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Work Anxiety and Chronic Pain

CheeseBlues

CheeseBlues

New Member
I have been working for Starbucks for a while now. It's a pretty cool job I guess, I like making drinks and cleaning/stocking. Sometimes making drinks is too much for me though, I have been getting sensory overload really bad, especially when there is a rush. There's nothing I can do to escape those situations and I end up extremely frustrated and thinking about death.. And when on bar or register people are always staring at you and trying to talk to you and it makes me so uncomfortable.
My pain fluctuates throughout the day, but its always worse when I have to work. I try to ignore it but sometimes its hard.. it makes me want to just sit down and cry because it hurts so bad and I'm so tired of being strong...
I have taken less hours at work and I regret to admit that it may have been a mistake. It's better for my mental health, but I can't save up money anymore. I can hardly afford to exist for 2 weeks on the paychecks I get, let alone go to the hospital when I need to. .. I'm going ot have to start working more so I can get a car and be able to get a new job, but working 8 hour shifts always kills me... I'm scared that I'm going to have a breakdown if I force myself to go through this, but I don't feel like I have any other choice. I don't know what to do, I really wish I could have a caregiver or something I'm so bad with all of this adult stuff, but I don't know if that's possible. Especially since i don't have money.
 
CheeseBlues said:
I have been working for Starbucks for a while now. It's a pretty cool job I guess, I like making drinks and cleaning/stocking. Sometimes making drinks is too much for me though, I have been getting sensory overload really bad, especially when there is a rush. There's nothing I can do to escape those situations and I end up extremely frustrated and thinking about death.. And when on bar or register people are always staring at you and trying to talk to you and it makes me so uncomfortable.
My pain fluctuates throughout the day, but its always worse when I have to work. I try to ignore it but sometimes its hard.. it makes me want to just sit down and cry because it hurts so bad and I'm so tired of being strong...
I have taken less hours at work and I regret to admit that it may have been a mistake. It's better for my mental health, but I can't save up money anymore. I can hardly afford to exist for 2 weeks on the paychecks I get, let alone go to the hospital when I need to. .. I'm going ot have to start working more so I can get a car and be able to get a new job, but working 8 hour shifts always kills me... I'm scared that I'm going to have a breakdown if I force myself to go through this, but I don't feel like I have any other choice. I don't know what to do, I really wish I could have a caregiver or something I'm so bad with all of this adult stuff, but I don't know if that's possible. Especially since i don't have money.
Click to expand...
Buy a T.E.N.S Machine it gives immediate pain relief you can adjust it to your need ,you can use it for 20 minutes then turn it off then turn it back on again it uses a minute electrical current to stimulate pain pathways , there are two settings one for intensity and one for level ,The intensity is either light massage or heavier massage level. The level begins at very gentle stimulation to very strong stimulation they are much cheaper than when I first saw them
 
CheeseBlues said:
It's a pretty cool job I guess, I like making drinks and cleaning/stocking. Sometimes making drinks is too much for me though, I have been getting sensory overload really bad, especially when there is a rush.
Click to expand...

Is it possible for you to be support of your co-workers and opt out of dealing with the public at such times? I don't know how it works, but good management is about optimizing each employee's strengths and not giving them a lot of what they have trouble with.

Especially if the alternative is losing them entirely.
 
CheeseBlues said:
I have been working for Starbucks for a while now. It's a pretty cool job I guess, I like making drinks and cleaning/stocking. Sometimes making drinks is too much for me though, I have been getting sensory overload really bad, especially when there is a rush. There's nothing I can do to escape those situations and I end up extremely frustrated and thinking about death.. And when on bar or register people are always staring at you and trying to talk to you and it makes me so uncomfortable.
My pain fluctuates throughout the day, but its always worse when I have to work. I try to ignore it but sometimes its hard.. it makes me want to just sit down and cry because it hurts so bad and I'm so tired of being strong...
I have taken less hours at work and I regret to admit that it may have been a mistake. It's better for my mental health, but I can't save up money anymore. I can hardly afford to exist for 2 weeks on the paychecks I get, let alone go to the hospital when I need to. .. I'm going ot have to start working more so I can get a car and be able to get a new job, but working 8 hour shifts always kills me... I'm scared that I'm going to have a breakdown if I force myself to go through this, but I don't feel like I have any other choice. I don't know what to do, I really wish I could have a caregiver or something I'm so bad with all of this adult stuff, but I don't know if that's possible. Especially since i don't have money.
Click to expand...
try Contacting the head office they've had a lot of good publicity about about autism and they probably wouldn't like bad publicity
I'm not saying you'll like doing it but think about it
 
WereBear said:
Is it possible for you to be support of your co-workers and opt out of dealing with the public at such times? I don't know how it works, but good management is about optimizing each employee's strengths and not giving them a lot of what they have trouble with.

Especially if the alternative is losing them entirely.
Click to expand...

There's a position called Customer Support,which is just stocking and keeping things clean. All you have to do is get stuff prepared and clean for the baristas so they can work without a mess, you don't really have to interact with customers unless they ask you a question. Everyone there knows that's my strongest spot, but putting me there all the time isn't fair to other people working there, apparently..
But being on register sends me into a panic attack, then I dissociate for the rest of the day. And being on Bar/making drinks gives me sensory overload because nobody else does customer support right and I'm constantly making drinks, cleaning, running to the back to grab stuff I need and trying to listen to what people are saying to me because people LOOOOOVE to talk to the barista making their drinks.
I can't focus on making drinks while someone is talking to me. But you know.. It's not fair to everyone else if I just do that when I'm there cause then other people get stuck in other positions for days and that gets so frustrating.. That's the only reason I really hate making drinks now, they kept putting me on bar and it's just become too much. It's mind numbing and sensory overloading at the same time!! Also when I get put on cleaning tasks and I try my best to go fast I still always get complained at. Like "Why is it taking you 30 minutes to sweep and mop??" HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE YOU TO SWEEP AND MOP A CAFE FLOOR WHILE TRYING TO STAY OUT OF CUSTOMERS WAYY??
Ughhh...I'm sorry.. The shift supervisors have been trying to put me on customer support more, but we have been getting so many new people and that's the easiest thing to teach them so then I HAVE to be on bar. Usually my fellow baristas are willing to let me bar and not register, so that's kind of nice. But bar still gets me so messed up, not as much as register but still..
Another thing! When I'm on bar 75% of the time I will get left up front BY MY SELF!!! then I HAVE to take customers orders because I can't just call back for the register person and just stare at the guy??? So then the register person usually comes back after im done taking the order and they still expect me to make the drink too...
I just really want to be able to drive and get a different job.. But I need money to do that so I have to work more hours at this place....
I think I should probably try to get a diagnosis before contacting anyone official about it, that is kind of a good idea though. Not everybody knows they're on the spectrum and it's not fair that we get treated like we're slow or lazy just because we can't handle certain things that other people can, while we're struggling to figure out why we just can't catch up with everyone else or why we can't get over our struggles by being forced into the situation that causes them...
 
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