Do I have anxiety?

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Im 16 years old and around 3 months ago I started a Saturday job. I hate it. It is a very busy cafe that is short staffed, they put me on stations which I am not comfortable with yet and become agitated and fed up when I double check things or ask questions ( due to the fact that there is an cue out the door for at least 6/8 hours I work there). I am a very hard working person and want to do things perfect however when I get told that I need to speed up when I'm trying my best or that I've done something wrong I keep thinking about it and it panics me. On top of that my colleagues don't include me in conversation - probably due to my age - but it is just a very stressfull and uninviting environment. One time I was trying to be as quick as I could. They still asked me to speed up.I had to go into the bathrooms and take breaths. I felt like I was going to cry and I shake quite a bit through out the whole shift....sometimes so much that I find it hard to serve the food which of course gets me told off. They think I should know how to do everything by now but I'm sorry I don't. About a month ago I took a hiatus due to exams and im due to start back the 19th. I will more than likely be asked to work more days as well. However from day 1 the the whole of Friday and Saturday morning I feel nauseous. Thinking about it now my heart beats very fast and I start tearing up, my throat is constricted and I feel sick. Is there anything I can do? Should I go see my GP - is there anything they could do to calm my body? My mum thinks I don't like it due to the hard work ( I come home with migraines due to the strong smells and have to take paracetamol and ibuprofen, lie in silence and darkness for a couple of hours before it eases) so do I tell her how much it affects me and how would I go about it?

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@rmitchell047,

It sounds an awful lot like you're having panic attacks.

Is there anywhere else you could work? I'm serious. This is an awful way to go about your days.

Tell your mother that your work environment is sickening you. You are more than happy to work hard (you are, aren't you?), but this is not for you. Bolster your argument by researching other places to work.

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@jespah,

I second that - you are only 16 there is no reason for you to be so stressed out for a job at that age. Your focus should be school and your studies and then the job should be extra. I would suggest you go search out other employment.

It seems you have some good qualities like wanting to get your work done perfectly. Your weakness seems to be speedy. You should look for a job that would be best for your strengths. Hard work, the requires high quality rather than quick service type of work.

It wouldn't hurt to speak with your doctor - but I would shy away from taking medications. Not all jobs require you to be in such stressful quick service.

I have a 16 year old daughter -- I wouldn't want her to work where it would stress her out -- school is stressful enough. She works keeping score for basketball games for youths and umpiring softball games for young girls - not at all stressful. Her work is extra and school and her sports committments come first.

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@Linkat,

I started work on my sixteenth birthday, and the job was very scary to me. Of all things, it was taking tiny xrays (this was many years ago). I was frighted of the xray machine, the lead apron, the patients, the woman who ran the place in the early day time, the paperwork involved, and the apparently stern radiologist who read the film I had to develop in a dark room upstairs. I ended up doing fine because all of those people were nice to me and my anxiety and fears went away. I remember the fear though, so sympathize with you. The people around you aren't conducive to a sane after school work life. Look around for another job..
even filing in a office (or today's equivalent of that) can be interesting, for the experience.

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R-

They haven't fired you, so you must be doing something right. Food service can be very demanding. I imagine that no one even had time to train you, so you have been on your own.

How about talking to your boss?. Tell him/her that you don't feel confident and feel that you have not been trained. Ask to move to another job within the same cafe for a while (as a bus person? kitchen help? cashier?)

Jobs for 16 year olds are hard to find. Try to hang in there for a little while more. If your anxiety doesn't get better, then quit.

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Do I have anxiety?

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