People with anxiety disorder hardly realize that they are suffering from it. With careful introspection and observation, you will be able to diagnose if you or someone is suffering from one. Often characterized by constant fluctuations in jobs, and dissatisfaction at work, people with anxiety disorder need the right kind of job.
In this blog, we will share the right jobs for people with an anxiety disorder. Learn about generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), its symptoms and help someone in need. All in all, your aim should be finding jobs that lower stress and that are fulfilling.
What is Anxiety Disorder?
People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) generally overthink a situation, such as expect disaster or excessively worry about health, family, money, work or everyday life. Most of the time, the worry is unrealistic and out of proportion, which eventually becomes a habit and may end up interfering with the person’s regular activities, like socializing, relationships, work, and school.
Common symptoms of GAD
Anxiety can lead to both mental and physical symptoms, including:
- Unrealistic views of a problem
- Excessive and constant worry or tension
- Restlessness
- Increased heartbeat
- Muscle tension
- Headaches
- Difficulty in concentrating
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Insomnia
- Trembling
- Weight gain
- Increased urge to go to the bathroom
Some patients may also experience other anxiety disorders, such as clinical depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), phobias, or drug abuse and/or alcohol addiction.
Environmental factors, family history, and brain chemistry are a few factors that cause GAD. This disorder is often developed in childhood or adolescence. However, even adults develop symptoms due to the work environment. GAD is also more common in women than in men.
Picking a Career for Anxiety Disorder
The first step to finding the best job is to introspect everything about your career, such as the types of jobs you had in the past, whether you were good at them and whether you enjoyed them. Before taking any rash decision, think over it. If possible, do some volunteering work to understand the nature of the work. You must have a personal interest in the job. Additionally, you also have to assess the stress level that the job involves and work on them.
That being said, you should also seek for therapies and treatments for anxiety disorder.
The Ideal Career for Anxiety Disorder Patients
Reducing work level stress and coping up with work stress considerably helps people with GAD in their career. However, an ideal career choice for GAD patients should be:
- Balanced work that is mentally engaging, and also prevents people from worrying too much.
- A job that requires you to use the information you have gathered. Individuals with GAD will most likely excel in jobs that require investigation and analyzing data, prior to making decisions.
- Work that is independently done.
In simple words, you need a career that keeps you preoccupied, interested, stimulated, and that serves as good stress-buster.
Best Jobs for People with Anxiety Disorder
Now that we know what really brings about generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), its symptoms and the ways to combat it, let’s see what are the recommended jobs for Anxiety Disorder or simply, the best jobs for people with Anxiety Disorder.
Teacher
Teaching does not allow individuals to take a lot of stress; also, it keeps you occupied and engaged with prep work and classroom time. Since teachers are supposed to be highly knowledgeable, on a number of subject areas, this job profile will allow you to constantly keep yourself engaged in gathering information on different subjects.
Medical Technician
The medical realm is blooming with new job opportunities relating to technology. The Bureau of Labour Statistics predicts that by 2026 there will be 40,000 new jobs in the medical industry. Therefore, a career as a clinical technician should be ideal for people with GAD for a number of reasons, including – increased focus on operating equipments for diagnosing issues and treating individuals; minimal social interaction with people; satisfaction at the end of each day for making a positive difference in the lives of people, and of course, a good pay.
Private Investigator
As we mentioned earlier, individuals with GAD will excel in jobs that require investigation and analysis. Therefore, a career as a private investigator is ideal for such individuals, for the job involves on-the-ground surveillance, domestic situations, corporate investigations, and other tasks that keep you active. A career in crime branch, home inspection, and criminal laboratory may also suit.
Hair and Makeup Artist
Usually, anxiety at work erupts from consciousness to public glares. But, when you work as a make-up artist, hair stylist, or aesthetician, you flip the coin. In here, your goal becomes making sure everyone’s attention is transfixed on your client. So, you try to bring out the best in them and in return, enjoy some glory for your artistic skills. It is one of the most low-stress jobs and at the same time, quite interesting too. It also gives you an outlet to use your creativity and explore its depth.
Fitness Trainer
Teaching and training is the best profession for people suffering from anxiety disorder for it gives them a purpose and a reason to research and plan. As a fitness trainer, you will help people to use gym equipment, set up a diet plan, and plan a fitness schedule. You will be constantly making fitness changes for your clients based on your research about their health. This job also requires you to be physically fitFew alternative professions that you can choose include personal trainer, gym trainer, yoga instructor, and Zumba trainer.
Dietician and Nutritionist
If you love cooking and know what it requires to make a healthy and tasty dish, you should consider becoming a dietician or a nutritionist. Today, a wide variety of companies, from gymnasium and clubs to hospitals hire dietician or nutrition experts for different reasons. You can serve as a dietician for outpatient capacity and help people set a healthy meal plan. However, you must obtain a license to practice as a dietician or nutritionist. Instead of taking up jobs in multi-specialty hospitals, look for jobs in places that involve less stress, such as old homes, rehab centers, doctor’s office, and other medical facilities that provide care.
Researcher
A teacher or professor can also be a researcher. Go for a post-graduation or Ph.D. and consider a job as a University Researcher. As a researcher, you can get several opportunities to explore subjects or topics that interest you and record your findings. It can be a boring job, but if your passion lies in the subjects, you will soar and excel. The job may also comprise of public speaking, developing syllabuses, creating presentations, and attending conferences and business events. If you have anxiety-related stage fright, you can overcome it with constant practice.
Accountant
If you like playing with numbers and have the keenness to pay attention to detail, you can consider a career in finance and accounting. When you work in the field of accountancy, medical billing, coding, and invoicing, you keep your brain occupied continuously. This job requires attention and a sharp mind, which won’t drain you with trivial things. What more? You do not have to worry about finance and peer pressure, for this career is very well paying, and most of the time, seek independent workers or freelancers.
Pharmacy Technician
You can use your anxiety disorder to your advantage. Individuals with GAD tend to look out for details, which is actually a great skill to have in pharmacy technician. Pharmacist and pharmacy technician are two different roles. While the former handles the counters and interacts with customers, the latter, the pharmacy technician, works behind the scenes to ensure each medicine is properly marked, labeled, packaged, measured, and filed and doled out. This requires keen observation and accurate calculation, and both tasks will keep your mind from wandering towards worries.
Landscaper and Gardener
Physical activities often help reduce depression, panic attacks, and anxiety levels in individuals. Working with nature automatically and naturally alleviates the anxiety levels in people. As a landscaper or gardener, you will be working outside your home and office, at a new place every other day. By the end of each day, you can notice the work you have done has managed to change the appearance of a place. It will produce positive vibes within you, which is essential to reduce worry.
Here are a few suggestions. We hope that you find the right job that strengthens your mind and improves your skills. Share the post if you think it will help someone dealing with the disorder.
