Hi everyone,

Along with this phobia I have quite bad anxiety. I am a young high school teacher and I love what I do. However, as I don't have a full time teaching job, I work as a casual teacher in a school aka a substitute. So I get called up early in the morning to take classes for people that couldn't make it into work that day. The uncertainty and instability of casual teaching is really hurting my anxiety. Not knowing when I will work and not being able to make my own plans is really hard. I wake up super early and am instantly anxious and panicky because I'm waiting for a phone call that I might not even get. Also, if I've been particularly anxious or have plans and I have to say "Sorry I can't work today", I feel that extreme sense of guilt and disappointment that many anxiety sufferers deal with.

I know quitting will be like "giving in" to anxiety, but I just feel like I need to do more to help my anxiety BEFORE taking on more casual work so that in the future maybe it won't be so hard. Do you think quitting would be like failing? Or is it time I took care of myself and did what's best for my mental health right now? I'm not quitting teaching, I'm just quitting casual teaching. I'm always hunting for full time work which is what would really make me happy.

Thanks for reading. Hope you're all doing well x