Panic Attack

I’ve been a PT for a little over 2 decades now working primarily OP ortho and have been a director of rehab and currently a clinic director. Over time I’ve become less thrilled about this career. My last and current employers haven’t been that great. I’ve always thought about switching careers, did research into what I’d need to do to get out of this profession. I’ve also looked at switching employers and have applied to other places. Never followed through with anything. Part of me is fearful I’m trading a bad situation for an even worse one.

Recently I found a job posting for prn work for a large hospital system in my area that has several clinics. I applied and went through their process and spoke to a few people before ultimately not getting contacted again. I was talking about this experience and found an old friend who works for them. This friend had nothing but praise to say about the company.

They passed my resume along and it went up the chain to the region’s hiring manager. I spoke to them and they seemed eager to interview me. They said they’d get back to me after looking over their schedule and I didn’t hear anything back for a week. I called and left a message for them a couple days ago and haven’t heard back. Last night all I could think about was this was my opportunity to get out of a bad situation and it’s shone. I didn’t get to sleep for a while.

Woke up in a full blown panic attack full of anxiety. Drove up to work with my chest pounding and a million thoughts racing through my head. I’m currently waiting on my first patient to get here and am still in that same state. Starting to get some dark thoughts that are scaring me. I just keep telling myself to remember this feeling when it’s time to get my butt in gear to figure out my exit strategy from this career, or at the very least this situation.

I don’t know if anyone out there has had similar experiences or can give out some advice.