Advice Needed Panic Attacks At Work

[aka]

So I have been working at this company for about 6 months now and have had the occasional panic attack. But the last several weeks I have been have at least two a week while at work. Since the work I do is fairly independent I have been for the most part been able to go somewhere quite take my emergency anxiety medicine and go back to work without anyone taking notice. Though there have been times my coworkers have noticed something wrong with me they are very nice about it and don't pry.

At work each group has a weekly meeting to discus what happened during the week and is a time to voice concerns or suggestions. Well I really not do well in these meetings. I will most of the time have a mild panic attack and or dissociate during the meeting. Well the last meeting we had the conference room was already in use so we had to use the much smaller room. I had a pretty bad panic attack during it and was really not sure that I could control the urge to completely freak out. So I left the room telling my boss I would be back. I took some of the emergency medicine and did my best to bring my anxiety level down. I went back to the meeting and stood in a place as far away form the others as possible.

After the meeting I went back to my desk for awhile then decided it was time for break. On break my boss comes up to me to ask if everything is ok since I seem off today. I told him I was fine and that the day had just been interesting. He told me if there was anything he could do to help to come talk to him. I said thank you and he left. To me this was an invitation to ask for accommodation if needed. I know that he is very perceptive person. He figured out that I was miserable doing a certain project a couple of months ago and moved be to a different task and I had not said anything to him.

So I am currently thinking about talking to him about the fact that I have been having panic attacks at work. I don't plan on bring up PTSD but I think if might to good to ask for some accommodation in these meetings. Any ideas or thoughts anyone has is appreciated.

 

[keifer]

It depends on your relationship with your boss. I'm in the military and I told my chief and commander, yep what not to do. My chief has given me a lot of time I needed. I've taken days off and some afternoons when I was unstable at work. I also have a safe place.

If I'm in a meeting, it's called a bathroom break, cold water to face, etc. as needed. Only a couple of my coworkers know. My friend works in my office area. He's seen me almost dig the eye balls out of my head when I'm having a flashback.

All depends on who your coworkers are. My military family is pretty tight, but I doubt I'd do this in the civilian world.

 

[Venusian]

I had this same problem 2 years ago when I first started at where I am working now. I was getting anxious and having panic attacks because of a very triggering area in the building where I worked. I had to say something because it was beginning to affect my work no matter how hard I tried to make it not.

This is what I did, I started with the assistant manager, she and I worked well together and we are about the same age. We just had a lot of things in common. I was comfortable talking to her and it relieved a lot of anxiety just having someone understand what was happening with me. I was still having problems because I was unable to get past the trigger and after a couple more weeks I felt I had to tell my manager. He is a very good manager, even though he is younger, (2 of my children are older than he is) he understands and I felt safe talking to him. I didn't tell him as much as I did the assistant manager, but enough that he was able to help. H has let me change my schedule to accommodate group, and he understands if there are times where I am not as present as other times. I try very hard not to take advantage of the accommodations and he knows that. I make up my time if I have to take time away.

I think you have to ask yourself what your relationship is with supervisor. If you have an HR department, what are the company policies. There are so many variables that I am not sure if I would have made the same decisions if there were other people in that office. I have been there over 2 years now and I haven't regretted telling them, but there are others I work with that I would never tell but they must suspect some things just because of some of the accommodations that have been made.

 

[ResaLock]

I don't know the particular cause if there was even any. For me I can get panic attacks for different reasons, and some unknown. I could even be perfectly calm and comfortable and my anxieties shoot really high, without anything noticeable to trigger it. I think I may be mixing anxieties and panic attacks over its boundaries to each other, but their so much connected in many ways.

Anyway, it varies; but what I do find in common; that may be helpful, is when you are feeling your anxiety levels getting high or a panic attack, even though panic attacks can come quickly. I have noticed from my own discoveries. It helps to not look at anything with a wide surface. For example: floors, walls, ceilings, tables, the ground, etc.

