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Career Anxiety Common in College Women
By JESS DHALIWAL
BOSTON -- As women gear up to leave their structured college environments and begin the process of finding jobs, experts say too much anxiety can take even the most qualified contenders out of the hunt.
Career anxiety, a common condition for students making the transformation to young professionals, is mental tension that, unlike fear, does not have a discernable cause. While stress can fuel motivation, it can also physically and emotionally hinder the ability to compete for and perform a job.
Men also experience career anxiety, but because of several psychological and social factors, women are affected more visibly, said Barbara Reinhold, author of "Toxic Work: How to Overcome Stress, Overload and Burnout and Revitalize Your Career."
"Women get what I call the 'bag-lady syndrome,'" Reinhold said. "Because career anxiety hits self-confidence first, they become convinced that they are going to become the bag ladies of their graduating class."
The syndrome usually affects the smartest college women, Reinhold said.
The discrepancy in the rate of anxiety among women is because they have to worry about gender-based discrimination, a culture that supports economic gains for men and whether their careers can coexist with their relationships, Reinhold said.
Women have two main disadvantages from men in the career search: fewer opportunities for networking and forging relationships with mentors, said Dr. Debra Condren, Ph.D., a business psychologist, president of SuperiorCareer.com and founder of the Women's Business Alliance in the San Francisco Bay area.
Condren said research indicates it is harder for women to establish connections that could help them advance their careers.
Condren cited research that showed girls begin to lose self-confidence during middle school in areas like math and science. The research showed boys also have trouble with these subjects, but they are not similarly affected.
Men are more likely to act as if they understand something they don't and are less likely to exhibit a lack of confidence, Condren said.
"Women are more likely to feel incompetent," she added. While men may experience these anxieties, it is more clearly manifested in women.
But a certain amount of anxiety is normal and even beneficial, experts said. Anxiety gears the body for action and increases alertness, according to the American Psychiatric Association.
"If you had no anxiety, we would call you unemployed," Reinhold said. "You need anxiety in order to get your butt in gear."
However, too much anxiety can hinder normal functioning of every major system in the body, Reinhold said.
Anxiety hits the immune system the hardest, as studies have shown infection fighters decrease as anxiety increases. As a result, anxious people become more susceptible to viruses and colds.
The nervous system is also affected, as stress can manifest itself in the spinal cord, causing muscle tension, lower back pain and impaired mobility, Reinhold said. Anxiety can also cause irregularities in the release of adrenaline, she added.
Persistent anxiety has been shown to damage the cardiovascular system by increasing the incidence of heart attacks and strokes. Stress can cause the body to release fat droplets in the bloodstream, which cling to the lining of vessels and arteries, eventually constricting blood flow, Reinhold said.
Reinhold said the main warning sign of too much career anxiety is sleep loss, while others include crankiness, shortness of breath, high breathing rate, irregular menstrual cycles, dizziness and diarrhea.
Even though women are more likely to suffer from career anxiety, they are also more likely to find effective ways to cope and implement strategies for prevention, Reinhold said.
Condren suggested women form their own informal "board of advisors," comprised of mentors who can offer support and combat the isolation associated with the job search.
Talking to friends and counselors is important, along with meditation, exercise and "guided self-visualization," or concentrating on a successful incident, Reinhold said.
"This is a time when it's easy to get anxious," Reinhold said. "Expecting to be nervous is pretty accurate, but you have to also remember that you can manipulate your body."
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