Your Mind Matters EP 2 - Anxiety
What is anxiety?
A word we use to describe the physical and emotional feelings of worry, unease, fear and nervousness about something. Anxiety is a normal biological reaction when we are threatened which is related to the fight or flight response, that is our bodies response when we feel under threat. The body releases hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, these help us physically prepare to fight or run from the situation. When we feel the moment has passed our bodies again release hormones to help us feel relax, this automatically happens and we have no control over it. Though we don’t usually face these kinds of situations to fight or run from danger, our biological response is still the same when we feel threatened.
If anxiety is a natural experience then how can it be a mental health problem?
Well, because of this it is hard to know when it starts to become a problem for you. If your feelings of anxiety last a long time or feel very strong it can be overwhelming and stressful, you may find that your worrying all the time, about just regular everyday things, problems falling asleep, tense or irritable, and maybe even panic attacks. If these feelings have been constant/frequent over the past 6 months then this may be what is known as Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The sufferer feels in a constant state of high anxiety, the worry is prolonged and the level of worry is out of proportion to the risk. It can impact relationships, cause sleep problems and effect maintaining a job. See your GP if you are unsure.
Lydia’s experience of anxiety was very isolating and confusing. Due to unfortunate circumstances of her dad having an affair and quitting university. We thank her for sharing her experience to help other people.
“Lydia’s Story”
I felt very lost, low and unsure who to turn too, I was overwhelmed with emotions to the point where I was unable to leave the house and was terrified of going to new places or meeting new people. Being diagnosed with anxiety and depression was a very confusing and uncertain time for me. I used to be such a go getter who wouldn't let anything stop me from achieving my goals and suddenly I was overpowered with this feeling that I was becoming nothing and unable to control anything in my life. My anxiety affected everything that I did, I would turn down meeting my friends as the pressure was too much but then get annoyed with myself for not going. It also made me question my relationships with other people around me, I assumed people disliked me for no reason then I would take it out on myself and often had panics on public transport that I got stuck on and couldn’t get out. When I tried to talk about my anxiety to people around me they would just assume I was ‘a bit worried’ and that I would get over it in time but it was much more than that to me. I spoke to my doctor about my diagnosis and all I was offered were anti depressants and counselling. Unfortunately the counselling waiting list was for at least 6 months and I was too panicked to even consider picking up the phone to explain my problems to another complete stranger for the third time. The idea of going into a new environment to talk about why I felt so low when I wasn’t even sure myself terrified me.
After around a year of isolating myself I decided I couldn’t let anxiety take over my life any more. I was missing out on a lot of things and had lost a lot of friends in the process as they didn’t understand what I was feeling or going through. I was determined to push myself and decided to start saying yes to things instead of no and challenging myself into new situations. I would say yes to going to new places and seeing old friends and try open up more to people about my emotions.
This really helped me start tackling my anxiety head on and I have started to learn that I am more than capable of achieving things. I am slowly starting to rebuild relationships I have lost from isolating myself for a year. I am starting to feel comfortable with myself and more in control of my anxiety and depression, to the point where it rarely affects me. I decided to apply to go on a volunteering placement overseas with VSO for 3 months, something that would have been out of the question a year ago. This experience has really helped me realise that I’m more than capable of doing anything and made me realise how far I’d come in tackling my mental illness.