Working from home because of anxiety?

[FoundInJesus]

I'm in the process of getting over my anxiety attacks and agoraphobia, but while I'm stuck at home, my mom is charging me $700 rent a month. She's rapidly draining my account and has been doing so since I turned 18 last July.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any legitimate "work at home" opportunities. I need to somehow get an income and since I have MAJOR troubles leaving the house, this is the only solution I've found.

Thanks.

 

[SallyNow]

I think, perhaps, you need to have your mother come and speak to your doctor, pschologist or psyciatrist, and have them explain what your illness is, and how having you pay a large amount of money won't motivate you to get a job or do anything else.

Is she perhaps putting it in a savings account?

$700 is well above market rent for a bedroom in a shared house in most places. I'm sure your mother is trying to help you, perhaps motivate you, by charging so much, but it is rather unreasonable given the circumstances and the market value of most rentals.

Are you at all willing to perhaps go to school rather than work? I don't know what country you are in, but perhaps you can take courses online, and get a student loan. Perhaps you could take courses in something that doesn't require too much contact with large groups-like biology (lab tech), computer sciences, writing, literature, etc, if you're a self-motivated learner.

I hope the best for you.

 

[jeff1979]

Hi Foundinjeses,

The best road to recovery for you, and everyone who has PD and Agoraphobia, is to face our fears. Accept them, accept that Christ doesnt want you to feel the way you do, so its OK! Lord God will never put more on you then you can bear, remember that. While he never gave you the fear and anxiety, he has the power to take it away.

Dont work from home, you need to be out amongst people, no matter what. It may be incredibly painful at first, but thats where Jesus comes in. When you have anxiety, pray, when you feel "funny", pray. EVen when you feel "normal" pray. Pray Pray Pray!

Not only is prayer the way to have relationship with the Father, but its also a great way to get your mind off of your own physical and emotional feelings. Meditate with the Lord in prayer.

This is coming from experience, I have been going through PD and AP since I was as wee lad at 13, so you see, it will never get so bad that you cant go on! There is always a sunrise the next day

Call on the authority given to you by Jesus when you are in the midst of struggle, trust in him to carry you through.

You can do it!


Take Care,

Jeff

 

[SallyNow]

Hi Foundinjeses,

The best road to recovery for you, and everyone who has PD and Agoraphobia, is to face our fears. Accept them, accept that Christ doesnt want you to feel the way you do, so its OK! Lord God will never put more on you then you can bear, remember that. While he never gave you the fear and anxiety, he has the power to take it away.

Dont work from home, you need to be out amongst people, no matter what. It may be incredibly painful at first, but thats where Jesus comes in. When you have anxiety, pray, when you feel "funny", pray. EVen when you feel "normal" pray. Pray Pray Pray!

Not only is prayer the way to have relationship with the Father, but its also a great way to get your mind off of your own physical and emotional feelings. Meditate with the Lord in prayer.

This is coming from experience, I have been going through PD and AP since I was as wee lad at 13, so you see, it will never get so bad that you cant go on! There is always a sunrise the next day

Call on the authority given to you by Jesus when you are in the midst of struggle, trust in him to carry you through.

You can do it!


Take Care,

Jeff

You have some good advice there!

I was sort of thinking that by taking some online college or university courses, it would lead up to a job outside the home-perhaps not with a lot of people in huge groups, but at least with some people in comfortable settings, like lab work.

Yes, prayer does help! Psychiatric and psychological care don't replace prayer-but they can really help you and assist you in your journey.

Find a good psychologist, if you don't already have one. They can help you learn behavioural technics that will allow you to get out in public. This won't mean huge groups or crowded situations, but perhaps shopping on a quiet Thursday morning, when not many people are out.

Again, I hope the best for you.

 

[OttawaUk]

As a Christian and someone who struggles with anxiety and agoraphobia, I'll share my experience with you.

1) Pray and talk to the Lord abot your problem and fears. He wants to help you, and He knows what your problems are.

2) You have to face your fears eventually in order to overcome them. Its sometimes easier to do it all at once, or for some people they like doing it in stages. Start with small things then move up, but the key is to continue down the path in Faith. When your mind slowly realizes there is nothing to fear, you get better and eventually things that used to scare you are just a part of everyday life.

3) Walk in Faith not in the flesh. When facing a fearful situation, walk completely in Faith. Even when it seems like the "worst" is going to happen, just keep your eyes on the Lord no matter what.

