How does anxiety affect work?

If you often experience worry, nervousness, or unease about the uncertain future at work, then congratulations – you are not alone! All of us have experienced anxiety to some extent when it comes to our jobs. However, if left uncontrolled and undiagnosed,anxiety can significantly hamper your capability to do your job well, decrease productivity and worst of all result in terrible mistakes that could lead to career-ending negative consequences. But fret not because with awareness comes power and today we will explore how anxiety works its despicable curse on our work-life balance.

Understanding Anxiety Disorders: A Brief Primer

Before delving into discussing how anxiety affects one’s professional life let’s quickly go over what is an anxiety disorder.
Anxiety disorders are mental health illnesses characterized by overwhelming feelings of fear, apprehension involving a persistent sense of danger or threat even in innocuous situations.

Different Types Of Anxiety Disorders That May Affect You At Work:

  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)
  • Social Anxiety Disorder(SAD)
  • Panic Disorder
  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD)

Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD)

GAD might arise from excessive worrying surrounding common daily events such as tasks that have strict deadlines or unforeseen circumstances that may occur during meetings. People suffering from GAD find it incredibly challenging to stop thinking about unpleasant future outlooks which results in chemical imbalances causing emotional instability.

Social Anxiety Disorder(SAD)

Social phobia usually triggers this kind of disorder hence affecting people who experience immense discomfort while interacting with individuals such as colleagues they feel intimidated by. The degree of nervousness varies – sometimes only occurs around colleagues in positions higher-up than yours; other times just being near any colleague can trigger social dread.

Panic Attacks/Panic Disorder

Panic attacks involve severe spikes/fits of fear that occur out of nowhere. In most cases, they are not foreseen and often last around ten minutes before subsiding. These random panic attacks can intrude on one’s thinking process causing a decline in productivity or even injury if one is engaged in strenuous physical activity.

Obsessive-compulsive disorder(OCD)

OCD involves obsessive thoughts accompanied by compulsions to complete habitual behaviour such as checking repeatedly (checking doors for locks, documents), cleaning their workspace excessively i.e dusting constantly or sanitising already disinfected areas.

How Anxiety Limits Your Professional Growth

There’s no denying anxiety takes an enormous toll on workers’ mental health which will lead to negative impacts on your work-life balance. Let us break down how this comes into play:

Decrease in Productivity

Anxiety causes restlessness that leads to difficulty focusing leading to reduced output levels.This then snowballs with more stress leading ultimately the possibility of burnout due to overworking while trying to catch up with deadlines missed because of low production levels—only exacerbating the problem and worsening anxiety symptoms.

More Mistakes/Missed Deadlines

As every workplace has rules and regulations concerning procedures, it becomes harder when dealing when you have a role where things need constant attention which heightens feelings of being overwhelmed. This heightened state sometimes results in mistakes, oversights, procrastination causing deadlines missed inadvertently – quite possibly non-negligent but avoidable nonetheless ruining your chance at professional growth.

Interpersonal Relationships And Communication Affected

A huge chunk of various job roles entails working coherently with colleagues via collaborating etc., A significant side effect experienced by individuals suffering from any form of anxiety disorders may result in them feeling socially awkward making it challenging for them at times even initiating social conversations amongst coworkers resulting ultimately denting prospects for career progression.

Techniques To Combat Workplace Anxiety:

It is worth mentioning that each person is unique, and the symptoms of anxiety experienced differ from person to person. It would be best if you tried different techniques to help cope with your specific form of anxiety to boost job performance. Below are methods that could come in handy:

Mindfulness And Breathing Techniques

Mindfulness refers to using mediation/prayer methods used by individuals for centuries.
Breathing exercises include taking deep breaths while counting slowly helps unclench muscles throughout one’s body leaving a feeling of relaxation.

Regular Work Breaks

Taking a break now and again allows disassociation, giving them time away from their work station enhancing blood circulation helping rejuvenate brain cells, encouraging more effective problem-solving.

Talking To A Medical Professional

Therapy sessions have been proven an excellent tool for exploring, diagnosing discussing coping mechanisms concerning mental health issues.

Wrapping Up

At the end of the day,anxiety can debilitate professional growth affecting both physical and mental well-being. However, reducing its grips on workers is achievable through various measures such as adapting breathing techniques or conversing with medical professionals will result in elevated productivity levels professionalism providing healthy work-life balance making your #9-5 enjoyable!

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