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Are Anxiety and Stress Just the Same Thing?

My anxiety—could it have been related to personal circumstances?

By Jade WilsonPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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The monster in my head, she’s called anxiety. Image credit.

When mental health is concerned, we are advised to speak out, share, and let someone in. But when our mental health affects our work, how long before this is questioned?

We’re just a number.

It’s believed one in four adults will experience mental illness at some stage each year. For those who are affected by a mental illness, their battle can be all day, every day, every year.

Does it spread?

Within the last year I have had three close friends in work who have all suffered bad anxiety or depression and have all taken extensive, long periods off work. What’s devastating to me is realising that years down the line, even though companies and people are more aware of mental health, these friends are receiving no support from their current employer.

Some have taken several months out. They’ve been asked to complete "stress tests." No support during their time off and little contact kept. Even if an employer has targets to meet and is struggling with any colleague's absence, at the end of the day, we're all human. If another human is having a difficult time, isn’t it instinct to ask if they're okay?

Do we get to a point where the novelty has worn off and out of sight, out of mind?

When someone is off work for a long time and no explanation is shared, why is it the first instinct is to assume there depressed? Then, once that has been discussed, everyone believes they're entitled to their opinion, whether this is true or false.

I am very much a believer of never judging a book by its cover, for those who are smiling for show will understand how exhausting that is. But that being said, I previously found myself, too, assessing whether I believe someone really has a mental illness. Why??

Is this another stereotype? Is stress an indicator or anxiety? Are they related? Can a person with anxiety manage stress to the same level as someone who wouldn’t consider themselves to have a mental illness.

Or have we made mental health so open than we mistakenly diagnose stress with depression? I worry all the young adults who have had anti-depressants shoved down their throat because they suffer anxiety or have had a stressful event in their life.

I feel there are people who stress over deadlines and tidiness, that being stress. Then there are those who stress that something bad will happen. Both individuals will feel there stress is rational, but I don’t believe both are anxious. Worrying over something that hasn’t happened or could happen is a mental illness. That should be considered.

I have awoken in the middle of the night with terrible anxiety, unable to fall back asleep, and almost sick with the worry, which I can’t explain. I have called in sick to work. How do I explain this to an employer? So of course I use an excuse—sickness. There are days where just getting to work for some is harder than running a marathon. This isn’t acknowledged or appreciated.

I think as a society we have come so far, but we still are so far away! What I would love is for colleagues who suffer mental illness to be more vocal and be a support for other colleagues within companies. For everyone to have a better understanding. The expression: "spend the day in someone else’s shoes"; I’d love to have someone spend the day my head!

Image credit: nspcc.org

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