How to quit your job when you’re an anxious person
As a person with generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, I’m familiar with anxiety attacks. But they really kicked into overdrive after I gave notice at my job in 2016.
“Uncertainty is like gasoline on anxiety,” said Craig Sawchuk, a co-chair for clinical practice at the department of psychiatry and psychology at the Mayo Clinic. Here’s how to overcome it.
KNOW THAT ANXIETY CAN BE CONSTRUCTIVE.
Almost nobody quits or considers quitting without worrying at least a little. You may have concerns about putting food on the table, health insurance or child care.
Despite how it can feel, anxiety is not necessarily a sign of a bad decision. It might mean the opposite, said David Rosmarin, an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and founder of the Center for Anxiety: “The crazy thing is that when people feel a spike in anxiety, often but not always, if it’s in the context of a life change, that’s actually an indication that they’re on the right track.”
SO WHAT IF YOU WANT TO QUIT BUT FEEL STUCK?
Sawchuk said the key is to gently approach whatever it is that’s creating your discomfort by doing “the opposite of what the anxiety is telling you to do.” He added, “If it’s saying ‘avoid, avoid, avoid,’ we’ve got to figure out ways to gradually approach.”
For anyone in the throes of a prolonged period of worry, know that it may feel bad, but it is not permanent, lethal or rare.
BE PREPARED, REALISTIC AND KIND TO YOURSELF.
If you’re headed into the uncharted territory of joblessness, “you need to create your own structure and routine,” said Dr. Franklin Schneier, a co-director of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute.
He suggested setting small goals, like preparing your résumé. To help with anxiety, he recommended exercise and meditation, and therapy and medication if your anxiety becomes too much to bear.
Most important, Rosmarin said, is not to catastrophize or judge yourself. When you’re feeling stressed, he suggested, go easy: “Don’t just pretend nothing’s happening. Acknowledge it.”