panic attacks over job

jimgoose

Mooncoin wrote: »

Thanks jimgoose and thanks sopretty I really feel like you've gone through exactly what I'm going through now and I can't tell you how much it helps me to hear from your perspective and experience and am so grateful to you and everyone that took the time out of their day to help someone they don't even know - there are some really good people out there x

Never been in that position MC, but I have empathy with those who have. No-one should have to be afraid of a bloody job. Go well and keep 'er lit, hi!

the_syco

Mooncoin wrote: »

In reply to Littlefriend and syco, unfortunately we are not permitted to terminate the call no matter how abusive it gets.

Could you say what industry you're supporting? I've been told to get the customer to concentrate on their issue, as the can't be angry and deal with their issue at the same time.

baldshin

Op, I've been in the exact same position. After years of crap jobs with nothing changing I finally got a job working from home taking calls for a huge multinational company. Training was great and a breeze so I was really excited for the job. When the work started though, I hated it. I grinned and geared it and told family and friends it was great, as I feared they'd be disappointed in me for even considering leaving. However after about 2 months of not being myself, hiding away the anxiety I felt at every waking minute between shifts, I finally broke down to my girlfriend and mother(not easy for a 26 year old man!)

After that, it was like a huge weight had been lifted! I went to the doctor who put me on certs for a month. When the month was up, after much deliberation, I felt I couldn't go back and never wanted to feel that way again, so I left. All of the fear I had about what people would think of me just vanished, when it realised it didn't matter what people thought, as long as I was happy and healthy.

I even got a job in a slightly similar type company a few weeks later, and low and behold, the same symptoms started to rear their head, so I left before I started suffering. What these experiences have thought me is to not put so much pressure on myself, as well as what jobs not to apply for!

If you can afford it, I'd say leave (if your employees cannot help or redeploy you to a different role). You will feel instant relief and look back on it as the right decision.

delthedriver

Sounds like you are suffering from Work Related Stress , something Employers ignore and will not admit to.


Your health is your wealth!


Go to your GP and discuss the issues with him. Most GP's fully understand these kinds of issues.


Remember your Employer owes you a duty of care, to ensure that stress vin the workplace does not affect your well being. You may also consider speaking with an Employment Law Specialist.

Mooncoin

baldshin wrote: »

Op, I've been in the exact same position. After years of crap jobs with nothing changing I finally got a job working from home taking calls for a huge multinational company. Training was great and a breeze so I was really excited for the job. When the work started though, I hated it. I grinned and geared it and told family and friends it was great, as I feared they'd be disappointed in me for even considering leaving. However after about 2 months of not being myself, hiding away the anxiety I felt at every waking minute between shifts, I finally broke down to my girlfriend and mother(not easy for a 26 year old man!)

After that, it was like a huge weight had been lifted! I went to the doctor who put me on certs for a month. When the month was up, after much deliberation, I felt I couldn't go back and never wanted to feel that way again, so I left. All of the fear I had about what people would think of me just vanished, when it realised it didn't matter what people thought, as long as I was happy and healthy.

I even got a job in a slightly similar type company a few weeks later, and low and behold, the same symptoms started to rear their head, so I left before I started suffering. What these experiences have thought me is to not put so much pressure on myself, as well as what jobs not to apply for!

If you can afford it, I'd say leave (if your employees cannot help or redeploy you to a different role). You will feel instant relief and look back on it as the right decision.

Baldshin, this is exactly how I feel. And like you too I was worried that my parents and partner would be disappointed in me (and I'm 36). I was also worried that people would just think I was lazy and wouldn't understand. I've since been to the Dr. and he has signed me off work for a month. My sister and I drove to my place of work on that day and she handed the cert in for me. Just sitting in the car outside the building filled me with anxiety. Anytime I think of going back I have so much fear I have to put it to the back of my mind. I think, like you Baldshin, I won't be able to go back when the time comes, so far it seems like each day that goes by it becomes harder and harder to go back! My family and partner have been very supportive and have eased my worries about them being disappointed in me, more the opposite, they want me to leave the job. Normally I'm an upbeat person and I think seeing me over the last couple of weeks as quiet and downtrodden has shocked them a bit. Also, I don't know if anyone experienced this aswell but my memory is completely gone to nothing. I can't take anything in and am gone a bit scatty. I'm going to try to calm down over the next couple of weeks and reassess things.

sopretty

Mooncoin wrote: »

Baldshin, this is exactly how I feel. And like you too I was worried that my parents and partner would be disappointed in me (and I'm 36). I was also worried that people would just think I was lazy and wouldn't understand. I've since been to the Dr. and he has signed me off work for a month. My sister and I drove to my place of work on that day and she handed the cert in for me. Just sitting in the car outside the building filled me with anxiety. Anytime I think of going back I have so much fear I have to put it to the back of my mind. I think, like you Baldshin, I won't be able to go back when the time comes, so far it seems like each day that goes by it becomes harder and harder to go back! My family and partner have been very supportive and have eased my worries about them being disappointed in me, more the opposite, they want me to leave the job. Normally I'm an upbeat person and I think seeing me over the last couple of weeks as quiet and downtrodden has shocked them a bit. Also, I don't know if anyone experienced this aswell but my memory is completely gone to nothing. I can't take anything in and am gone a bit scatty. I'm going to try to calm down over the next couple of weeks and reassess things.