I noticed one day when I had a panic attack, it stayed longer when I had nothing to focus on. My panic attacks were being triggered by the visual thoughts in my mind and I could not distract my thoughts from it. I experienced tunnel vision until I focused on exterior things outside. Like a persons voice or someone next to me. (e.g. the paramedic) My heart rate was way up. I wound up getting a panic attack at a funeral and had to leave. I stayed in that panic attack until I collapsed on the sidewalk. (not passing out) I could not see and had tunnel vision, and became really weak. I realized I wouldn't look at anything being completely avoidant. I looked at the sidewalk and other large surfaces. To not focus or deny exterior things or persons.

I realized it more the next time I did the same thing and could not get out of it, until I distracted with focusing on exterior things. (e.g. things, trees, people talking, controlling myself because children were walking by.) I noticed when children walked by, laughing or playing. I change focus and thought to be happy for them and recognizing like them playing or something. I realized that my anxieties subside from these distractions.

Another bad idea when having anxieties and panic attack is to close your eyes. Especially if you are having flashbacks. Something else I learned. Because your focus will be on what is being seen in the mind. Again it is very helpful to look at exterior focal points that are not triggering or harmful.

These are just my experiences I had to learn. It works for me sometimes. Can't say all the time though. Of course when it doesn't is because I am not doing these things. It is hard during high anxieties and panic attacks. Its not professional advise. Its just my own expertise from my own trial and error. Its worth a try. Hope it's helpful.

 

[ghotiff]

My major issue at work is when people touch me. I always tell my co-workers this, but in a very simple - to the point - not a big deal way and for the past 15 years I never had an issue with this approach other than a couple of short-lived raised eyebrows.

But about a year ago I told a friend at work the reason for it and I disclosed how much an issue it was for me. She then told someone else at work how much it was an issue for me and this his second person told my boss and others in my group about the severity of how much I hate being touched (the second person was intending to be nice). Now whenever my boss goes to touch me (eg friendly tap on the arm, and now its almost every week) he then recoils and I get a 3 sentence apology that does not feel like an apology to me, but a slight on my over sensitivities.

My point of this story is that I regret giving so much information to a work colleague, but the damage is done now. I already feel crap about my touch issue, but everyone now thinks its something that is okay to discuss freely....and its not for me, I find it really embarrassing and I have worked very hard over the years to keep it discreet and invisible as possible. But now any time anyone goes to touch me, or sit close to me in a meeting, everyone comments on it.

Obviously it depends on your boss and your relationship, clearly I should have recognised my friend as the social gossip that she was (my mistake). Added to this is that I don't have the kind of relationship with my current boss to be able to explain to him anything that might help the current situation.

In regards to meetings, I have that problem too. I aim to ensure that all meetings are in large rooms, that I get there first to choose the optimal spot in the room for my issues, and I'm not above feigning a stomach bug if I leave a meeting and don't make it back 'quickly' enough. Another useful strategy for me is to sneeze and then I leave to 'get a tissue'. If I go into a freeze response (without dissociation) I have a few other strategies in my go-to box, which interestingly are almost the opposite of the post above.

If the size of the room is important for you then their might be a claustrophobia component, and this might be easier to explain and have your manager comprehend....its is also something your manager can assist in resolving (eg ensuring that a large enough room is booked). They also might be okay with you having a seat near the door, and the door open? Just some thoughts.

This is my first post, and I hope my thoughts above are helpful to you in some way.

 

[Seasounds]

With increased work load, my semi-latent PTSD symptoms increased to be apparent.. Getting a PTSD FMLA has been a terrific help and a job saver. I'd recommend it!

 

[aka]

Thanks everyone for your responses. The boss I am taking about is my immediate supervisor whom I work with everyday and yes there is an HR person who I can talk to as well. He is a nice guy who is very understanding when someone in the group mess up and is pretty laid back in his approach in managing the group. So I think he would be willing to accommodate me if I asked though nothing is ever 100% guaranteed.

If the size of the room is important for you then their might be a claustrophobia component,

Perhaps, but I find that people are the trigger more than the amount of space itself. Example at work I sometimes have to go into the archive which is two metal shelves stuff into the same dead end hallway with three feet between them. Most of the time I have no problem going in there. But will have a panic attack with 10 people in a small room.

I will be talking to my Therapist this week about this. Thanks for your advice guys.