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adida
4 Posts |
 Posted - 08/28/2008 : 13:30:28
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Hello all!
I had been offerred a new work a month ago... I was hessitating to take it ever since. It is engineering work and it will require me to sit up in front of a computer without moving for the rest of my life, and beeing supervised in doing so, and required to do expensive stuff with no errors, and with tight deadlines...
My current work is pretty much the same, exept i am not very much supervised, and there are some other various tasks which enable me to walk around, do some manual labor, about 10-15% of the time that is. So much for the good stuff about my current work - my workplace is extremely noisy - there are hammers hammering constantly 10 meters away from my head, people entering and leaving the room and talking and shouting... And I am type of person that doesn't tolerates any noise. It is evident now that I have some kind of a dyslexia, pains in the head and so on from this work. It will surely damage my health.
Today I began to test myself I will endure the other work. My extensor tendons began to scratch inside the hands immediately, then pain come... I had worked fast and played video games and had a minor sshort lived sympthoms, which i didn't care for. I knew that they will eather pass out quickly or despite them the next day I'll be fine... This is not the case now, I'm terrified, the sympthoms persist, I can not make a single movement with no fear.... Tried to work despite them, but I fear more and more...
Theese two workplaces are the only one that I can work, there are no other in my town in my profession. i do not want to deprofesionalize, this will cause me depression...
Moving in other town is not an option also, i do not want everything I earn to go for paying a flat...
Well that's it for the situation.
Let me post some Bio for me.
2005 - advanced tendovaginitis, Jan 2006 - stopped using my right hand completely for 6 months, Jul 2006 - written down final year's project using speech recognition, Dec 2006 - work in a trading firm with 1000 fears, June 2007 - left due to suspicion of carpal tunell syndrome, unemployed for 6 months, discovered this site, begin some kind of self analysis, which ended disastrous with sleeping disorders, anxiety, social phobia and so on. Jan 2008 - entered my current workplace, horrible loud music all day everyday. By a consensus of opinions - everyone entering the room was surprised how loud was the music and how could we work in theese conditions. The job - very demanding, requiring much concentration , averything must be exact, with lack of information, on a computer... March 2008 - im where the iron is processed, with the workers - the job is fun and sometimes demanding, there are periods of rest. Jul 2008 -engineering tasks, horror.
Well thats all. What should I do ?
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". . . Having heard that Henry Taylor was ill, Carlyle rushed off from London to Sheen with a bottle of medicine, which had done Mrs. Carlyle good, without in the least knowing what was ailing Henry Taylor, or for what the medicine was useful."—Life of TENNYSON. |
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stanfr
USA
268 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 14:19:38
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Hi Adida: i have changed careers and jobs a few times, so i can relate to your dilemma. Here is my advice:
You do not mention in your post whether you enjoy your work/profession. You do say you would get "depressed" if you left it, but that does not answer the fundamental question of wheter you want to remain in your current career. This is an important question, because if you can't be happy doing what you do, the psychological stress will persist whatever you do. There is no real "coping".
Assuming you can remain satisfied with your current work, then my advice is to try to approach the problem logically and devoid of any emotional attatchments. Decide based on how important the individual considerations are to you, which is the more beneficial course of action to take. Just weigh your options and decide which is the best. Your ability to handle stress is of course a factor that must be considered, but also consider your ability to adapt and deal with stress, which can be learned/developed. Is there any way to deal with the noise issue? There may be a weigh to join forces with others who might have the same complaint to try to change the situation. There may even be laws or regulations that could help you there. Sometimes the ability to change things that bother us is there, but we just dont see it or know it's there because we are so caught up dealing with it that we don't think of ways to change the situation.
Whatever you do, please try to find support from others, through family, friends, this forum, therapy, whatever it takes. Good luck! |
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armchairlinguist
USA
1397 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 14:32:11
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quote:
My extensor tendons began to scratch inside the hands immediately, then pain come... I had worked fast and played video games and had a minor sshort lived sympthoms, which i didn't care for. I knew that they will eather pass out quickly or despite them the next day I'll be fine... This is not the case now, I'm terrified, the sympthoms persist, I can not make a single movement with no fear.... Tried to work despite them, but I fear more and more...
You are terrified (and under stress due to the thought of a job change), and the symptoms persist. There is a direct correlation here. It is fear that perpetuates TMS symptoms. You are afraid of the new job.
The way you write about being stuck in front of the computer suggests also that you are not yet convinced that the computer cannot injure you. Trust me, it can't. I was a textbook case of RSI and use my hands intensively all the time now, at the computer, cycling, cooking, writing, carrying. It's your stress that's injuring you, not the type of work you're doing at the computer.
As stanfr says, there is only a limited amount of "coping" that you can do in a bad professional situation. Judge what's more important to you: your life and health, or your particular job/location. What's the point of not spending your money on a flat somewhere else if you're having a life filled with stress, pain, and fear where you are?! Surely there's nothing more worthwhile to spend your money on than things that will truly make you happier. I live in a very expensive area and yes I wish I could save more, but I also am happy I live somewhere that I enjoy so that I can have a happy home life. I wouldn't trade where I live for a few hundred more dollars a month. What could I possibly spend it on (or save it on) that would make me happier than my surroundings?
The part of your story that concerns me is that when you started to work on your pain you had symptom substitution (symptom imperative) with, it sounds like, problems with anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Symptom imperative is common, but those symptoms are hard to work around, and if you get them persistently, I would advise seeking therapy if that is at all possible for you. That's what eventually got me past the emotional symptoms that redeveloped after physical pain stopped working to distract me.
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What were you expecting? |
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Peg
USA
284 Posts |
Posted - 08/28/2008 : 20:02:23
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I agree with the others. What is your health worth?
Follow the advice in Dr. Sarno's book.
Try to resolve those issues that you can. On a practical note, can you look into hearing protection to help reduce the noise you are exposed to?
My husband works around high levels of noise many days and he wears a type of ear plug. It's soft and yellow. Goes into the ear canal and it reduces the noise substantially. I believe there are several designs or devices that will accomplish the same thing.
Good luck
Peg
In questions of science, the authority of a thousand is not worth the humble reasoning of a single individual. Galileo Galilei |
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