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Comment by rjh29 | Hacker News Reader

I mean I understand it, but there is an almost unlimited supply of positions available, and no real reason to be stressed by an interview. The worst thing that can happen is you fail it and try the next one.

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It sounds like you never had to deal with a mental health issue and have a personality that is compatible with the process. That is great. Not everyone has that luxury. Many engineers are introverted people, possibly dealing with things like inferiority complex, imposter syndrome, anxiety, depression and more.

Thank you.

Please don't presume anything about people's mental health. I have alcoholism, social anxiety and depression.

I stated my point badly, obviously anxiety is not rational, but on a rational level the stakes of a job interview are quite low (you can take another). It's not like stage fright where if you mess up your performance you could lose your job - you'll likely never see these people again. In that respect it's a bit closer to social anxiety.

I mean many tens of thousands of people have been laid off in recent weeks. If you're single and have savings in the bank, sure, maybe it's not a big deal, just look for the next one. If you've got a spouse, children, and mortgage, the stakes are different.

I apologise. I'm not in the US and evidently there's a lot of stuff going on that makes my comment insensitive.

It's hard to understand if you're not affected by it. You've heard the term "Stage Fright"? This is the same. Something about being put in a "performance" situation triggers the fight or flight reflex. At first, you're a deer in the headlights. Then, your body floods with adrenaline. The whole thing makes higher level thinking extremely difficult. I don't agree with the parent poster that it's "damaging to people's health", though. It's just something that happens. You recover pretty fast afterwards.

You do realize that emotions are by definition not something you can easily reason yourself out of? Not everyone reacts the same way, good for you that you can approach it "in cold blood", so to say.

Yes, that's what I meant by "I understand it". Obviously anxiety is not rational, but on a rational level the stakes of an interview are lower than a lot of other things.

I think the part that I don't understand is how you can say that you understand it but then follow up with something that seems like a lack of understanding. : )

Yes, we know it doesn't make sense to be stressed about it, and yet we still are stressed. Saying that we shouldn't be is not constructive IMO.

Meh. That's kind of the whole point of CBT after all. It might not seem helpful but if you practice it enough it can help. And I say that as someone with plenty of social anxiety!

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