Anxiety and work experience?
Hi, I have had anxiety for years. I get anxious about everything but one trigger is going out. I still make myself go to university and out to see friends and I go shopping sometimes etc. I'm coming towards the end of my degree and my university are offering work placements. I tried to volunteer last summer but got overwhelmed and ended up not actually doing it. I'm trying to start my own business so that takes time and I want to be self employed after university and see how it goes and after about a year apply for a part time job in a shop if I need to. I have great anxiety about this work placement situation, I know that I could add it on my CV but there's so many opportunities (none that I'm 100% excited about), so I don't know what I'd choose. I can go to work talks instead but obviously work experience or an internship would look much better. It's difficult to find what is acceptable to be comfortable for my wellbeing and pushing myself just a little. I'm usually fine when I go out even though I worry about it. I know what I want to do right now which isn't work experience but I know that it could be helpful and for a part time job I haven't done any volunteering for years, so I don't know if I'd be able to get a part time job... I'm hopefully going to try CBT again soon but I don't know what the outcome will be.
Help please! Thank you
Help please! Thank you
Hi there! I really understand your position and i'm in the same place on some days, luckily i love my job but despite that the anxiety kicks in when wanting to go outside. It's really important as you said you use some tricks that are used in CBT, about changing behaviour patterns and twisting potential negative outcomes back into positive opportunities.
Especially considering you want to start your own business (similar to me after i finish working in education haha!
) then you need to be able to be the master of your own mind, and show your anxiety who is the boss. It is your body, you are in charge, you have the potential to be your own God, but mental health will cause you to make the wrong decisions and second-guess the right ones.
Just remember how to know which decisions are good ones and which are bad ones.
The good decisions are the ones that get you fighting your anxiety, so in this case it would be the ones that get you outside and interacting with other people.
Meanwhile the bad decisions are the ones that create or provide excuses for you staying indoors.
Filter the bad ones out and ignore them or twist them into positives. E.g "I don't want to go to that job placement interview today, they're going to judge me and i'm going to be rejected." into "I need to make sure that i'm out of the house and ready in time for that Job interview, punctuality matters and they'll be far more concerned about that, than anything else. Even if i don't get through i have still learnt more about the process, and if i do get through then AWESOME!"
It's easier said than done obviously, as with all mental health issues. But try your best and best of luck , if you wanna discuss it then you're welcome to here or on PMS to me, i don't mind either way.
BEST OF LUCK and BEST REGARDS!
From Francis.
Especially considering you want to start your own business (similar to me after i finish working in education haha!
) then you need to be able to be the master of your own mind, and show your anxiety who is the boss. It is your body, you are in charge, you have the potential to be your own God, but mental health will cause you to make the wrong decisions and second-guess the right ones.Just remember how to know which decisions are good ones and which are bad ones.
The good decisions are the ones that get you fighting your anxiety, so in this case it would be the ones that get you outside and interacting with other people.
Meanwhile the bad decisions are the ones that create or provide excuses for you staying indoors.
Filter the bad ones out and ignore them or twist them into positives. E.g "I don't want to go to that job placement interview today, they're going to judge me and i'm going to be rejected." into "I need to make sure that i'm out of the house and ready in time for that Job interview, punctuality matters and they'll be far more concerned about that, than anything else. Even if i don't get through i have still learnt more about the process, and if i do get through then AWESOME!"
It's easier said than done obviously, as with all mental health issues. But try your best and best of luck , if you wanna discuss it then you're welcome to here or on PMS to me, i don't mind either way.
BEST OF LUCK and BEST REGARDS!
From Francis.
Original post by Anonymous
Hi, I have had anxiety for years. I get anxious about everything but one trigger is going out. I still make myself go to university and out to see friends and I go shopping sometimes etc. I'm coming towards the end of my degree and my university are offering work placements. I tried to volunteer last summer but got overwhelmed and ended up not actually doing it. I'm trying to start my own business so that takes time and I want to be self employed after university and see how it goes and after about a year apply for a part time job in a shop if I need to. I have great anxiety about this work placement situation, I know that I could add it on my CV but there's so many opportunities (none that I'm 100% excited about), so I don't know what I'd choose. I can go to work talks instead but obviously work experience or an internship would look much better. It's difficult to find what is acceptable to be comfortable for my wellbeing and pushing myself just a little. I'm usually fine when I go out even though I worry about it. I know what I want to do right now which isn't work experience but I know that it could be helpful and for a part time job I haven't done any volunteering for years, so I don't know if I'd be able to get a part time job... I'm hopefully going to try CBT again soon but I don't know what the outcome will be.
