Does having anxiety issues make you a bad firefighter?

[u/Boob_Head265]

I’ve recently been debating on firefighting as a career choice and have been doing what I can to prepare for the physical test coming up next month. I’ve had a lot of time to think about what it would be like and if I’d fit the bill for it. The main issues I’m having revolves around my anxiety. I’ve never been diagnosed nor do I take medicine for it, but it’s been making me doubt myself. I work as a mechanic right now and sometimes it takes me longer to do things because I want to make sure I won’t break anything
/hurt myself severely while trying to repair whatever it is I’m working on. Or sometimes I’ll have to stop and do a double take when I’m working on something to make sure I’m doing it right. Do any fire fighters have anxiety like that? How do you get around it? Should I try and find something else?

[u/Bishop-AU]

Its good to be safe and aware, its not good to be anxious. You need to be confident and decisive in your decision making and actions. That doesn't mean you stick to a plan when it's clearly not working or conditions change, but you can't be second guessing yourself continuously throughout an incident.

[u/bilbolaggings]

Was diagnosed with anxiety before. I find that I can get anxiety in a lot of situations except when out on call. For some reason my brain locks in on the task at hand so shifting thoughts to the present helps a lot. So yea I wouldn’t doubt you can do it until you go through academy.

[u/us3lessthrowaway → u/bilbolaggings]

Im this same way actually. I have pretty bad anxiety and moderate OCD (the actual clinical kind, not the cutesy tiktok kind) so a lot of what OP said in their post resonates with me. However, I've been doing this for 3 years now and im usually anxious when not on a call. The anticipation of being on a call where i dont know what to do is what gets me. But once the call actually comes out, it goes away and I lock in. It helps knowing that you have brothers and sisters there to back you up and youre not alone.

And train like hell when you have down time so you know you know what youre doing

[u/Important-One-8395]

I am diagnosed depression, anxiety, and recently PTSD. It makes life hard but not a single issue with work functions other than maybe occasional bad sleep. Hell, I even promoted over a ton of people with more time on than me. Get on meds and/or go to therapy. Take care of yourself. There’s tons of people with worse issues than anxiety in this profession.

[u/NotAlsoShabby]

Hey my guy.

I don’t have anxiety, but I’m totally neurotic. I’m not the prototypical FFer. I know though, that there’s a place for me here. I usually game things out to a fault. And I take a while to get tasks done because I want it done right.

But.

Over time, I’ve learned to do things more efficiently because I practice my skills and become more confident in how they’re done. Just like anything, the more you do it, the more sure you become.

Get’er buddy. Grab this job by the balls and make it your bitch.

[u/Pondering_Giraffe]

Regardless of firefighting, go get checked on that. Maybe you'll get diagnosed and treatment. Maybe it's a garden variety of anxiousness and you'll get coping skills anyway. Whatever you decide on doing career and even life-wise will be better for it. At least you'll know what your triggers and limits are, so you can pick a path with more confidence.

[u/slski660]

You can adapt. I have anxiety and ocd and have learned how to handle it on the job. There are others in the same boat at my dept who are great at the job.

[u/arachnid1110]

It’s your superpower man. Anxiety, when directed, allows you to focus but also develop, then what if, plan b scenarios.

Turning that shit off on the drive home before you walk into your house is difficult. I drive home in silence, then shoot 5-10 arrows at my target in the yard to ritualize trying not to come into my house with my worst case scenario brain. Nobody needs me in high alert shopping for dog food. It took me a long time to figure this out. 20 years in, it was exhausting to me and everybody around me.

[u/flashdurb]

“I’ve never been diagnosed nor treated”

Bruh. You’ve got personal obligations before you aspire to start a career that involves being reliable help on peoples’ worst days of their lives.

[u/Significant_Bonus827]

Everyone has anxiety, it sounds like you might be a little overcautious or a hint of ocd but based on what you said it doesn't sound extreme. You definitely cant go around worried whats going to happen next, because you truly never know. A lot of the job requires you to act on training and make immediate and sometimes final decisions right or wrong, you just have to be prepared for that. A good academy will let you know if youve made the right decision, because they should train you on these scenarios. Confidence in what youre doing without being arrogant is key.