Anxiety at Work

[Kari Suttle]

So, i work as a cashier at Walmart and weekends are always busy, super overwhelmingly busy. Normally i can deal with this, but lately i've been having issues with anxiety at work. My usual coping mechanisms of scripting and hyper-focusing on the customer in front of me aren't working either. I know at least part of it is life-stress type stuff - school, babysitting job is at risk cause the family might need to move, cashier job, etc. I'm just asking because from friday and yesterday alone i had a few anxiety attacks on the register and it wasn't a good experience to say the least.

I'm not diagnosed either as an aspie or with anxiety either so i can't just tell the supervisors anything, i'm the kind of person that hates admitting that sort of thing. I would rather find a way to deal with it on my own somehow. I'm getting a new phone tomorrow so hopefully getting a phone where i can listen to *all* my favorite music on breaks will help. The job's only a weekend job - i work friday evenings and all day weekends so that helps some. Does anyone have any advice? It doesn't help that we have two new supervisors as well...the new guy seems friendly and competent, but the girl not so much she comes off as rude or unfriendly. There's only two supervisors at work (out of like, five-ish total, the two new people not included) that i like that are friendly. One is just plain super nice the other is nice but more professional than the other and is good about clarifying and explaining things well and noticing when i'm not getting it but won't just come out and say it.

Sorry this thread post is all over the place. I'm about to go to work so i dont have time to sit and organize my thoughts and decide what's relevant and what isn't.

 

[wyverary]

I am a weekend cashier as well, and while it's most of the time nowhere near as busy as Walmart, there are times when things get CRAZY and super overwhelming...next weekend is going to be one of those. I've had a lot of stress in my life lately, and it's certainly made it much harder for me to do my job.

If you don't have an official diagnosis, then no, it is probably not a good idea to bring that up directly with your supervisors. That said, you mention you seem to like some of your supervisors... At a place like Walmart I don't imagine you're in a position to get super friendly with them. But even without bringing it up, if they are good at their job, they will likely notice how you do on the floor, your strengths and weaknesses. I work at a much smaller establishment, and so it can be a more intimate environment, but one of my direct supervisors suffers anxiety attacks herself; and my previous Store Manager had a sister with bipolar and told me outright that she understood and wanted me to be able to exercise my strengths as much as possible and limit whatever might cause me great stress. Again, this issn't something it sounds like you can discuss directly, but you never know...managers can be more empathetic and perceptive than pop culture makes them out to be.

As for anxiety attacks at the register...been there, my friend. Totally been there. Best advice I can offer...find a way to force your brain into autopilot while you allow yourself to have something of a shutdown. You might make some mistakes (lord knows I have over the past couple of weeks), but if it gets you through the workday, that's all that matters at the end of the day. For me, if nothing else, I rest assured in the confidence that, no matter how stressful things may be at work, it's JUST A JOB, something that I can hang up at the door as I leave and not have to think about once I get home.

Anyway...I'm rambling. I hope some of this helps.

wyv

 

[Kari Suttle]

I am a weekend cashier as well, and while it's most of the time nowhere near as busy as Walmart, there are times when things get CRAZY and super overwhelming...next weekend is going to be one of those. I've had a lot of stress in my life lately, and it's certainly made it much harder for me to do my job.

If you don't have an official diagnosis, then no, it is probably not a good idea to bring that up directly with your supervisors. That said, you mention you seem to like some of your supervisors... At a place like Walmart I don't imagine you're in a position to get super friendly with them. But even without bringing it up, if they are good at their job, they will likely notice how you do on the floor, your strengths and weaknesses. I work at a much smaller establishment, and so it can be a more intimate environment, but one of my direct supervisors suffers anxiety attacks herself; and my previous Store Manager had a sister with bipolar and told me outright that she understood and wanted me to be able to exercise my strengths as much as possible and limit whatever might cause me great stress. Again, this issn't something it sounds like you can discuss directly, but you never know...managers can be more empathetic and perceptive than pop culture makes them out to be.

As for anxiety attacks at the register...been there, my friend. Totally been there. Best advice I can offer...find a way to force your brain into autopilot while you allow yourself to have something of a shutdown. You might make some mistakes (lord knows I have over the past couple of weeks), but if it gets you through the workday, that's all that matters at the end of the day. For me, if nothing else, I rest assured in the confidence that, no matter how stressful things may be at work, it's JUST A JOB, something that I can hang up at the door as I leave and not have to think about once I get home.

Anyway...I'm rambling. I hope some of this helps.

wyv

Good idea about the autopilot. I do that when i'm not working sometimes, mostly after work so i can get homework done despite being worn out, but in the moment it can be hard to do. I have to not be at the breaking point already to be able to do it and force a shutdown. I have a hard time leaving everything at the door as you do, though. I've always been judged by how good I am at everything. For me it seems like every mistake either proves or disproves if i'm good enough.

And as a matter of fact i think my two favorite supervisors do notice things - how much they notice idk, but they notice some things. Even the one i dont like that always looks mad noticed how in the beginning i had issues listening to and processing new instructions while i was still checking out customers. Example - "Shut your light off after you're done with your line and move to register 5").

With time my ability to hyperfocus and shift that hyperfocus improved, and i developed coping mechanisms like repeating aloud the instructions, but in the beginning her noticing that was very helpful and saved us both some grief. Having a few good supervisors makes up for not having a diagnosis for anything in some ways, i guess, because i know that even if i had one i probably wouldn't bring it up with them unless things got really bad.

 

[Tom]

I was identified with anxiety beginning about age 27-28 and was put on maintenance med in the Air Force. Something not that dramatic but that does help keep things from getting on your nerves, takes the edge off things. I noticed no 'personality change' I didn't turn into Mr. Rogers. It does work for a lot of people.

Anyway the anxiety turned out to be a co-morbid of Aspergers, though I am only self-diagnosed. But I don't need or necessarily want a autism diagnosis at this point. There is no med/treatment per se for Aspergers, so they can only treat co-morbids like anxiety anyway.

So that is something to consider, seeing your doctor about anxiety. In recent years I have gotten treated/prescriptions from my family doctor and not even had to see a shrink. Though I did see one in the past who confirmed the general anxiety disorder condition.