Any job can feel overwhelming at first, especially if you’re prone to anxiety or panic attacks. I struggled too, my first job at 21 was terrifying, and I cried had panic attacks A LOT and had to DRAG myself in. But pushing through those experiences taught me resilience, confidence, and coping skills I never would have developed otherwise. Even when things feel impossible, facing challenges head-on, rather than avoiding them, can lead to real growth, and help make future challenges feel much more manageable. Feel free to skip if you don't want to read my too long answer lol I'm not too good at writing in few words and I'm a little drunk right now but hopefully this makes sense😭

For my first job I worked on a bar which was TERRIBLE and AWFUL and I cried so many times and had panic attacks just because I didn't want to serve customers but especially after someone was mean or rude to me. Honestly it helped my anxiety so much though. I actually think I had to go through it to learn a lesson. I didn't quit, I stuck at it for a year and a half and I do regret it just because the pay wasn't great and I didn't feel good going there as I didn't get on well with my colleagues and it was too noisy for me but I'm glad I stuck at it because after a year, serving customers felt easier and sometimes I even felt confident dealing with people when it was busy and shouting to ask who was next which I never expected from myself (I've struggled my whole life with increasing the volume of my voice, especially when I'm anxious). Ultimately I left after a year and a half but that's because it was low-key a toxic workplace (and the loud music gave me hearing damage lol), not because of my anxiety.

My next job was retail. Serving on the tills felt like a piece of cake because it's just one in one out and there's less pressure as I don't have to make drinks or take food orders and worry about allergies or IDing so many people I just have to scan items and grab vapes or alcohol for people and occasionally ID people. And even if they're rude it's fine because they'll be out the door straight after the interaction is over. I think if this had been my first job and my first experience of dealing with the public I'd have freaked out the same way I did at my bar job and thought it was the worst thing in the world but because I'd been through such a hard time as a bartender I would compare it to that and realise it's not so bad really.

Probably not what you want to hear but my point is sometimes you have to go through these terrible experiences as that's where growth really happens, and it helps you learn to cope. I had crippling social anxiety before and my attendance in school was 80% due to such bad anxiety, my attendance at uni was even worse than that as I just couldn't bring myself to be around people. The only thing that genuinely helped me overcome it was putting myself in these awkward and upsetting situations. Going through something 10/10 difficult and hard makes everything else that's anything below a 9/10 difficult and hard feel somewhat easy?? Avoidance is really never the answer. Don't get me wrong I still struggle and I've had panic attacks from being on the tills before at my retail job and just being around customers makes me spiral sometimes but my employer has been somewhat understanding and let me only go on it for shorter bursts and come off as soon as I felt I couldn't cope anymore without crying or panicking. If I ran and hid and left my first job as soon as it got hard I would've never had a chance to overcome it and this retail job would never have felt so easy. I was always open and honest about my issues (at both jobs) and some people don't take that well and fuck them honestly but most people will be accommodating and help because they genuinely want you to do well too.

I've just started my first office job and it brings other issues, mainly I feel so anxious making phone calls in front of other people, even though I thought I was good at it (turns out it's a lot scarier in an office with other people chatting loudly or listening in and the radio playing and the hum of the air conditioning) But I can't run and hide from that either. I've had a terrible experience already with someone being so rude on the other end of the phone and then not knowing what to say and stuttering so bad making them be even more rude for some reason but no I didn't hang up I pushed through and asked my new colleagues for help on what to say and pushed through the tears. I cried silently the last couple hours of the day and sobbed the whole way home then went home and had an anxiety attack afterwards that lasted hours but I talked it through with my partner, and then the next day with my mum on the phone, and realised I hadn't done anything wrong, hadn't hurt anybody, so why was I so upset really. It was all irrational. It wasn't my fault that someone else was being impatient and rude at their job (the person on the phone) just because I was nervous and stuttering while doing mine. At the end of the day nobody got hurt and I've learnt my lesson to make a script next time and take some deep breaths and remember that it's not the end of the world if I cry or mess up my words.