Physical symptoms of job stress
ThoughtsMistress Snow, PhD asked this on Twitter:
Academics: what has been the worst physical symptom of job-related stress for you? I’m thinking everything from overwork to bullying to shitty working conditions.
I’m not an academic, and fortunately haven’t had to deal with university for a while now. But at my last year of uni and in some of my first jobs I’d get stressed enough to throw up, regardless of whether I’d eaten anything or not. On one particular evening I threw up so much I burned the inside of my throat and got purple bruises on my abdomen.
All the physical symptoms of this were obviously terrible, but it was the deep, deep shame that felt worse. I didn’t want to admit to anyone I was dealing with that; I thought it was a sign of immaturity and weakness. This has been another of the gifts Clara has given me since we’ve been together; her encouragement and support have got me through this stuff.
I take pains to point this out now, and encourage you to read that above Twitter thread, if you’re going through the same thing or worse. It would have helped me tremendously back then knowing I wasn’t alone with that.
