Worrying is a fact of life; it comes and goes, usually. A clinical psychologist explains how to better manage anxiety at work, whether you have an anxiety disorder, suspect you might, or want to support a colleague who does.
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You're listening to Women at Work from Harvard Business Review.
I'm Amy Bernstein.
And I'm Amy Gallo.
I imagine many of us have been feeling anxious lately with everything going on in the world, like the US Presidential election and the war in the Middle east and artificial intelligence.
And I could go on, but I won't.
Then there's everything going on in our personal lives.
For me, it's the upcoming holidays and ongoing work pressures.
Me, my daughter's college applications and my mom's recent fall in health scare.
Plus plus a ridiculous battle with my health insurance to cover up medication I need.
Worrying is a fact of life.
It comes and goes, usually because another fact from the US Food and Drug Administration is that women are twice as likely as men to develop an anxiety disorder at some point in their lives.
As highly treatable as anxiety disorders are, the FDA also says that most adults aren't treating theirs.
I would wake up and cry and just count the minutes until I had to start work.
That's Mary, one of our listeners whose mornings went on like that for a couple of months before she saw a therapist.
And it was that therapist who said that I have generalized anxiety disorder.
So I believe what triggered that really low point was now a former colleague who at the time was being let go from the company.
So I would be taking on their responsibilities, having more responsibilities of my own to really lead the team I had been part of for several years.
And so, you know, looking back on it, I think it was really imposter syndrome that was showing up in the most severe, worst way.