Help please! Thank you
Help please! Thank you
First things first, it's great that you've recognised your trigger...by the information you have given, i can see that it is not the action of going out that is the issue, it is an underlining confidence issue in which you feel insecure around new people or new places- this is most likely due to some torment in childhood which left you nervous, anxious and even feeling insufficient. My advice to you, regardless of what intentions you have in terms of a career, is to place yourself in uncomfortable places to prove to yourself that you can.
Thoughts that may help you are that anywhere you go, there will be tens of people, at a minimum, who all have their own lives, own routines and own thoughts- they don't have time to think about you, they aren't mindless, arrogant teens, they are adults that are all hoping for a similar outcome to you.
Another thing to bare in mind is that if you have been given the opportunity to do something, anything...somebody has seen potential in you, they regard you highly and they respect you.
Finally, many people think that work experience and volunteering will help improve chances of employment, this is not the case. Whilst it does show a level of commitment, it does not define you, your capabilities, your morals or your worth ethic- many companies are aware of this.
If you feel insecure or anxious, you should really consult your GP and ask about any medications or natural remedies that may calm you down . whilst being nervous and anxious is natural in everybody and very common in such circumstances as these, you dont want to start off in this kind of mood because things are likely to go wrong when you get yourself worked up.
It may also be helpful to both yourself and your peers to express that you are feeling anxious. This will enable them to offer you support and guide you.
Original post by Francis Urquhart
Hi there! I really understand your position and i'm in the same place on some days, luckily i love my job but despite that the anxiety kicks in when wanting to go outside. It's really important as you said you use some tricks that are used in CBT, about changing behaviour patterns and twisting potential negative outcomes back into positive opportunities.
Especially considering you want to start your own business (similar to me after i finish working in education haha! ) then you need to be able to be the master of your own mind, and show your anxiety who is the boss. It is your body, you are in charge, you have the potential to be your own God, but mental health will cause you to make the wrong decisions and second-guess the right ones.
Just remember how to know which decisions are good ones and which are bad ones.
The good decisions are the ones that get you fighting your anxiety, so in this case it would be the ones that get you outside and interacting with other people.
Meanwhile the bad decisions are the ones that create or provide excuses for you staying indoors.
Filter the bad ones out and ignore them or twist them into positives. E.g "I don't want to go to that job placement interview today, they're going to judge me and i'm going to be rejected." into "I need to make sure that i'm out of the house and ready in time for that Job interview, punctuality matters and they'll be far more concerned about that, than anything else. Even if i don't get through i have still learnt more about the process, and if i do get through then AWESOME!"
It's easier said than done obviously, as with all mental health issues. But try your best and best of luck , if you wanna discuss it then you're welcome to here or on PMS to me, i don't mind either way.
BEST OF LUCK and BEST REGARDS!
From Francis.
Especially considering you want to start your own business (similar to me after i finish working in education haha!
) then you need to be able to be the master of your own mind, and show your anxiety who is the boss. It is your body, you are in charge, you have the potential to be your own God, but mental health will cause you to make the wrong decisions and second-guess the right ones.Just remember how to know which decisions are good ones and which are bad ones.
The good decisions are the ones that get you fighting your anxiety, so in this case it would be the ones that get you outside and interacting with other people.
Meanwhile the bad decisions are the ones that create or provide excuses for you staying indoors.
Filter the bad ones out and ignore them or twist them into positives. E.g "I don't want to go to that job placement interview today, they're going to judge me and i'm going to be rejected." into "I need to make sure that i'm out of the house and ready in time for that Job interview, punctuality matters and they'll be far more concerned about that, than anything else. Even if i don't get through i have still learnt more about the process, and if i do get through then AWESOME!"
It's easier said than done obviously, as with all mental health issues. But try your best and best of luck , if you wanna discuss it then you're welcome to here or on PMS to me, i don't mind either way.
BEST OF LUCK and BEST REGARDS!
From Francis.
