NYC Anxiety Control - Learn How To Control Your Anxiety

Work Anxiety Treatment

Managing Job Uncertainty or Loss and the Anxiety and Endless
Worry that Goes with It

Questions
Will I lose my job? If I do, how will I pay my bills? How will I continue
to live in my home? What if I can’t get another job? These are just
some of the questions on the minds of New Yorkers these days.
The worry can be exhausting and time consuming. The answers
feeling well beyond reach. In truth, there is no way to know exactly
how you will deal with a circumstance such as job loss. Many New
Yorkers who were convinced they could handle the let-down, have
found themselves in shock and upset when fired. Others who
doubted they could cope have surprised themselves with their
strength.

We're In This Together
The anxiety associated with not knowing what lies ahead can be
profound. Whether you are worrying about the possibility of losing a
job, or about what to do now that you have, you are aware that there
is no way to alleviate a question with an unknown conclusion. The
faith we all had in the strength of the economy, the American dream
of reaching any goal we set, has now been challenged. It has
become apparent that there may be a long road to recovery for our
economy. So what do we do now?

The Cycle of Rumination
Anxiety is a normal response to uncertainty. But ruminating, which
is spending an inordinate amount of time problem solving,
imagining and preparing for different outcomes, or simply spinning
in your mind on a question is not a healthy, necessary response to
our uncertain world. Ruminating can lead to a depressed mood,
isolation, and more anxiety. Ruminating all day long may feel like
the only way to keep your mind busy, to fully prepare for the
tragedies of the future, but there are certainly better options. Keep
in mind that while anxiety may cause a person to ruminate,
ruminating will then lead to more anxiety, causing a seemingly
never-ending, and often worsening cycle of worry.

Strategies for Coping
Ruminating can become a serious problem. Listed below are
several strategies that can be helpful. This list is certainly not a full
description of all the options for someone struggling with anxiety
and worry, but they a good place to start.

		Embracing Uncertainty – fully accepting NOT knowing,
		telling yourself to do so, avoiding figuring things out endlessly, avoid discussing it too much with others.

		Keeping Busy – schedule planned, structured activities
		centered around finding a new job if necessary, or simply engaging in enjoyable activities – the more we know what the day will entail, the less likely we are to get lost in our worries.

		Constructive Planning – consider and write down plan A, B
		and C and try to keep an “I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it” strategy (e.g., If I can’t afford my kid’s school, I’ll put him in public school. If he is very upset about it, I will have to deal with that at the time, but I don’t need to know exactly how I will handle that right now”). Planning endlessly will probably not leave you better prepared and will certainly not help you to feel better.

		Talk It Out with a Professional – sharing all your worries
		with your family and friends can actually make things worse. They can give you more to worry about and will become worrisome themselves. It is great to get support from your loved ones, but the full extent of all your concerns does not necessarily need to be shared.

		Worry Time – set aside time for worrying if you can’t give it
		up entirely. Schedule it into your day for 15 minutes and try to put off worrying or problem solving during other times of the day, reminding yourself that you can simply figure it out or worry about it later.

Keep in mind that when you are worrying, no answer or solution will
feel totally correct. You cannot fully convince yourself that everything
will be alright when you are ruminating. You will need to tolerate the
feeling that goes with uncertainty. Not pleasant, but not necessarily
painful.