Is there such a thing? I have a great job. It's truly all I ever wanted to do. I work on amazing projects but I haven't slept well in over a year. At 4am on Father's Day, I lie awake obsessing over possible problems on my projects..
I could ask my company HR people or post an inquiry on LinkedIn but I'm not sure that I want that kind of attention.
There are Mental Health Counselors who work for large companies to help with this specific type of anxiety, but any licensed professional can help. Workplace-related mental health concerns are one of the big three that we (I am a licensed Mental Health Counselor) deal with regularly (along with relationships and child/parent issues). Search out a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor if you want to switch professions, but they also might have some resources for you.
How much of it is just in your nature? How can a person control what their brain decides to chew on in the middle of the night?
If you figure it out, let me know.
Streetwiseguy said:How much of it is just in your nature? How can a person control what their brain decides to chew on in the middle of the night?
If you figure it out, let me know.
I need to know. I've had some success convincing myself to say "berkeley it I can't solve every issue" and "is this useful" but my work is important to me. I just don't want to die from stubborn.
Javelin (Forum Supporter) said:There are Mental Health Counselors who work for large companies to help with this specific type of anxiety, but any licensed professional can help. Workplace-related mental health concerns are one of the big three that we (I am a licensed Mental Health Counselor) deal with regularly (along with relationships and child/parent issues). Search out a Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor if you want to switch professions, but they also might have some resources for you.
Thanks for this. I was wondering if there is a specialty in your profession but it seems I'm... drumroll..... over thinking it.
What do you think about being up front with the employer on something like this? Good/bad/doesn't matter?
I work for a large international firm with about 1200 employees if it makes any difference.
In reply to OHSCrifle :
There's lots of specialties, just not really sure this. Think more like focus on age groups like children or geriatric, specific modalities like EMDR, or generalized diagnoses like trauma. A counselor who specialized in anxiety could be a benefit for your condition.
A large firm like that should have good HR. Some offer in house services. I personally would bring it up to the employer and seek assistance, but that's a choice only you can make. As a side note, if you have documentation that your mental health diagnosis was caused by work and something happens forcing you from work you would be eligible for a worker's comp claim and treatment through your state industrial insurance.
Streetwiseguy said:How much of it is just in your nature? How can a person control what their brain decides to chew on in the middle of the night?
If you figure it out, let me know.
More than you'd think. Although, in my experience, it's a bit more nuanced than that.
It's training habits, reflexes, and responses the same as you'd train yourself for anything else. There are different methods, techniques, and tricks that work better for different people. It's ultimately all teaching yourself to redirect your thinking.
Almost the same idea as training yourself to look farther ahead down track, look through the turns, and think about setting yourself up two turns ahead, to train yourself out of panic-focusing on hazards and constantly second-guessing imperfect inputs while driving. You're not training your mind to not bounce around a bunch of crazy ideas. You're training yourself not to wrestle with every single new thing your brain pops up with.
Different techniques work better for different people. Professional therapy, meditation, mindfulness practices, and small rituals are all potentially useful tools.
I've done some mindfulness meditation stuff. That helped a lot for a while. Now I have good luck with just putting down electronics a minimum amount of time before I want to sleep, and going through a particular nightly ritual before bed: a quick series of stretches, then reading. Listening to records also helps me a lot too. Specifically records, because it's a ritual that forces me to stop and do one thing slowly and intentionally, then to just sit for 20 minutes and pay attention to one thing.
The more you practice things like that, it's not that the distracting thoughts pop up less, but I react to them differently. It's like, "Oh yeah. That's a distracting thought. Whatever," and then it slips away and I can go back to listening to the music or paying attention to the aromas of my Scotch instead of wrestling with the thought.
Not being able to shut off the work brain is a problem I used to have but not one that I've ever worked with my counselor on. I've needed help with a lot of other stuff but that particular issue I worked through on my own and, I think partially just got better as I got older.
For me it was a combination of recognizing that stepping away from whatever I was struggling with and coming back to it fresh in the morning really was the most efficient way to move forward and coming up with non-work things that held my attention long enough to make that switch.
I'm in the habit of ending my work day by making enough notes to be able to pickup where I left off and documenting next steps. If I have an idea in the middle of the night I write it down.
It took a while but after solving hundreds of issues in the morning that seemed insurmountable in the evening my brain has accepted that as a valid and productive technique.
I also have a wind down in the evening process that includes working on the race car, dinner, quality time with my wife, reading and sometimes, exercise. Incidentally, I hate exercise but my physical and mental health are both better if I make it a point to get some.
Any good counselor will be able to help you work through this and I recommend you seek one out sooner rather than later.
I can't help you with the through work or not question. Ideally, counciling would be a resource that's available through any employer without judgement or repercussions. In my experience we're not quite there yet. I think it really depends on the culture where you work.
This looks like it may have had a canoe bump - but one other thing worth mentioning is that larger companies frequently have something called an Employee Assistance Program or EAP. These take mental health requests and report how much they've been used back to the employer but keep the names and details of who has contacted them anonymous.
Old post canoe boomerangs are more interesting when it's something you started.
Nine months later I can say that having a child suffering from depression is remarkably hard... but them feeling even just a bit better helps a lot.
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