How can i deal with extreme anxiety at work and feeling overwhelmed so i can't think straight?

Hi Betty! Thank you so much reaching out for support on the Better Help platform! I am so glad that you decided to ask this important question related to the topic of anxiety at work. Although many individuals do report feelings of anxiety, the actual symptoms an individual can experience can fluctuate and be different from person to person. How would you describe your own personal experience of anxiety? When did the feelings of anxiousness begin for you? It may be helpful to create a timeline of your anxiety experience as a means to highlight your overall history of anxiety.

I can tell that you are committed to doing well at work and your job performance is very much a priority and important to you. What do you do for work? How long have you been doing this type of work? You mentioned that you have some feelings of fear related to making mistakes at your job. Does this mostly come up at work or does it also come up at other points in your life? If you were to make an error, what would be the consequence? It sounds like you have tried to rationalize your feelings of anxiety in the past. Some strategies to manage anxiety at work may include deep breathing exercises, such as four square breathing, belly breathing and butterfly breathing. Depending on the type of work you do, there may be other ways to incorporate anxiety reduction skills into your daily work routine. In addition to incorporating coping skills at work, you may want to consider practicing anxiety reduction techniques when you are not at work, so that utilizing these strategies at work feel more reasonable and attainable. 

It sounds like you have a really introspective way of identifying your own personal experience with anxiety. What strategies and techniques have worked for you in the past to manage your feelings of anxiousness? Would you be willing to create a daily mood chart? It may be helpful to rate the frequency and intensity of your feelings of anxiousness as a means to relate and observe your feelings in connection to the things going on in your day to day life. It can be essential to establish a connection between thoughts, feelings and behavior. This is the founding principle of cognitive behavioral therapy. The idea is if you can change your thoughts, you can change your feelings as well as your behavior.

In your question, you had mentioned that you would like to learn how to manage your feelings of anxiety at work. I can tell that you are committed to making positive changes in your life. In addition to the other strategies that I mentioned, it would be awesome if you could practice saying a positive affirmation on a daily basis. An example of a self affirming statement is: "I choose to create a safe space for myself to feel my feelings that I feel. I am okay with this and I choose to free myself from feelings of anxiety and stress. I am doing really well. Today is going to be a great day!" You can always personalize this kind of statement to meet your own needs and incorporate your personal inner voice. Try repeating a positive quote throughout your day and while you are working. This will also likely assist you in the process of boosting your overall confidence! If you would like more ideas or would like to check out the positive affirmation for the day, you can always look online for self affirming statements. I recommend looking into the work of Louise Hay! "You Can Heal Your Life" is an amazing and inspiring book by Louise Hay.

It seems like you have already done the first step in recognizing your emotional state of mind and have begun the process of assessing your feelings of anxiousness. It may be helpful to ask yourself about your inner experience of anxiety and become an observer on your own feelings. It is ideal to try to make sense of the feelings that you are having to the best of your ability.

You had stated that you have identified an increase in feelings of anxiety over the past year. If you had to guess, why do you think that you have been experiencing high levels of stress and anxiety over the past year? What would you say are some of your triggers? Perhaps it may be worthwhile for you to utilize self care skills as a means to manage and improve your overall symptoms presentation.

As a provisionally licensed art therapist, I always recommend taking some time to create art. It is a little known fact that drawing from and coloring within a circle can lower heart rate and reduce blood pressure. This means that drawing within a circle has been scientifically proven to bring about feelings of relaxation. If you have not already, you may want to print some coloring pages, such as mandalas, or buy an adult coloring book. Utilize colored pencils, crayons, chalk pastels and gel pens to fill in various states within the circular space. If you can, you may want to pair the coloring with a hot cup of tea or a cool drink or listen to music or light a candle. This can be a very grounding experience to incorporate the five senses into art making activities.

I also recommend individual counseling at this time. Meeting with a counselor on a weekly or biweekly basis can help you build your skill set and learn anxiety reduction skills. Mindfulness-based techniques are typically a first line of defense in my practice as a therapist. If mindfulness is not for you, there are other ways to reduce your feels of anxiety. The first step is identifying the feelings of anxiety and observing triggers.

As I am typing up my response to your question, I came across this article that may also provide some additional answers and insight into the question you had asked!

https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/a-psychotherapist-shares-the-exercises-she-uses-every-day-to-be-more-confident.html

I hope that my response was helpful for you in some way!