Corporate E-Learning

It is normal to have some fear or feel out of place at work sometimes, but when the anxiety begins to control you and keep you from performing your normal activities it becomes a serious problem. For many workers that suffer from some sort of workplace anxiety, their productivity decreases and they fail to contribute to the job, which can make them more anxious. While there are many forms of workplace anxiety, we can all learn to overcome them by identifying the key problem and finding a way to manage them, before they manage you.

Anxiety cannot be defined as one, isolated condition. It has many faces and can have hundreds of different symptoms. But before you can begin to understand and identify any type of anxiety, it is important to know the common symptoms and characteristics of different disorders. Only after you’ve identified the type of anxiety can you focus on the source and how to cope with it.

If you are one of the few people that do not suffer from some sort of anxiety, then chances are you know someone who does. But could you recognize the symptoms in someone else if they had some sort of anxiety problem? Would you know what to look for? Sometimes it takes someone on the other side to recognize these symptoms in others and offer their help before the victim themselves can realize they have a problem.

Once we have identified what type of anxiety problems we may be facing, we can focus on how to cope with them and keep them from controlling our everyday life. Since anxiety can affect everyone differently, not everyone reacts or displays symptoms in the same way. Therefore, they also cannot be handled in exactly the same way. Luckily, there are many treatments, therapies and self-help strategies available to the public that can be customized to our needs.

We’ve learned by now that just because you suffer from some sort of anxiety does not mean you are ‘crazy’ nor do you have to spend your time and money in and out of the doctor’s office. Coping strategies emphasize self-help tactics that can help you get a handle on your anxiety and prevent it from interfering with your everyday life. With just a little effort and motivation, you can be amazed at how successful you are at managing your anxiety and be your ‘normal’ self.

Anxiety is not something we can ‘will away’ and it will not go away simply by ignoring the problem. You can only distract yourself for so long and you certainly can’t avoid the situation in question forever. While we cannot face our anxieties head on during the first round, we can stop ourselves from turning away from them and accepting them as something we need to deal with today.

Everyone gets nervous when it comes to stressful situations, such as taking a test, finishing a project, or even teaching a class. Normal nervousness may cause mild symptoms such as fidgeting, stomach ‘fluttering’, or shaking hands, but they do not hinder your performance. Anxiety goes beyond simple nervousness because many symptoms of anxiety are described as ‘crippling’ or ‘debilitating’ and typically interfere with our ability to complete certain tasks. Distinguishing between these two stages is a big step in successfully managing anxiety symptoms

Even though anxiety can affect us emotionally and cause various mental symptoms, it can also cause a long list of physical symptoms that can take a toll on us. Anxiety is more than just a feeling; it can be a physical ailment. Since they are normally the most strenuous part about having anxiety, many people mistake it for some other form of physical illness. Common physical symptoms include headaches, nausea, increased heart rate, and muscle cramps.

Whether people like anxiety or not, it is a normal feeling that everyone experiences at some time or another. As with everything in life, anxiety can have negative and positive aspects associated with it. However, anxiety disorders often focus on only the negative effects and symptoms it can cause. While the physical and mental symptoms can be exhausting or even debilitating at times, anxiety can also alert us to something that is wrong and prepares our body to “flight or fight”.

An anxiety trigger is something that sets off our feelings of anxiety. Sometimes recognizing the trigger is not so easy, since a trigger can come on suddenly while others are well known and expected. If we can identify our own anxiety triggers, we can avoid them or even stop them from happening. But other times, if the trigger is unknown or not as obvious, we may have to find ways to just adapt around it.

Sometimes our anxiety can be too overwhelming to settle by ourselves. We have to learn what our limit is and how must we handle our on our own. Self-help methods and techniques are a great way to try and manage your anxiety and anxiety symptoms, but sometimes we have to realize when we need help from others and when to seek extra guidance in order to help ourselves.

Although this workshop is coming to a close, we hope that your journey to managing your workplace anxiety is just beginning. Please take a moment to review and update your action plan. This will be a key tool to guide your progress in the days, weeks, months, and years to come. We wish you the best of luck on the rest of your travels!