had a panic attack while working

I was diagnosed with social anxiety disorder back in 2018. Since then, I have come a long ways--it's way easier to talk to people than it used to be, I'm far less shy, and generally I just don't get anxious just from trying to socialize. But one place where, for whatever reason, I still get some anxiety is my workplace. It comes out of seemingly nowhere.

Recently I had a low grade panic attack while waiting on customers. I did my best to keep on working, and managed to do my job throughout the attack....but it was very difficult and customers could tell I wasn't feeling well. (One came back a few days later and asked if I was okay because I seemed like I was sick the last time they saw me.) I also did an anxiety inventory on my symptoms to rate their intensity, and it came back as severe.

I haven't had another attack since, so maybe it was a one time occurrence. But it has had me wondering if I should have my psychiatrist write a drs note for my boss so that I can get accommodations, such as occasionally being allowed to hop off my register for say 15 minutes, if I feel like my anxiety is getting intense and I need a few moments to do some calming techniques.

Another area of frustration is I decided to start seeing a therapist again, and I had had an appointment at the beginning of the month......but it got pushed back a whole month due to them accidentally assigning me the same therapist as one of my family members. (They can't have the same therapist for people who are related.)

 

The thing is, if you disclose health conditions prior to being hired you run the risk of discrimination. Under the ADA they are not supposed to fire you based on disabilities, but it doesn't prevent all cases of discrimination, plus you can still be let go if they claim your disability kept you from doing your job. (Under the ADA, anxiety, diabetes, which I have both, are both considered disabilities. It also includes anything perceived as a disability, whether it is or not.)
The advice I've gotten is that it's generally best to disclose health conditions after you're already established as a reliable employee.

My workplace does know about my diabetes, and they have been extremely accommodating and understanding. So there's good reason to believe they will do the same about my anxiety, but I'm not sure if there may be more of a bias against mental health conditions. Diabetes is well known and somewhat better understood by the masses.