
Apr 4, 2017 ● Kate Lopaze
How to Find a Good Job For Yourself When You Have Anxiety
Finding the right career path for yourself is a daunting process under any circumstances. If you suffer from anxiety or similar challenges in your everyday life, career choices can seem downright overwhelming sometimes. Everyone faces situational anxiety occasionally, but clinical anxiety (disorders that include social anxiety, panic disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and phobias) has the potential make professional life more difficult.
The good news is that your career is something you can take control of, regardless of a diagnosis—and sometimes making the right decision comes down to being flexible, and honest about what works best for yourself.
That means that not every career is created equal. If you’re prone to anxiety, you likely don’t want to add too many potential stress triggers. After all, if your job is making you miserable day in and day out, that’s not a healthy professional arc for anyone. The key to balancing your career with your anxiety (whether it’s general or social) is finding that sweet spot of doing something that you’re good at doing, and that makes you feel comfortable.
Some tips for juggling your anxiety and your professional life.
Be realistic about your strengths and limitations. For example, if you have social anxiety, a job working with directly with the public could make you totally miserable for 40 hours a week. Knowing up front what triggers or aggravates your particular brand of anxiety can help you figure out potential danger zones at work, and make choices accordingly.
Be flexible. Let’s say you always thought you wanted to be an astronaut, but when you get further along the path, you realize that the stresses and claustrophobia of being in a spacecraft are giving you panic attacks and making you dread whatever comes next. Just because you always thought you should be an astronaut, or you’ve already gone through training, doesn’t mean you have to stay on that exact path. Be open to similar jobs that might not be exactly what you envision doing, but also don’t have the same obligations and stresses. NASA also needs people working in logistics, planning, math, all sorts of other departments. Don’t get locked into a specific idea of what you should be doing.
Make your workday work for you. Don’t be afraid to look for accommodations that can be made to minimize anxiety-inducing factors. If constant multitasking and getting pinged all day with email requests spikes your anxiety, try to set up your day in blocks that can be set aside for specific tasks. Find ways to help curve the overwhelm before it happens.
Be honest, but not TOO forthcoming. If you have an anxiety disorder, it’s not a good idea to put this in your cover letter or resume, or mention it in an interview. It’s actually illegal for potential employers to ask you about a disability or medical condition, so you don’t want to open that can of worms yourself. Instead, focus on the positive: the skills and processes you’ve developed to handle previous jobs, or ways of doing things that have worked best for you in your professional life. For example, if you’re asked about how you handle your daily workload, you don’t have to explain that you prefer emails over phone calls or stand-up meetings because you have social anxiety. You can just note that you’ve found it to be a more efficient and productive option in managing your day-to-day. Focus on the coping mechanisms that make you a better employee all around, not just a better employee with anxiety issues.
Look for unorthodox or more flexible work arrangements. If you have severe social anxiety or OCD that makes going in public difficult, think about jobs that let you telecommute or work directly from home, or may be otherwise flexible about the more traditional “9 to 5 in the office” template.
Remember that you’re an individual, with important strengths and skills. Everyone has Life Stuff that can interfere with everyday work life. Maybe yours just happens to be an anxiety disorder. Whatever your Life Stuff is, never forget that it’s just part of you, and that you bring plenty of skills and qualifications to the table that are not defined by your Life Stuff. Embracing it as part of who you are can help you develop a more fulfilling career for yourself.
So if you do have anxiety, what are some jobs and fields that might work well with your anxiety, rather than against it?