Got a job: anyone know how to deal with stress?

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One of the biggest triggers of meltdowns and suicidal tendencies for me is stress. The actual stress isn't the harm, the harm is I don't know how to react and cope with stressful situations and build-ups of stress. This played a massive role in my decision to drop out of high school, my high-school wasn't bad, by any means. They tried everything they could do to accommodate my needs but they couldn't help me with balancing a work load and managing home care and the pressure of graduating. The stress itself doesn't necessarily cause meltdowns per-say. It just makes the risk of a deadly meltdown significantly higher, so schedule changes or setting changes that are unexpected can cause a meltdown when they wouldn't before when I was calm.

Does anyone with a job have techniques on recognizing signs of overload and taking actions to prevent a meltdown or making a meltdown less dangerous?

The job I got is farm work, weeding and picking strawberries, which is perfect because I don't have to work with numbers, interact with others or work in a overstimulating environment, and another plus is the employer told me he allows workers to listen to music.

Ps. I haven't stimmed in a long time, my stims involved self harm and I was conditioned to stop.

Hey, congrats!

Ey thanks bra

Congratulations on getting the job.

How do they pay you: salary, or piece-work?

This sort of work might be I deal for you because it's so repetitive. And you could listen to music on your headphones. And you don't to interact with people.

I understand it's scary.....but I sense that you have a good chance to succeed here.

Are you able to make your own hours?

This is what works for me, may not work for you:

* Make the most of your personal time. I find it good to rest and be alone as much as possible so i can "reacharge" to function at work.

* Find and take alternative routes to work since that can cause stress too, like being in an overcrowded buss or subway train. Go where the others aren't. If possible ask if you can work a bit before or after the morning rush and there will be fewer people commuting = less stressful.

* Identify obnoxious individuals who force social events onto others and stay clear of them. It is ok to say "no i don't want to go".