Thank you for your reply, i do try to do some of the things that i'm anxious about and small achievements are good but some things just feel like too much. Im going to try to apply for a work placement which will get me out but perhaps not the ones that make me more anxious. I do plan to build myself up so like if i want to apply for a part time job in the future i will try it. Im hoping that i'll feel a bit more relaxed and ready after taking some time out not having uni. Im not sure whether they'd want me to have more relevant experience though.
Original post by Anonymous
Thank you for your reply, i do try to do some of the things that i'm anxious about and small achievements are good but some things just feel like too much. Im going to try to apply for a work placement which will get me out but perhaps not the ones that make me more anxious. I do plan to build myself up so like if i want to apply for a part time job in the future i will try it. Im hoping that i'll feel a bit more relaxed and ready after taking some time out not having uni. Im not sure whether they'd want me to have more relevant experience though.
No problem! Best of luck in the future bud!
Best regards
Does anyone have any idea how to choose between different options, I'm really indecisive and I want to be self employed then possibly apply for a part time job in a shop or possibly try teacher training. We get to apply for work placements but we have to rank them and each one helps something different but there are also negatives, I just don't know what to do and I'm obsessing over it which is making me feel ill!
Original post by Impressive
I've read only this post but if I include something that has been already mentioned then please, accept my sincere apologies.
You should know that the more choices you will have the harder it is going to be to decide.
I recommend you making a list of all work placements and start 'process of elimination'. You'll eventually get to the one you're looking for.
Good luck.
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You should know that the more choices you will have the harder it is going to be to decide.
I recommend you making a list of all work placements and start 'process of elimination'. You'll eventually get to the one you're looking for.
Good luck.
Posted from TSR Mobile
Thank you, I worked out the positives and negatives of each one but I need to put them in order and I'm not sure what order to do them in, they could each benefit me in different ways. For example, one could help with my self-employment but another could potentially help me get a job
[QUOTE="Anonymous;62953931"]
Personally I'd go for one that will help with a job as these are most likely to be what you're after straight out of university, with self employment coming later when you're a bit more financially stable. That could be one for the careers and jobs forum though, people are likely to give better advice there!
You mentioned you've thought about teacher training, t could be worth doing a placement related to that as they might be hard to find once you've graduated, and should give you a much better idea of whether or not or it's something you might actually be interested in. Even if you end up hating it, at least it rules something out! You may not get on the one you rank as your favourite anyway.
Hope that helps a little bit, I know how difficult decisions can be! The positives and negatives thing definitely a good idea. I'll remove the other replies for you in a second
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Original post by Anonymous
Thank you, I worked out the positives and negatives of each one but I need to put them in order and I'm not sure what order to do them in, they could each benefit me in different ways. For example, one could help with my self-employment but others could potentially help me get a job but different jobs...
Thank you, I worked out the positives and negatives of each one but I need to put them in order and I'm not sure what order to do them in, they could each benefit me in different ways. For example, one could help with my self-employment but others could potentially help me get a job but different jobs...
Personally I'd go for one that will help with a job as these are most likely to be what you're after straight out of university, with self employment coming later when you're a bit more financially stable. That could be one for the careers and jobs forum though, people are likely to give better advice there!
You mentioned you've thought about teacher training, t could be worth doing a placement related to that as they might be hard to find once you've graduated, and should give you a much better idea of whether or not or it's something you might actually be interested in. Even if you end up hating it, at least it rules something out! You may not get on the one you rank as your favourite anyway.
Hope that helps a little bit, I know how difficult decisions can be! The positives and negatives thing definitely a good idea. I'll remove the other replies for you in a second
Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Impressive
Personally, I think self employment is more important because it shows you can be independent and it will surely impact getting a job in the future.
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Posted from TSR Mobile
Well it's more marketing, whereas others are retail (which could help me get a part-time job) and a couple of other things that I could potentially work in. Plus the marketing one is for a longer period which strikes with my anxiety as it feels more intense
Original post by Impressive
There is your answer. If you're unsure of something, especially when you mention anxiety, it might be a good idea to choose something else.
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Posted from TSR Mobile
But then wouldn't that be giving into the anxiety? I always get worried about going out and I'm worried about being tired or getting overwhelmed or feeling ill but things have always been ok or I've got through them before, although this is a bit different, surely there's a chance I could get through it
