Anxiety Disorder

[Boss] "Hey, Roberta. Got a minute to talk about your report?

I've been thinking that ..."

[Roberta thinks] "I bet he thinks it's terrible ...

Why didn't I send it to Jo for feedback?

She always tears everything apart ...

Oh boy, is he looking at my hair?

I'm such a mess."

[Boss] "I'm really happy with how it looks.

You bring so much knowledge and experience to the team. So, thank you."

[Roberta thinks] "I think I may really need to talk to someone.

I can't hear the good things at all anymore."

[Voice of Roberta] "That was me before I got some help ...

overwhelmed by constant worries that I couldn't stop."

"I told my best friend about the talk I had with my boss.

I was sweaty and nervous.

When I finished, she asked me ... in a very kind way ..."

[Roberta's friend] "Roberta, what would your life be like if you didn't worry so much?"

[Voice of Roberta] "After thinking about it, I decided to call my doctor and find out what I could do about my constant anxiety."

"Now that I'm getting some help ... when my boss comes by to check in ...

I don't immediately assume it's because I'm doing something wrong.

And I can actually hear most of what he says."

[Boss] "Think about what kinds of training you'd like to do next year.

There are some good ones ..."

[Roberta thinks] "Oh great, I need more training ...

I'm clearly not qualified ...

Whoa ... wait ... He's always telling me how valuable I am.

He's probably just trying to be a good manager."

[Roberta] "That's great. You know I'm always interested in learning new things.

I'll watch for something."

[Boss] "Excellent."

[Voice of Roberta] "It was really hard for me to accept that I needed help.

But because of treatment ... for the first time I got it ...

I'm not a bad person or a failure ..."

"I just needed some help to be the person I really want to be."