I identify with all of the above. I actually used to avoid the road the business was located on, in case I'd bump into colleagues.
Yes, my memory and concentration was gone. It was gone the last week or so in the job, which certainly made trying to do the job pretty stressful, as it was a tough job even when operating at full brain capacity!
That came back for me though after a few weeks.
There's one final thing I feel I should mention. I wasn't prepared, but forewarned is forearmed as they say. Basically, I was contacted a lot by the company (phonecalls, meetings, company Doctor). Now, I was on paid leave for the beginning of my absence, then unpaid leave. Just be prepared that they may contact you for an update :rolleyes: as to your progress..

Maphisto

Hi Mooncoin
I've suffered panic attacks from work and I do simpathise. I dealt with this dread by drinking and smoking too much - This is not a treatment I recommend

I had a very helpful GP who amazingly had the time and inclination to talk.

Anyway cut a long ramble short. In 2008 I chucked the good job and moved back here, where we run a small farm. We're piss poor but have never been happier and the panic attacks stopped from the get go.

Good Luck

olliesgirl55

I too fell victim of intolerable stress of a job. For me it wasn't the work that bothered me but the culture in the workplace. Everybody was so scared of layoffs they were always covering their own buts by stabbing co-workers in the back. There was me in the corner trying to avoid the notice of my coworkers so I would not be a target but it didn't work. Anyway it got so stressful that I would have panic attacks every Sunday and had that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach on my drive to work.
I loved the actual work but hated the environment. I worked away in this environment for 5 more years and I can tell you it nearly destroyed me. I have been out of it two years and I still haven't recovered. I have become cynical and distrustful of people in general.
Mooncoin you are well shot of that job IMHO. You need to be able to find a job that suits you and you should never change yourself to suit a job if that makes any sense.

delthedriver

Regarding illness certificates to Employers, it is important to confirm work related stress as the reason for absence.


Sometimes people are afraid to submit the words work related stress on the certificate.


Why should anyone feel ashamed to have the words Work Related Stress on the medical cert? If this is the reason for absence so be it. You are not the cause of your absence.


It is high time Employers faced up to their responsibilities. Why should someone with work related stress be treated differently to someone who has been in a car crash, been diagnosed with cancer or on maternity leave????


The Company will no doubt send you to The Company Doctor when they receive such a sick certificate. Do not let worry you. The Company Doctor is firstly a doctor with concern your medical wellbeing. He is merely paid by the Company to confirm reason for your absence.


All doctors are required to take an oath whereby they will do the patient no harm.


If you require clarification , please feel free to PM me.

Maphisto

delthedriver wrote: »

Regarding illness certificates to Employers, it is important to confirm work related stress as the reason for absence.

Agree 100%

I had an interesting discussion with my GP on that topic. As a line manager we were told that "stress" was probably as a result of "trouble at home", or a painful seperation. We cheerfully soaked this advice up before turning to the next topic on the agenda which would add yet further pressure to staff and ourselves.

delthedriver

Maphisto wrote: »

Agree 100%

I had an interesting discussion with my GP on that topic. As a line manager we were told that "stress" was probably as a result of "trouble at home", or a painful seperation. We cheerfully soaked this advice up before turning to the next topic on the agenda which would add yet further pressure to staff and ourselves.

Oh yes there are some bad eggs in these Organisations.


I really wonder how these guys can live with themselves knowing that they have created an environment where people become physically and emotionally ill ?


Furthermore how do they feel when someone takes their own life as a result of work related stress?

Mrs OBumble

delthedriver wrote: »

I really wonder how these guys can live with themselves knowing that they have created an environment where people become physically and emotionally ill ?

Lads a bit of perspective here: not everyone becomes ill from call centre work. And there are some jobs that are highly likely to be damaging to some workers, but the alternative is not an option (think guards in the drug squad).

If anything, they should be doing more pre-employment screening to make sure that anyone who is emotionally vulnerable isn't hired. And they ye'll be on here complaining about the types of questions they ask about your family members, grief patterns, alcohol consumption ... followed by drug screening .. all of which seem irrelevant to answering phone calls about people's ESB bills or whatever.

