New Social Worker Anxiety Syndrome

by Jonathan B. Singer, Ph.D., LCSW, and Claudia Dewane, D.Ed., LCSW, BCD

(Note: The following is a sidebar to a more extensive article on the topic of New Social Worker Anxiety Syndrome.)

New social worker anxiety syndrome (NSWAS) is not an official DSM diagnosis. But if it were, the symptoms might include:

Cluster A (must include one of the following)

Anxiety related to:

• working in individual, family, or group modalities
• knowing what to say in a specific situation
• how to intervene with a specific problem or population
• professional use of self

Cluster B (must include one of the following)

Anxiety related to:

• believing that you know all the wrong things
• thinking you know less than you actually do
• pretending to know more than you do

Cluster C (must include one of the following)

• acute anxiety resulting in an inability to make decisions regarding your professional future
• sadness associated with deciding to keep your current job because, even though it doesn’t require an MSW, at least you know what to expect
• feelings of inadequacy or of being an impostor

Impairment in at least two domains:

•    Professional life

e.g., not applying for a job that might require you to know things you did not learn in your MSW program

e.g., not seeking supervision or continuing education because you think you should already know what to do

•    Social life

e.g., loss of friends because they don’t want to hear you complain anymore

•    School life

e.g., anger at your MSW program for not adequately preparing you for the realities of the job market

Symptoms

NSWAS is evidenced by general feelings of anxiety such as mild heart palpitations, physical tension, and excessive worry when faced with developing a diagnostic assessment and/or intervention for a client system. The symptoms are discomforting for the individual and are not related to a specific event (such as in PTSD) and are not as severe as those found with Panic Disorder. 

Prognosis

Prognosis is good for both mild and extreme symptoms, usually treated with a combination of cognitive restructuring and behavioral modification strategies.  Following the recommendations suggested in the accompanying article may serve as a best practice for alleviating the symptoms associated with NSWAS.

This article appeared in the Summer 2010 issue of THE NEW SOCIAL WORKER (Vol. 17, No. 3).