Worker lauded for choosing her sanity over a high-paying job that constantly triggers her

The mere thought of standing in front of a crowd might be a nervous rollercoaster for many. The words might seem to slip out of our minds and our brains won't be our friends when getting on that daunting stage, addressing a large audience. This social anxiety might hinder those with jobs that demand public speaking too often. But the question is, is the job truly worth it to let our anxiety take a hit? An employee, known as u/liveandyoudontlearn on Reddit, was one such person with social anxiety. When offered a promotion that spiked her stress levels, she decided to put herself first.

The employee started her post by saying that she was promoted to a role that she didn't ask for a few years ago. The role demanded frequent public speaking with regular meetings where she had to address around 10 people and sometimes presentations that involved an audience of more than 75. "I remember high school and college being so stressful to me just because I never knew when the next presentation would come around," she recalled. Knowing that as an employee in corporate America, she couldn't get a free pass from public speaking and decided to work on her anxiety.

From participating in Toastmasters to getting hypnosis therapy, she tried it all. "I also learned meditation, box breathing, reframing, etc. I did all of this for a few years while also trying to do some public speaking at work. None of it helped me - I actually think it made it worse since I kept having severe panic despite all of the efforts being thrown at it," she explained. For a while, she resorted to medications when public speaking was required. But her promotion made life much worse. "Within the first month, I lost 20 lbs and my hair was falling out in clumps due to the stress of public speaking. I had multiple panic attacks a day and I became suicidal," the employee said about her phobia of public speaking.

Eventually, she decided that her mental well-being was more significant than a high-salaried position. "With the support of my family, husband and boss, I decided to leave the job because I valued my life and sanity over accomplishing public speaking," she admitted. Though conquering this fear might be helpful, she wasn't willing to lose her sanity and life. "Have I tried public speaking again since going through this? Yes. Can I tolerate it on a regular basis at work? No," she wrote. "All this to say - decisions like these are highly personal and people should not judge others for their decisions to protect their peace," the employee concluded.

Her heartfelt post garnered lots of support and appreciation for choosing herself. "Agree. It’s not worth years of exposure therapy and practicing with meds and still live with anxiety of speaking. Some people are just built for it and just have innate abilities to do it with very little practice and rehearsal," said u/trdcranker. "I celebrate this decision! Brava! Not sure why everyone needs to overcome public speaking phobia by torturing themselves for years. I’m glad you honored your needs, against popular societal expectations," lauded u/Glass_Translator9. "I am a speaking coach and I agree that we all have to only do what we want, not what we think we should. To me, that’s not quitting, but rather saying yes to yourself," chimed in u/paypar.