Another trend we were seeing at home is that supervisors were being asked to keep better tabs on out-of-work activities that people were involved in, and to tell people to not to do things that were considered to add unduly to their overall stress load. Eg someone in a stressful job being told not to go door-to-door political campaigning for an unpopular candidate.


There's at least two sides to every story.

sopretty

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

If anything, they should be doing more pre-employment screening to make sure that anyone who is emotionally vulnerable isn't hired.

I don't think that is the way forward to be fair!

delthedriver

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

Lads a bit of perspective here: not everyone becomes ill from call centre work. And there are some jobs that are highly likely to be damaging to some workers, but the alternative is not an option (think guards in the drug squad).

If anything, they should be doing more pre-employment screening to make sure that anyone who is emotionally vulnerable isn't hired. And they ye'll be on here complaining about the types of questions they ask about your family members, grief patterns, alcohol consumption ... followed by drug screening .. all of which seem irrelevant to answering phone calls about people's ESB bills or whatever.

Another trend we were seeing at home is that supervisors were being asked to keep better tabs on out-of-work activities that people were involved in, and to tell people to not to do things that were considered to add unduly to their overall stress load. Eg someone in a stressful job being told not to go door-to-door political campaigning for an unpopular candidate.


There's at least two sides to every story.

Respectfully Mrs O, I never suggested everyone becomes ill from call centre work. Perhaps you could show me where I did?

Mooncoin

sopretty wrote: »

I don't think that is the way forward to be fair!

I agree with sopretty on this one. Prejudice against someone going for a job who is depressed/suffers anxiety/panic attacks is the opposite of what should happen and would only serve to exacerbate their depression/anxiety.

delthedriver

Mooncoin wrote: »

I agree with sopretty on this one. Prejudice against someone going for a job who is depressed/suffers anxiety/panic attacks is the opposite of what should happen and would only serve to exacerbate their depression/anxiety.

Agree, indeed an Employer could be sued for discrimination !


Not all call centres are hell holes, just those which are badly managed.

sopretty

Work (in the correct atmosphere and management structure) can be incredibly therapeutic, even though perhaps the work itself may be challenging or pressured. Stress is when the pressure becomes too much, when you've no managerial support, wages not commensurate with responsibilities, lack of appreciation, hostility between employees, etc. etc...

delthedriver

sopretty wrote: »

Work (in the correct atmosphere and management structure) can be incredibly therapeutic, even though perhaps the work itself may be challenging or pressured. Stress is when the pressure becomes too much, when you've no managerial support, wages not commensurate with responsibilities, lack of appreciation, hostility between employees, etc. etc...

Given the right circumstances, management support a competitive working environment can be very healthy for both the organisation and staff.


Whether it is a call centre or a retail outlet, poor management results in a high staff turnover, staff shortages, and potentially work related stress for remaining employees as they try to provide service to customers and fill the gaps created by staff absences and departures.!


Panic attacks is one of the many aspects of Work Related Stress.


Anyone suffering from Panic attacks should consult their GP's. Work related stress is a growing epidemic. Doctors in Ireland are fully aware of this issue.

Life is for living! Be kind to yourself!

Mrs OBumble

delthedriver wrote: »

Respectfully Mrs O, I never suggested everyone becomes ill from call centre work. Perhaps you could show me where I did?

I didn't say so - and I didn't say that you did, either.

But what the OP and one other poster have pointed out is that stress is cumulative: the stress of call centre work along with other circumstances in their lives combined to reach a "tipping point" at which they became unwell, and unable to cope with workplace demands that didn't worry other employees.

This is a pretty well documented phenomina. It doesn't only apply to call-centres, but the other places where it happens tend to be more well-established and researched, and thus know more about dealing with it.

Employers cannot legally discriminate based on The Big Nine, and this includes disability - provided that they can make reasonable accommodation to make the job do-able. (What this amounts to is clear in some cases (eg for a person with a visual disability, screen-reader software and a magnifier), but it's not clear in others: there are some jobs where getting shouted at by unhappy people is simply part of the gig, and employees simply have to deal with it. Progressive manageemnt help, but it is not guaranteed to help everyone.)

But they can and regularly do discriminate on other factors (short / tall / fat / ugly / smart / qualified / experienced / sense of humour / emotional awareness / resiliance).

Arguably call-centre employers could save a fair bit of human misery if they screened out the people who evidence says are more likely to be vulnerable to excessive stress because of other circumstances in their lives. The emergency services, army, and many other jobs involving public safety already screen this way, either formally or informally. I've worked with a call-centre maanger before do did this - he looked for evidence of an "I don't give a f***" attitude, and asked some weird interview questions eg "What would you do if you mother died?". For all they were weird, it worked - he had hired very few people who couldn't handle the job.

olliesgirl55

Mrs OBumble wrote: »

I didn't say so - and I didn't say that you did, either.

