The freedom of working from home has never felt better.
For hundreds of years, all of the workforces have had to work in an office or some other form of work environment. We have always been paired with other ambitious and career-driven people much like ourselves who are looking to make a name for themselves.
We have always had the opportunities to chit-chat with co-workers about the latest movies or TV shows we have enjoyed over the weekend while standing around the water cooler. Being in an office with your co-workers has built many friendships, rivalries, and even love between the people that work together.
Working in an office has been the norm and more prevalent when start-up companies started becoming a big thing with the boom of Silicon Valley. People have continued to climb the corporate ladder while putting their nose to the grindstone while sitting in their cubical.
In the last year, COVID-19 has made a huge change to all of our ways of life. This is even more true with those of us who have worked in an office with others for several years. With social distancing being a huge way of life during this time, people were separated and distanced until little by little companies started having their employees work from home to keep COVID cases low.
While some people have hated working from home, there are a huge group of people who have found it to do amazing things for them. This is even more true for people who suffer from mental health issues such as social anxiety. The truth of the matter is that you can explain to your employer as much as possible why social anxiety afflicts you but, to be honest, they will never really understand unless they experience it themselves.
If you are one of those people who are still working in the office and are wondering if working from home is right for you, then this article will help. There are many reasons why working from home may be better for you than working in the office.
Of course, there is the pre-mentioned affliction of dealing with less social anxiety, but believe it or not, there are many different mental health issues people have. Some of these mental health issues people experience in an office environment are:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- PTSD
- ADHD
While any mental health issue is important, it isn’t that easy to deal with.
Millions of people are affected by these mental health issues and piling that on with the stress that they may experience while working in an office environment isn’t always the healthiest choice. Many people who suffer from mental illness tend to have to put a “brave face” on when they go to work.
This is normal since a lot of people who suffer from mental illness tend to have some slight embarrassment towards admitting they have it. Some even feel that there is a fear of admitting it to a manager or boss and having the risk of losing their job. This is a common fear but very rare that would ever happen. Many companies are very understanding and supportive of mental health issues their employees suffer from.
One of the most fantastic things about working at home as opposed to an office environment when suffering from mental illness is that you are in a safe place. Sometimes with mental illness being in a safe and secluded environment is a great way to slow down those mental illness demons nipping at you.
You also do get the benefit of not having your social anxiety affected by the loud noises that an office environment might bring. Loud noises in general can be very disorienting to people but when you do have a flair-up of social anxiety, it is possible that it could be very hard to counteract your anxiety attack.
By working from home you can create a stress-free, quiet and calm environment.
Many people working from home have equipped them at home offices with white noise machines, candles, or even music to help soothe themselves when an attack may creep up.
All these things are a bit impossible to do in an office environment so being able to do that in a cozy spot in your home office is quite helpful. One benefit of working from home that many people don’t realize is that if you can keep your mental health at a good and healthy level, it will help your physical health as well. How you feel mentally affects how you can feel physically. Granted physical health should be a top priority as well.
If your mental health starts to dwindle it could affect your focus, your motivation, and even start to affect the way your body can feel. Stress is a hard thing to avoid, but with the right tools, you can keep a great balance between your mental health and physical health. With working at home you are perfecting the best ways to combat your mental health issues and keeping them at a healthy level.
While not having to drive to work is a big perk, the stress of running late is a great thing you don’t have to worry about with working from home. There are times that people suffer from an immense feeling of panic when being late for work. If you suffer from mental health issues this is even more so. Situations like this can set off your PTSD and even increase your anxiety levels to a point it can affect you the rest of the day.
Being able to wake up at a decent time, enjoy some breakfast and coffee before you start your day is a much better experience than having to rush out the door if you accidentally sleep in. Not to mention you are starting your day off with your mental health at a high level. Doing this will help you have more of a positive and energetic day full of accomplishments.
Before you up and leave your office for working from home, take some time to see if this will be the best option for you. If you feel that your mental health would better benefit from working from home or continue working from home you should talk to your supervisor to express those feelings.
Always remember that your mental health is worth way more than any momentary embarrassment you may feel by telling someone you need help. Take a deep breath and realize you got this.
