Worst Jobs For People With Anxiety (A list)

In this brief guide, we will look at some of the worst jobs for people with anxiety, as well as some of the best jobs for people with anxiety. 

Worst Jobs For People With Anxiety

The worst jobs for people with anxiety are:

  • Surgeon
  • Lawyer
  • Psychiatrist
  • Nursing
  • Police Officer
  • Armed forces
  • Server/Waitstaff
  • Salesperson
  • Cashier
  • Customer support
  • Public relations
  • Manager 
  • Politician

The worst jobs for people with anxiety tend to be any jobs that involve a great deal of time pressure or other kinds of pressure to perform at a certain standard, which is often why so many students experience anxiety.

Jobs like being a lawyer also can’t be good for someone with anxiety because they involve so much confrontation and they can be very bad for the autonomic arousal of the person, which is already something that people with anxiety suffer, and these symptoms can get worse in people who get stuck in jobs like that.

Other careers that may classify as some of the worst jobs for people with anxiety may be those where yelling is frequent and include those that involve dealing with upset people, as someone with anxiety already experiences heightened emotions, and they may often experience it much more when they are dealing with people who are displaying a lot of negative emotion.

Examples of such jobs may be customer support or cashiers, because these people deal with far too many people and these people may often be upset about something and want to vent to the one person they associate with the company they are buying something from.

Many customer support officials and cashiers often report feeling a great deal of stress because they are just not able to cope with the experience of having people yelling at them all the time.

These jobs are not just bad for those with social anxiety or those suffering from agoraphobia and such, they may be equally hard for someone with generalized anxiety disorder.

A lot of us also suffer from anxiety from being yelled at and hence jobs where there will be a lot of yelling or an increased pressure to perform are clearly not ideal.

Best jobs for people with Anxiety

Some of the best jobs for people with anxiety may include:

  • Fitness Trainer
  • Artist/Painter
  • Writer
  • Counselling Psychologist
  • Accountant
  • Librarian
  • Photographer
  • Musician
  • Primary Care Physician
  • Massage therapist
  • Animal Caretaker/Animal Grooming

The best jobs for people with anxiety need to involve plenty of time for the person to be able to relax and recharge when they start getting too anxious, so that they can take care of the signs and symptoms of anxiety, and they may be able to deal with any negativity they may have felt during the day.

Some of the best jobs for people with anxiety involve dealing with animals, because there is an inherent positivity to working with animals, which can help with anxiety tremendously.

If one likes working with the fine arts, then being an artist is another example of the best jobs for those with anxiety, because being able to express oneself in an artistic way is also a form of therapy and this form of self-expression can be very good for someone with anxiety.

The best jobs for people with anxiety should also be researched with the idea of what kind of anxiety the person suffers from, because there are many different types of anxiety disorders in adults and they tend to be challenging in their own unique ways.

Someone with social anxiety disorder, for instance, may not experience the same problems in their career that someone with generalized anxiety disorder might, while someone with agoraphobia might only be able to work in work from home jobs.

Types of Anxiety Disorders

There are many types of anxiety disorders, the main ones of which include:

  • Social Anxiety Disorder
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder
  • Specific Phobia
  • Agoraphobia
  • Panic Disorder
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

The primary feature of all these various types of anxiety disorders is neurotic anxiety and fear in the absence of worrisome or scary stimulus.

The primary difference between fear and anxiety is exactly that; fear happens when there is actually something to be scared of, whereas anxiety is just worry that occurs without something to worry about or worry about something that is not worth it in ordinary circumstances.

All these types of anxiety disorders also include the physical symptoms of anxiety, and almost all of them also include some amount of avoidance of anxiety provoking stimuli or effort to reduce anxiety that cause more harmful behaviors.

Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety

Knowing what some of the sign and symptoms of anxiety can be can help greatly to figure out if a certain career is right for you, and these symptoms are as follows:

  • Feeling nervous, restless or tense
  • Experiencing gastrointestinal (GI) problems
  • Having difficulty controlling worry
  • Having the urge to avoid things that trigger anxiety
  • Trouble concentrating or thinking about anything other than the present worry
  • Breathing rapidly (hyperventilation)
  • Sweating
  • Trembling
  • Feeling weak or tired
  • Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom
  • Having an increased heart rate
  • Having trouble sleeping
  • Hypervigilance
  • Irritability
  • Restlessness
  • Cognitive: lack of concentration, racing thoughts, or unwanted thoughts
  • Fatigue
  • Sweating excessively
  • Fear
  • Insomnia
  • Nausea
  • Palpitations
  • Trembling
  • Shallow breathing

If you’re facing this, it may be a good idea to seek the help of a therapist or other mental health professional. You can find a therapist at BetterHelp who can help you learn how to cope and address it.

