Why the Workplace Triggers So Much Anxiety (and What to Do About It)

Most of us spend a huge portion of our lives at work. It’s no surprise, then, that the workplace can feel like a high-pressure environment, sometimes even triggering persistent anxiety. To understand why this happens, it helps to go back to Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.

The Human Needs Behind Workplace Anxiety

Maslow suggested that humans have different levels of needs, starting with basics like food, water, and shelter, and extending to higher-level needs like belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. The workplace doesn’t usually threaten whether you’ll eat lunch today, but it can magnify the stakes around those higher-level needs.

Belonging: If a co-worker doesn’t like you, it can feel like a threat to your very survival. Your brain may react as if rejection means you’re unsafe.

Esteem: A poor performance review can feel like you’re at risk of losing security or stability, even if that’s not the case.

Self-Actualization: Being passed over for a project might feel like an attack on your potential or ability to grow into the best version of yourself.

The brain is still wired for survival, so when these needs feel threatened, it can trick us into believing the situation is catastrophic. That’s where workplace anxiety takes root.

The Trap of Workplace Mindsets

Workplace culture often encourages perfectionism, overachievement, or the belief that every project has to be a “home run.” While these mindsets can seem motivating, they often drive people straight toward burnout. I know this personally: at one point, I pushed myself so hard that I ended up on medical leave with chronic migraines. My body and mind were physically breaking down under the weight of perceived unmet needs.

Normalizing the Experience

First, it’s important to normalize this: everyone has basic human needs. Everyone craves belonging, validation, and purpose. Feeling anxious at work doesn’t mean you’re weak, it means you’re human.

But the key is not to rely on the workplace alone to meet every single need.

Meeting Needs Beyond the Office

A healthier approach is to diversify where and how you meet your needs.

Belonging: Invest in friendships and community outside of work so you don’t feel isolated if there’s tension at the office.

Self-Expression: Engage in hobbies, creative pursuits, or volunteer work that give you fulfillment outside of your job role.

Security: Build habits that reinforce your sense of safety, such as budgeting, exercising, or practicing routines that ground you.

Validation: Seek affirmation from trusted people in your life or track your own progress instead of relying solely on performance reviews.

By nurturing these needs outside of the workplace, you reduce the pressure on your job to “be everything.” The workplace can become just one part of your fulfillment, not the entire source.

Final Thoughts

Workplace anxiety is often less about deadlines and projects and more about the deep, human need to feel safe, connected, and purposeful. The problem comes when we depend solely on our jobs to meet those needs. By intentionally creating support systems, passions, and sources of stability outside of work, we give ourselves space to breathe and a much healthier foundation to thrive both personally and professionally.