Having lived with anxiety to varying degrees, Jo Godley shares her top tips for managing it, in the hope that it might spark further conversations in the workplace
![Jo Godley](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width/public/media-image/2022-05/42_45_june_2022_viewpoint_1200x675px_01.jpg?h=c74750f6&itok=rtIvxLbT)
Many health professionals experience work-related anxiety, many of us live with ‘imposter’ feelings and battle with self-doubt on a daily basis.
We tend to be ‘givers’, donating our time and energy to others and we feel guilty when we think we have failed.
Let’s say this out loud – ‘it is impossible to get every single person better’. Sounds logical – Rafael Nadal can’t win every tennis match. Still, harbouring this as a true belief is at times very hard to do, since we tend to be overly critical of ourselves.
From personal experience, I wanted to share some of my top tips for those of you experiencing anxiety, and for managers supporting the staff in their teams.
I want to encourage conversations about anxiety, and create environments that are more open about these struggles.
- For further information, see my blog: mehab
Top tips for you
- If needed, use your GP to get signed off, to give you ‘permission’ to stop and take care of yourself, and check for any underlying medical causes.
- Consider vitamin supplements and diet changes to aid general health.
- Practice relaxation in some form – yoga/meditation/mindfulness – whatever works for you.
- Exercise – walking is great. It uses both sides of the brain, which is calming.
- Disconnect from social media or the news for a while, and learn to say no.
- Maintain good sleep habits.
- Accept your anxiety as part of you. Name it out loud and relinquish the fight to conquer it.
- Try not to compare yourself to others.
- Seek help from professionals – counsellors, coaches - keep trying until you find someone who ‘clicks’ with you.
Top tips for managers
- Listen to people’s fears and anxieties and validate them. Even if you can’t understand them.
- Signpost to professional services, these may include counselling and anxiety management groups, but understand that sometimes people just need to feel like you have their back.
- Encourage open discussions at staff meetings about mistakes, create an environment where it is okay to make mistakes, to learn from them in a ‘safe’ environment.
- Ask staff for their feelings using surveys, get your health and safety reps involved, act on the results – offer feedback.
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