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workplace
Mon, 2010-09-13 21:03 | by Anonymous
Hey all I am looking for some suggestions on dealing with social anxiety in the workplace has any one told their employer or coworkers. I have social anxiety and OCD but due to some great therapy I have been medication free for five years. That said I am a new daddy and all the old triggers and obsessions are begging to rear their ugly heads.
Most noticeably when I am in meetings I get very nervous and become very toung tied and awkward. I also obsesses that I am making other people feel awkward/uncomfortable.
My latest obsessions are about weather female coworkers think I looked at them inappropriately and are nervous around me.... when those obsessions begin to happen I get panic attacks and lose focus on the topic and stress for the rest of the meeting and for sometime after that I am making people uncomfortable...
Any suggestions that you may have on informing coworkers and employers about social phobia and ocd along with how to cope in the work place would be greatly appreciated.
I have told a human resource
I have told a human resource manager once about my social anxiety, and she advised me to keep that information to myself. But you already have the job, so i don't know if it would be in your best interest to tell your employer. Sometimes you look for understanding, but get the opposite. That's what happened to me several times. People wrongly assumed I was a push over. i would tell only coworkers i trust.
as a woman, I feel flattered when a nice guy looks at me attractively. I figure, it's human nature (as long as he is respectful). it's like admiring a sculpture. (this is what i tell myself when I look at a man, and my eyes start wandering, lol).
I take medicine: zoloft, atenolol, and buspirone. this helps in controlling the physical symptoms of panic attacks (stiffness, sweaty palms, palpitation). I think medicine would helpful.
workplace
I have done both. At a former job I told my boss and wish I hadn't b/c I just felt exposed. At my current job for over 3 years, I have not told anyone but there are pros and cons to both decisions. The cons to not telling is that people will continue to think you are antisocial, stuck up or weird and may talk about you behind your back...you just have to kill them with kindness and every now and then just say you are shy but nothing more.
http://wallflower-power.tumblr.com/
http://www.diaryofashyblackwoman.org/