Do anxious feelings tend to bubble up suddenly while you’re at work? Do you get nervous just thinking about your job? Does your mood change come Monday morning, or Sunday evening, for that matter?
If your anxiety revolves around work, you might be experiencing workplace anxiety, also known as work stress. And you’re most certainly not alone.
According to Mental Health America’s 2021 Mind the Workplace report, almost 83 percent of respondents felt emotionally drained from their work. And 85 percent — or nearly 9 in 10 workers — reported that job stress affected their mental health.
Of course, you don’t need to go into an office or job site to experience workplace anxiety. You can experience these feelings when working from home, too. (Zoom anxiety, anyone?)
But the situation is far from hopeless. Here’s everything you need to know about workplace anxiety, along with practical strategies for reducing and managing work stress.
Workplace anxiety vs. anxiety at work
First, it’s not always easy to tell whether you’re experiencing workplace anxiety or symptoms of an anxiety disorder.
The tell-tale sign? Your anxiety is limited to work.
Annia Palacios, a licensed professional counselor (LPC) with Tightrope Therapy, offers a few key signs of workplace anxiety:
On your days off, you feel pretty good and your anxiety lowers
If you work Monday through Friday, feelings of anxiety and dread overshadow your weekend, especially when you think about work.
You have a tough time talking with colleagues due to the competitive work culture, but you have no problem chatting with people outside of work.
How do you know when your symptoms might relate to a generalized anxiety disorder or another anxiety condition?
Anxiety disorder symptoms are “persistent, consistent, and negatively affect several aspects of your life,” says Emme Smith, a licensed psychotherapist and CEO of GraySpace Counseling Group.
The key difference between the two, explains Alexandra Finkel, LCSW, a licensed psychotherapist and co-founder of Kind Minds Therapy, is that workplace anxiety generally develops in response to stress at work. An anxiety disorder, on the other hand, tends to develop, and persist, regardless of your work circumstances.
Source Healthline