Fear of work can burden us very much in everyday life and also affect other areas of our lives. You can find out how you can deal with the feelings of fear here.
Work can quickly become a trigger of stress and fear for people. The fear of work can be shown in different forms: be it the concern not to do justice to expectations, the uncertainty about the future of one’s own career or simply the feeling of being trapped in an endless cycle of stress.
In order to avoid worse consequences, it is important that you deal with your fear of work early in order to be able to counteract it consciously.
Fear of work: Where exactly does it come from?
The fact that people feel fear of work does not have to do with work themselves, but can also arise due to aspects that have to do with the job and workplace. According to the online platforms for mental health, Hellobetter and Betterhelp, for example, can be some possible causes of the fear of fear:
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Pressure pressure: The feeling of not fulfilling the expectations of other people can lead to high pressure and also connected feelings.
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Conflicts at the workplace: difficulties with a college: inside or superiors can create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty.
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Perfectionism: The urge to make everything perfect can lead to excessive stress and fear, especially if you feel that mistakes are unacceptable. Because this also includes fears of criticism and failure.
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Mental illnesses: If you suffer from a mental illness, for example a form of an anxiety disorder, your work can also make this disease worse. For example, this is the case if you are very afraid to speak of others and have to give lectures to others regularly at work.
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Unexpected working conditions: an excessive stressful or toxic working environment, for example due to a choleric boss or constant competition with the college: inside, can also lead to increasing fear of work.
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Exclusion and bullying at work: If people in the college are specifically bullied, ashamed, insulted or excluded from other college: inside or superiors, it often happens that the affected fears develop before the work environment.
The fear of work can either result from negative experiences that a person has gained in the workplace. However, according to Hellobetter, the respective personality also plays a role. In this way, people who tend to be more anxious in the rest of the life also develop more fear of work.
In the worst case, fears before working on the syndrome of workplace phobia can develop. This disease is characterized by panic -like fears.
What types of fear are there in work context?
Beate Muschalla, professor of psychotherapy and diagnostics at the Technical University of Braunschweig, talks about fears at work in the current issue of “Psychology today” (06/2025). It distinguishes three central shapes:
- Firstly, concerns: here those affected constantly think of all possible mistakes or difficulties.
- Second, the workplace phobia: those affected get panic attacks when they think about the workplace.
- Thirdly, the social fear that affects interaction with colleagues, superiors or customers and shows itself as uncertainty in social situations or hypersensitivity to the opinion of others.
What helps against fear of work?
If you want to do something about your fear of work, you first have to find out where your fear comes from. Watch yourself and your everyday work carefully and identify the aspects that cause your feelings of fear. Do you generally have too much workload? Do you feel uncomfortable in the college? Are you afraid of appointments with your superiors?
In order to be able to identify the causes of your fear, according to Hellobetter, it also helps to ask yourself the question: What would have to happen so that I like to go to work?
Depending on what the triggers of your fear are, the following tips can help you:
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Fear of special tasks: If you are afraid of giving a lecture or doing other specific tasks of your job, it is important to develop more mindfulness for these feelings. For example, Betterhelp recommends writing down all tasks as a list that cause fear. If it is time to cope with such a task, you can specifically counter your fear with breathing exercises, meditation or writing exercises. Beate Muschalla advises to make a specific plan – for example, to be able to give a lecture yourself within six months. It is important to set the goals realistically and manageable. It could also be helpful to talk to familiar people about the fears and to practice together. “If you realize that some overcoming costs and you want to avoid it, you should ask yourself why – and gradually work on it,” says Muschalla.
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Realistically question fearful assumptions: Two further advice from Professor Beate Muschalla concern the dealings with self -critical thoughts – for example on your own work. She recommends asking itself the following questions: Is there any specific evidence for my self -criticism? It also helps to record positive experiences in writing – for example: “Today I sat down in the front row in the meeting and mine: R neighbor: answered in a question.” However, if the fears are too great, those affected should think about behavioral therapy.
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Fear of mistakes and failure: In this case, fear of work can be the result of strong perfectionism. Then it can help if you ask yourself again and again what would happen if you actually made a mistake. Often the real episodes are not as devastating as it may feel like it. It can also be helpful to ask college more often: to ask for help in the inside if you are unsure or can’t get any further. You can find more tips here: ask for help: why it is difficult and 3 tips on how to do it
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Fear of college: inside and superiors: If bullying and exclusion experiences are the reason for your fear of work, it is important that you do something as quickly as possible to protect yourself. You can solve some conflicts by addressing problems openly – possibly also with the support of mediator: inside. You can also learn better conflict management from them for the future. With bullying, sexual harassment and exclusion, however, you should seek greater support from outside. You can speak to superiors, the works council or the HR department. However, if you don’t feel safe, it can make sense to change the workplace or the department.
Note: If the fears don’t get better or even worse, do not hesitate to look for professional help in the form of psychotherapy.
What you shouldn’t do
Beate Muschalla is more advisable from a sick leave to avoid work. “This can harden fears and expand to other areas.” Then fear no longer only affects a concrete work situation, but many or even all. “At some point, the whole workplace will become an anxiety -resolving factor.”
With material of the dpa.
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