First off, I want to say a big THANK YOU to all of you who leave me comments saying “I know what you’re going through.” I love hearing that. Well, I don’t love knowing that other people have to deal with this shit, because that would be selfish, I guess. But it does help to know that I’m not completely alone.
I’m anxious. Again. I made the mistake of checking my work e-mail after I got home, and ended up getting anxious to the point of feeling physically ill about something that I logically know is SO not a big deal. The dean apparently told my boss to “stop the presses” on an ad I wrote. But she approved it, her boss approved it, so if there’s something wrong with it (I’ll find out what it was tomorrow), they should’ve caught it. It’s really, really no big deal. Yet, I will still lose sleep over it. Or maybe not, because I took lorazepam and am starting to feel much better now!
At least I have something to talk to my psychiatrist about on Saturday, I guess.
Hi there,
I was told something that may help. HSPs (like me and you) tend to get VERY worked up about things that are “no big deal” to most people because we really try HARD to get it right the FIRST time. We pause-to-check, evaluating all angles, all possibilities the first time around. So, when something gets by us (and in your case your boss and her boss) we get flustered and amazed. “How could we miss X”? (whatever X is…) It’s not that we worry over little stuff necessarily, it’s the fact that we MISSED something. Not to be arrogant, but I really try hard in work and most social situations to get it right the first time. Usually I do, and I’ll bet you do, too. It’s not OCD, and it’s not overreacting. It’s just how we tackle problems. Just a thought!
Yeah, I know you’re right (and in this case, I am confident that I DIDN’T mess anything up… the dean just wanted something phrased a different way, to better reflect our mission). But I just want to know to not feel upset when I DO miss something–or be upset by the idea of missing something. I just don’t want to go through life getting anxious and distressed about things like this, because I find myself distracted and irritable, and I don’t like that!
I go through obsessing/overreacting to things other people might see as small at work and in everyday life, too. Sometimes the only thing I can do is take a lorazepam if I get really anxious about it, but I try other techniques, too. One is just stopping myself from spinning my wheels and replaying the mistake/incident/whatever over and over, by forcing myself to say that I did the best I could, that I don’t need to be perfect, and that most likely my co-workers, friends or whomever will not be thinking about it nearly as much as I am. I also try to distract myself from it by taking a little walk, using the restroom to freshen up (or have a little cry if need be), listening to some music or eating something yummy. There’s definitely no cure or easy answer for this problem, which I do think many HSP and people with anxiety go through… but sometimes we can find ways to cope…