Working with my anxiety and borderline personality disorder

Hey there warriors, hope this finds you all OK 

If, like me, you battle with anxiety and/or BPD and have a full time job, you may have had to deal with some kind of fallout from this awful demon in the workplace. I have.

The latest was last Saturday. It was a quiet day in work (I work in a busy kitchen environment ) and me and the other staff members are enjoying a day of relative peace. Whilst talking, an intrusive thought popped into my head, “what if I can’t do the job that I'm training to do?” (I am trying to be a chef in training). That is all it took. That one thought. Then came the anxiety, shaking, getting teary and sweating uncontrollably. One of my colleagues came and asked what I needed to help me get through it ('Did I need to take a break?', 'Did I need to go home?', and the most important one for me; “What can I do?”)

The fact she asked at all means a lot but it was the way in which she asked which also helped; my anxiety attack wasn't made a big deal of, it wasn't given (any more) attention, which both helped the attack to pass quicker.

Maybe the reason why this lady knew what to do is because I am quite open with my work colleagues about my issues with anxiety etc. and what I have to do in order to deal with this and maintain my ability to work.

Talking and being open about my problems to the team enables me to continue with my day in work and not have to take the rest of the day off when I am having a bad day or an anxiety/panic attack (working helps me feel 'useful' which is part of my BPD).

So reach out to the people you work with and talk about what you need to help you. You will be surprised on who will actually listen (my boss read my blog to try and understand/help better!).

Keep on fighting the battles guys and girls, for one day we will win the war.

Natasha

#TimeToChange
#EducateNotDiscriminate
#TimeToChangeWales
#EndTheStigma