Best and Worst Jobs For People With Anxiety: Real Experiences

It can help tremendously to hear about the problems people have in their careers when they are also struggling with anxiety and what worked for them, so that you may be able to apply some of the same changes to your situation as well.

Given below are some real-world experiences people have had in dealing with anxiety and what careers they found didn’t worsen their symptoms and make them deteriorate.

“Find something with routine and with expected daily similarity”

“radiologist. they spend their time mainly alone in a dark room…. i think that’s good, right?”

“Night Security. You guard something but no one is around. You just sit around most of the time.”

“I used to have social anxiety and then I worked at a bar and learned how to engage others. For me, hospitality helped with my social anxiety. I could have worked in other places but I wanted to expose myself. If you want to help reduce social anxiety, hospitality can help. It will be harder at first.”

“Working from home. They get a sense of security and safety”

“Do you enjoy driving a forklift? If you do, maybe look into other equipment. If you learn how to use heavy machinery you can make a lot of money. Also you get to sit in it alone.”

“Something procedural and non time-critical. Might be advisable to avoid hospitality and catering, as they tend to be high pressure environments.

That being said, try not to let a manageable disorder dictate your life. Find something you can stand doing for eight to ten hours a day.”

“The only thing I can suggest is simply looking for jobs and asking around. Look for a job that isn’t contract work, someone who keeps their employees and wants them long term. I worked at a construction recycling centre (not in equipment) and they wanted people who would be there long term. They liked to promote within. And if you have to get some work that will be short term, that’s fine. Finding a job sucks and it isn’t easy. But finding the right job changes the game. At least mentally. Unfortunately, that recycling job I had consumed my mental health and I was in a constant state of burnout. But now I’m somewhere new and it’s totally different.”

“During normal times working in the back end of the library was awesome. I got to listen to headphones and not talk to people much.”

“I have two college degrees and I’ve never had a “career.” I just find jobs I think I can do and work them until I get bored or feel too stressed out. I’m lucky to have a partner because the second income is really what allows me (us) to live where I do. Sorry I can’t be more helpful :/

I do want to ask if you’re on meds, though. If you find the right cocktail, it should level out your mood swings and make keeping a job easier.”

“My girlfriend does art commissions and she has a huge following. She has mad social anxiety and this has helped her so much.”

“Graphic Design is a great career for working at home. You have to keep those clients coming tho, I lacked the entrepreneurial spirit so my freelancing didn’t last long.”

“Maybe vet. Tech or work with animals.”

“I work in cybersecurity. It’s basically a desk job. Pay is great, but you’re alone a lot.”

“Tax audit. No one wants to talk to you, you’re the tax auditor.”

“Baker. Not to be confused with working in a bakery but being the one in the back. My cousin, who doesn’t have social anxiety, mentioned that my wife should apply, who has social anxiety, because “You just put your headphones in and make different types of bread and then you go home”.”

“Believe it or not, a rural postal carrier is a great job for someone with social anxiety. You are in a case in the office basically working by yourself putting up mail, and then alone on the street. I don’t interact with more than 5 people on the route a day. It’s mostly just saying hi or waving.”

If you suffer from persistent anxiety at the workplace then you may find some relief in knowing you can take a medical leave from work as most doctors will issue you a sick note for anxiety.

Conclusion

In this brief guide, we looked at some of the worst jobs for people with anxiety, as well as some of the best jobs for people with anxiety. 

Living with anxiety is already quite hard, but when the added pressure of working is added to the mix, it can sometimes hamper the improvement of anxiety as well, and make the person unable to cope.

It is always good for someone with any type of anxiety disorders to find jobs that may allow them the time to deal with their symptoms and also not involve factors that lead to more anxiety.

If you have any further questions or comments about the worst jobs for people with anxiety, please feel free to reach out to us at any time.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs): Worst Jobs For People With Anxiety 

What is the best job for someone with anxiety?

Here are some of the best jobs with someone with anxiety:

Grounds Maintenance 
Accountant.
Computer Programmer
House Painter.
Librarian. 
Graphic Designer.
Pet Care. 
Writer. 

Can you work with severe anxiety?

No, you may not be able to work with severe anxiety, at least not well enough, or as well as you can without it, because even though anxiety disorders are not physical illnesses, they cause physical manifestations which can affect your ability to perform physical work. 

People who have severe anxiety disorders like panic attacks, can experience symptoms like shaking or palpitations, which can often make it difficult to perform tasks which require fine motor skills.

What happens if you can’t work due to anxiety?

If you can’t work due to an Anxiety Disorder you may be able to claim Social Security Disability (SSDI) benefits or depending on what country you are living in, you might be able to claim some kind of disability benefits, which may help you out while you get treatment for your condition.

Citations

https://www.verywellmind.com/the-worst-jobs-for-people-with-social-anxiety-disorder-3024989

https://www.indeed.com/community/reviews/jobs-that-are-doable-for-someone-with-severe-anxiety/td-p/2015385

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