I’m 20 and I have suffered from generalized anxiety and social anxiety since I was a teenager. I’ve never been formally diagnosed with these, but I’ve attended therapy in the past where my therapist has agreed that I have both of these.

So today at work it’s very busy because of the upcoming holiday but I felt prepared for the most part. I’ve dealt with working retail on major holidays/when COVID first started getting bad in March 2020, so it didn’t really feel like a big deal to me. But an hour into my shift I suddenly felt really sick and overwhelmed, and then I started to feel anxious as well. I went to the employee bathroom and started hyperventilating and crying and then I also vomited. I sat in the bathroom and cried my eyes out until I heard a shift lead calling for me over the intercom. I went downstairs and they asked me what happened I told them vaguely that I felt sick suddenly and threw up. 

My shift lead then said that I can talk to the manager about leaving so I did and he said it was fine. Now I’m home and while I still feel uneasy, I also just feel embarrassed now. My coworkers could clearly see I was crying because my makeup was smudged and even on my mask. My job is easy for the most part but there is lots of gossip so the thought of them calling me a baby or something for getting sent home makes me feel shameful. I also don’t talk to my coworkers a whole lot because of my social anxiety. A situation like this has never happened to me before. How can I cope with this?