to feel insecure and a bit stressed in a new job, at least for the first few weeks until you settle into it. You sound as though you unnecessarily give yourself a very hard time.

Where others seem better than you it's most likely just they're more familiar with the job. So a matter of time ,not ability. You'll catch up quickly after a few months doing the same work. Meanwhile, you need to boost your own confidence by reminding yourself that you're succeeding just by learning, doing your best and having fun in the process! (If your job doesn't feel like fun or doesn't interest you much try to find bits of it you enjoy and remind yourself it's not all bad rather than lump the whole situation into a mental file labelled 'boring'.) 

Boosting confidence comes from tasting success. So look at what you've got to learn to enable you to do the job and set yourself one small task per day to master. Don't bite off more than you can chew! Keep the goals small and enjoy the feeling of multiple small successes. Day by day your confidence will grow. If you have a setback or don't achieve your goal one a particular day, simply let it go as par for the course. NOBODY is perfect, and not succeeeding at everything all the time is normal, so label  the 'failure' as normal and let it go. 

Have you had any specific therapy to help you manage your anxiety? 

 

 

Thanks. I'll try to embrace what you said tomorrow at work.

 

I haven't had any therapy for my anxiety. I've had it since age 15/16. 

Only when I was 23 I realised I had it and from there I was on medication but I've come off many times because I love and hate citalopram.

 

The Dr did send me to our local mental health clinic for CBT but after 2 sessions I left. It felt really basic and just was a waste of time so I stopped going. I always thought maybe I should pay instead but I have no idea who to trust. Everyone seems to be an expert out there and they charge a lot.

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2 hours ago, Trillion said:

It felt really basic and just was a waste of time so I stopped going.

CBT is kind of 'basic'. It's not unusual to feel it's too simple and not adequately addressing what seem (to you) to be very complex problems. Why not give it another go on the NHS? 

While you're waiting for it to start I'd recommend a good self-help book to familiarise yourself with the principles. 'Break Free from OCD' explains the 'basics' of CBT well, I think. Once you begin to see the common denominator in your thinking you can apply the therapy to any thought on any topic. 

Have a browse here for more information on self-help. 

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