4) Dig down to the deepest reasons for your fears. If you can examine what it is exactly that you're fearful of, you can train yourself to realize that there is nothing on the other side of the fear. For example, if you're agoraphobic because you fear being embarassed in front of people then face that fear deep down. Tell yourself that even in the worst case and you are embarrassed, it doesn't matter because the Lord loves you and He is everything you'll ever need anyway. 99.9% of the time, the embarassment is psychological and never happens anyway because everyone is worried about their own problems anyway.

5) Read helpful books like Freedom from Fear or the Bondage Breaker - excellent for Christians with fears.

6) There are also some physical things you can do to stop panic attacks like counting backwards from 1000 by 3's, holding your breath, concentrating on what someone is saying, sing a song in your head or the best of all - talk to the Lord about it when its happening.

7) Excercise to help your body cope to reduce excess adreniline production.

8) Most importantly, learn about who you are in Christ and know that the fear of God overcomes all other fears.

Hope that helps and remember irrational fear is not real - there is nothing on the other side of it.

God Bless and hang in there, there is plenty of hope!

OU

 

[FoundInJesus]

Thank you all for your responses...

I first became like this when I found out my ex-boyfriend was stalking me. It freaked me out and I was just completely paranoid that he was around. I got over that enough to go to school, but then I was assaulted at school. From there, I finished high school (last year) at home.

I think my biggest fear is I'm going to be in front of people and just pass out. I went to a job interview about 2 years ago and was so worried about it that I almost passed out. I lost my hearing and my sight started going, so I put my head between my knees, took deep breaths, drank some water, and I was fine. It sucked so bad though! I was so embarassed. I talked to my doctor about it and she said that medically, it's impossible for me to pass out unless I hyperventilated (which I taught myself never to do). I guess I'm just afraid of the feeling then...I don't know.

About the $700 rent, I don't think my mom is just trying to motivate me. She understands this problem and knows how difficult it is for me to get out of the house. With her, it's just a money thing. She's always wanted to make me pay her a lot. My brother (now 23) stayed home for a while after he turned 18 and my mom wouldn't LET him pay her rent. I think that all stems back from how she thinks I hate her and how I did when I was younger. (long story)

I am currently going to a Christian college on-line which helps with getting my education without having to go out of the house. Sooo, financially, I'm paying $700 a month rent to my mom, paying for my car/insurance, paying for my cellphone, and my own college education. I don't have the money for this and yet she's not giving me any breaks on anything so I really need to either get over this really fast or find a job I can do from home to replenish my bank account.

 

[OttawaUk]

My suggestion is to face your fears. Examine deeply within yourself the fear of passing out - there is nothing on the other side of it. In the worst case, embarassment is actually nothing! It can't hurt you, change you, kill you or take away who you are in Christ!

You will eventually have to face your fears, and I found that the more I faced mine, the easier life got and the less stressed out I was.

Don't fear the fear, there's nothing on the other side! The Lord loves you and will be with you the whole way.

God Bless!
OU

 

[FoundInJesus]

I went to a Christian counselor on Tuesday and she mentioned some very interesting stuff.

She was telling me that a lot of things are passed down from generation to generation. I've heard of this before and I know it's in the Bible, but I didn't really think it would have such a direct affect on my life.

Apparently, it's like having a little trait attached to my DNA and it will continue to be passed down through my family until it is completely taken care of. I'm going to be going through a deliverance class through the church, so I'm feeling pretty confident about that.

I know that this is a huge spiritual battle in my life. No matter how many times I go out and face my fear...it always comes back. I truly believe this is the one way to completely remove it from my life.

 

[castlesinthesky]

,,

 

[Mrs. Luther073082]

2) You have to face your fears eventually in order to overcome them. Its sometimes easier to do it all at once, or for some people they like doing it in stages.

^This is the truth.

While getting a job that involves interaction with a lot of people during the day (like a cashier) might be a disaster, there are jobs that do not require as much interaction which you could perhaps look into (I would imagine data entry wouldn't require much interaction with other people, for example).

There is a legit work from home activity being a guide for chacha.com; a lot of SAHM's on the women's discussion here at CF seem to be really into it. I tried it and was not that impressed, but there are people making (small) amounts of money from it.

You can also make a little money from taking surveys online with places like American Consumer Opinion, by being an associate for Amazon.com (if you have a website), etc.

You could also pet sit, house sit, or babysit in your area.