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The People Who Are Terrified of Going to Work

Workplace phobias come in six clinically described versions.
Ashwin Rodrigues
Brooklyn, US

​For people who have a legitimate phobia of work, it may be difficult at first to get people to believe that what they suffer is something that can be clinically diagnosed. But workplace phobias are real, and they're recognized by science.

According to a 2009 article in Psychology, Health and Medicine, workplace phobia is defined as a "phobic anxiety reaction with symptoms of panic occurring when thinking of or approaching the workplace."

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Some informal polling and prior discussions with friends leads me to believe nearly 100 percent of people I know believe they suffer from this ailment. However, just saying "god dammit" when you leave for work does not actually constitute a "phobic anxiety reaction."

Those who suffer from workplace phobia can experience a range of symptoms, which are triggered by a range of stimuli. A 2007 article in the Journal of Anxiety Disorders suggests there are six distinct types of workplace anxieties.

"Work-related panic disorder"

If I think of going to work, I am going to have a fucking heart attack.

"Situational workplace phobia"

If my manager makes me give a presentation to a large group, I am going to have a fucking heart attack.

"Indiscriminate work-related social phobia"

Many different aspects of my work make me feel like I am having a fucking heart attack.

"Discriminate work-related social phobia"

Some specific aspects of my work make me feel like I am having a fucking heart attack.

"Work-related generalized anxiety disorder"

I feel like I am having a fucking heart attack at work, and I don't know why.

"Work-related posttraumatic stress disorder"

Ever since I had that actual fucking heart attack at work, I experience distress. This distress, or anxiety, often manifests itself in the form of me feeling like I am having a fucking heart attack.

Image: ​Robert S. Donovan/Flickr

I ventured to the Social Anxiety Forum, the best place online to go to discuss all things anxiety and panic related. One 24-year-old man from Finland noted that his workplace anxiety is debilitating.

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"I am considering leaving. Everyone I work with thinks I am an idiot," he wrote. "I constantly make mistakes due to my anxiety issues. Mind is so pre-occupied with feeling anxious that it's difficult to focus on anything else."

He wasn't alone in his misery, as a 35-year-old user noted that he "did that (quit his job) at 20 and couldn't find another job until 4yrs later(due to my SA.)"

He offered up some simple but actionable advice: "Try not to quit man."

As with many phobias, there are a range of treatments that sufferers can seek.

One resource notes the most successful treatment is "slow habituation, which causes desensitisation." However, since the workplace can't be "recreated artificially…the individual must undergo treatment in a public arena."

What this means, is "Go back to work, and eventually it will get better. It is also worth noting this comes from HR Zone. There may some motivation for an HR site to encourage a "please just face your fears and come to the office"-based therapy. It also notes the combination of "drugs and a development of coping strategies" as being effective. In other words, take a chill pill, and deal with it. I'm not sure if tough love has been scientifically proven as effective, but that seems to be the suggestion here.

The actual treatment is some combination of therapy (cognitive behavioral therapy or otherwise) and maybe some carefully prescribed anti-anxiety drugs.

As with anything that is not free money or food, you may be wondering why you need to care about this. Well, maybe you suffer from workplace phobia. If you're a sketchy person, you may want to study the common symptoms so you can begin faking them, as you plead your case to work from home 24/7. If you're an employer of people, you would want to know how to help curb and treat these anxieties, or at least create an environment that's less triggering to your employed workplace anxiety sufferers.

As they say, an employee that is paralyzed with anxiety is not a happy employee. So, regardless of your status as a boss or worker it's worth knowing that there are people out there who don't merely hate their jobs—they're scared of them.