Battling Anxiety at Workplace

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With more than a decade to her credit as a renowned Psychotherapist and the founder
of Gateway of Healing, Dr Chandni Tugnait, provides a holistic treatment for various health
issues, financial issues, physical ailments, stress, depression and various other facets of the
human mind, body, and soul. Keeping an aim to promote alternative medicines as a life-
changing joyful tool, Dr. Chandni has also specialized in Access Consciousness Bars & Body
Processes, Theta Healing, Past Life Regression, Angel Healing, Chakra Balancing, Aura
Cleansing, Angel Healing, Crystal Healing, Candle Healing, Numerology, Acupressure,
Mantra Empowerment, Power of Subconscious Mind, Color Therapy and many more
modalities.To maximize the benefits, she mixes& matches these modalities and therapies
during the treatment sessions with her clients.

Each one of us has experienced anxiety at some point or the other- before an examination,
presentation or an interview, whether one locked the door to the house before leaving or
not, while getting ready for a date and many such instances. Most of this anxiousness is
anticipatory, where one dreads the future without any reason or logic.
Anxiety is one of our most primal instincts to avoid threats. It actually helps us perform
well, respond to threats or even protect us from harm. Hence, mild occasional anxiety
doesn’t need to be fixed, as it is a part of normal neurological functioning. However, in
chronic cases, it is essential to identify and work on coping with anxiety as it can cause one
to be agitated, fearful and constantly on the edge. If left unaddressed, it would soon begin
to impact one’s daily activities, health, job performance and even relationships.
People mistake anxiety as “normal” or a byproduct of “stress” and are often people are not
even aware that they have an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety at workplace can be caused by a number of factors. It can be due to the pressure of meeting
deadlines, work overload, job insecurity, working in a high-stress environment, difficult conversations or confrontations, competition, or dealing with difficult customers or co-workers.
Anxiety can manifest itself in a number of ways. Some people may feel nervous or tense, while others
may experience physical symptoms such as a racing heart, palpitations or sweating. People may also
find it hard to concentrate or make decisions when anxious at work.Managing anxiety at work can be
difficult, but it is important to remember that you are not alone. There are many people who have gone
through the same thing. You can get through this.

Some common signs of Anxiety are as follows –

1. Physical & Mental Fatigue: The eyes tend to feel heavy and tired all the time. The sleep also gets impacted, as people suffering from anxiety are unable to fall into deep
sleep and are mostly restless throughout the night with a fear of impending doom.
This in turn impacts the next day at work and so on and so forth.

2. Agitation, Overdramatic Outbursts & Anger: There is a perpetual irritation
towards people and situations without any reason. There is also intense & sudden fury
where one tends to lash out even at the smallest of things. Research shows that men
are more prone to reacting to anxiety triggers with anger.

3. Difficulty in Focusing/Concentrating: A person with anxiety may spend hours
looking at the computer to come up with the ideal design/concept/any other work and
at times even experiences short-term memory difficulties. This is more like a brain fog
situation where one lacks sharp focus and is mostly unable to think clearly.

4. Social Avoidance: In some cases, a person suffering from intense anxiety is prone to cancel plans at the last minute. There is an underlying fear of being judged/humiliated
socially.

5. Soreness in Muscles: Tense temples, aching legs, headaches, clenching muscles,
sore jaw, etc. are common symptoms of anxiety.

6. Ceaseless Criticism: Most people with anxiety cover up their anxious thoughts by
constantly criticizing self or others. Everything appears more difficult to them and in
some way they find it soothing to blame and criticize self and others – it gives them a
feeling of more control.

7. Excessive Alcohol/ Coffee intake: A lot of anxious people love to mask their stress
and anxiousness with multiple cups of coffee. Some even take to alcohol as it seems to
lower the inhibitions.

8. Hyper-vigilance: Relentless anxiety causes the brain and body to be constantly on
high alert – constantly thinking of what can go wrong. This impacts the interaction and
relationship with others. In extreme cases, it leads to paranoia.

9. Irrational Fears: Anxiety causes extreme fears also known as phobias. These could be situational phobias (fear of flying, fear of heights, fear of elevator, etc.), animal
phobias, agoraphobia (fear of closed spaces or open spaces or public transportation or
crowd, etc.), natural environment phobias and many others. These phobias interfere
with one’s ability to live a normal life.

10. Panic Attacks: Panic attacks are debilitating as they are mostly unexpected and
induce intense overwhelming fear accompanied by shortness of breath, sweating, tightness in chest, nausea and fear of losing control or dying. These can be a major issue if they occur frequently.

Here’s how you can cope with anxiety –

1. Psychotherapy: It enables to target the negative beliefs that cause anxiety.
Restructuring of the brain through cognitive changes results in a reduction in anxiety.
Success through Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) along with NLP is quite prominent
wherein the expert helps to explore, analyze & challenge the irrational & negative
beliefs behind the triggers and gradually replace them with reasonable and positive
ones.

2. Mindfulness & Meditation: It enables one to be reflective and not reactive.
Mindfulness is the art of ‘being present’ – being aware of thoughts, sensations, bodily
states and what we see, hear, taste, smell or feel around us. By being present in ‘the
now’, one can manage the fears and worries more effectively. There are a lot of
mindfulness activities one can practice such as Mindful Breathing, Body Scan
Meditation, Mindful Walking, Doodling/Colouring, Journaling, Guided Meditation, etc.

3. Physical Exercises: Physical activity releases endorphins that reduce the perception of pain and help in better sleep and releasing anxiety. Hence, discomfort is minimised.
Inculcate a habit of daily workout before or after office to build consistency.

4. Mindful Healthy Eating: Balanced nutritive meals help in coping with anxiety. Seek
guidance from a nutritionist for structured plans & monitored results that can be aligned with your work habits.

5. Deep Breathing: Deep breathing and other breathing exercises help in calming and
coping with anxiety. Make them a part of your break time at work.

6. Medication: The medicines prescribed by the psychiatrist may help mitigate anxiety
but the results aren’t long-term. In addition to this, the medication has side effects –
nausea, dizziness, vomiting, etc. Also, once dependent on these drugs, one is unable
to get off them and soon the results begin to wear off and doses are increased.
Alternative therapies are preferable as they are more beneficial in the long-term.

A person suffering from anxiety is not looking for attention; he/she is looking for compassion &
reassurance. So if you know someone who needs help, reach out to them and let them know that you are
there for them. And, if you are one of those who is experiencing intense anxiety, please know that you are not alone! Don’t let anxiety become relentless.