But what the OP and one other poster have pointed out is that stress is cumulative: the stress of call centre work along with other circumstances in their lives combined to reach a "tipping point" at which they became unwell, and unable to cope with workplace demands that didn't worry other employees.

This is a pretty well documented phenomina. It doesn't only apply to call-centres, but the other places where it happens tend to be more well-established and researched, and thus know more about dealing with it.

Employers cannot legally discriminate based on The Big Nine, and this includes disability - provided that they can make reasonable accommodation to make the job do-able. (What this amounts to is clear in some cases (eg for a person with a visual disability, screen-reader software and a magnifier), but it's not clear in others: there are some jobs where getting shouted at by unhappy people is simply part of the gig, and employees simply have to deal with it. Progressive manageemnt help, but it is not guaranteed to help everyone.)

But they can and regularly do discriminate on other factors (short / tall / fat / ugly / smart / qualified / experienced / sense of humour / emotional awareness / resiliance).

Arguably call-centre employers could save a fair bit of human misery if they screened out the people who evidence says are more likely to be vulnerable to excessive stress because of other circumstances in their lives. The emergency services, army, and many other jobs involving public safety already screen this way, either formally or informally. I've worked with a call-centre maanger before do did this - he looked for evidence of an "I don't give a f***" attitude, and asked some weird interview questions eg "What would you do if you mother died?". For all they were weird, it worked - he had hired very few people who couldn't handle the job.

To inject a bit of levity here Mrs. O but youre saying that good call centre managers higher employees who don't give a ***** about things. I am seing the CS reps in a new light:)

doolox

Mental health issues can be very difficult to handle because of the perceived social stigma attached to such conditions.

To take an analogy, no one would object to a manager selecting a fit,sporty well built person for a security doormans job and rejecting any weedy unfit physically unimpressive people for the job.

Some call centre jobs require you to be very together emotionally and they are not for everyone. Just as it would be unfair and dangerous to put a person with vertigo out on a job requiring work at heights or on ladders, so it is unfair to put someone who currently delicate emotionally on a tough, customer-facing phone centre job.

Mrs OBumble

olliesgirl55 wrote: »

To inject a bit of levity here Mrs. O but youre saying that good call centre managers higher employees who don't give a ***** about things. I am seing the CS reps in a new light:)

Ya - doesn't work that way for all of them, but the particular former colleague of mine had a crew who looked between motley and outrageous, but were well able for high-pressure calls in one of those situations where they simply could not hang up. Very hard kind of job to hire for.

sopretty

Load of nonsense.

The job I experienced work related stress in, was customer facing, but it was not the customers who stressed me. It was the work environment.

My most recent position had me dealing with the worst of the worst in terms of customers, but it was a breeze, for the simple reason that I had full management support behind me.

FurBabyMomma

I used to work as a teacher and regularly had classes of 30 teenagers gang up on me - throwing things, foul language, the works. They had made a teacher leave the previous year so I was their next target. Now I'm no pushover but my first year there was hell and I used to feel sick every Sunday evening, verging on hysterical sometimes. I remember being in hospital and seeing a sign that said abusive behaviour towards staff would result in the Gardai being called - I wish that was the case when dealing with abusive teens! Anyway in my case I toughed it out and after the first year I ended up loving the job and was happy out in the same school for another 3. However in the meantime I got sidetracked into a completely different career and made the decision to leave my job, even though it meant less pay and holidays. However my mental health has never been better so it's been totally worth it. Life is too short to live in a state of stress from one day to the next.

ferfer15

Dont worry, it is not your fault. There are many people in your same situtation.

As other person here, I used to work in Abrakebabra and they treated staff as rubbish. It is very hard job, not only for the work itself but also for the enviroment. The manager and the owner bullied all the staff. Their strategy is make you to believe that you cant do anything good and to make a bad enviroment in the workplace (if you think you are stupid, you are not going to claim for your rights. Call centers are very good in creating stressful places, they believe that is you are under stress, they can make more money of you). Fear is a weapon of control, and if you are afraid they can do wathever they like.

But it is just a game, and they know they are playing a game with you. You have to be strong and try to dont take is seriosly. If the manager of somebody else bully you, just think in an actor, who is playing a paper.

Go ahead, you can do it!, Breath is free, it is not life, it is just a job, and a job cannot be more important than your life.

Please, never buy anything in the place of the magic word. They treat staff as rubbish and their hygiene conditions are very poor. Also, the chips are refried.

ferfer15

So, as an advice, look for any activity where you can find good people and a group (there are many for free in the VECs): theater, photography, languages, painting, any sport. Interacting with people in a good enviroment could help you in a situation like this (it helped me). In many libraries in Ireland, they have supporting groups for people who are seeking for jobs.

And think about: you are having a bad moment, just a moment in your life. Things can change, best regards!