Living with Anxiety

When you look at me, I may look like an ordinary 20-year-old. I'm in a happy and stable relationship, I have a fairly well paid job (for my age) and I'm surrounded by loving friends and family but if you delve deeper into my life you'll see the things I try to hide from everyone; the anxiety, the depression, and the pain. You see chronic arthritis runs in my family, I was always going to develop it at some point in my life. My anxiety is what's called generalized anxiety disorder (GAD for short) for as long as I can remember I've always been a worrier, I never found it easy to make friends and always worried about my appearance and what others thought of me, however, I never imagined I'd be diagnosed with GAD and especially didn't even consider depression.

Mental illnesses have such a stigma around them that people who really experience living with them tend to bottle up their thoughts and feelings, I'm one of those people and today I'd like to share my experience with you. I'm going to tell you the effects of living with anxiety and I'm hoping that this article might help some people even if only to help you understand what a loved one might be going through and possible ways you can help them or show them you're there for them in times of need. So here goes, I apologize for the long intro and if you've read this far thank you!

Anxiety can only be described as a monster, people living with the condition are constantly fighting to defeat it. First off there's the daily battle of getting out of bed and the million and one thoughts that go with it, such as "Is today worth it?" and "Do I really need to work?" "What's going to go wrong today?" When you finally pluck up the courage to get out of bed you get the first set of side effects of the day; the nausea, the headaches, and feeling dizzy. Once you get over that hurdle there's the lack of energy to contend with, the constant buzzing in your head and seeming so ignorant when people talk to you and you have to ask them to repeat themselves a million and one times before your brain stops sending irrational thoughts racing through your head at 100mph.

Then there's the physical side effects, like I added earlier there's the nausea, dizziness, and headaches but then there's the more noticeable symptoms; the abdominal cramps, pain in your neck, sweating more than usual, and then there's the labored and shallow breaths coupled with an increased heart rate. In many cases these are normal side effects, however, if you know someone with or are suffering with anxiety yourself, this can be one of the first signs of an oncoming panic attack. if you are an onlooker of someone having a panic attack, the best advice is approach them slowly so not to startle them. This sounds silly I know but during a panic attack you can't focus on much else, try asking them what they need from you and slow their breathing down by practicing breathing exercises. These aren't the only side effects, anxiety attacks can form in many different ways, for example someone turning pale or seeming "zoned out." If you're a sufferer and feel this coming, seek help, if you can. I appreciate how hard this can be sometimes, but going through it alone is not ideal. When in a panic attack I find the best method is to start off with naming out loud five things I can see around me. I then name four things I can hear, three things I can touch nearby me, two things I can smell, and one thing I could taste. This method utilizes all of your senses, and I find it the easiest way to ground myself.

I hope this article helps you the next time you find yourself in a similar situation.