Why I Refuse to Call Anxiety a Disorder

There used to be this girl on my university course who claimed she had anxiety. One time we had to participate in quite a big group project together and every time she could not do something that was required for the project, she would use her anxiety as an excuse and say she had written confirmation of it from an official source of sorts. Like a therapist or something. It was some kind of support system in the university put in place to help out people who had all kinds of learning difficulties and if they signed up for it, they got excused from tasks, got deadline extensions and general studying help, etc. I had never heard of such support plans before. I know it exists for a good reason and ultimately really does benefit people who have something, like dyslexia for example, but the fact that that girl always used her anxiety as an excuse to not do coursework and moan about it aloud made me pissed off on several occasions. Don't call me an insensitive ass yet, and read my following explanation behind my thoughts before.

I think it is important to acknowledge what is happening and accept that you struggle with something when you do. That is the first step to healing. But once that has happened, I don't think it is healthy to just sit on the knowledge with a this-is-who-I-am-now attitude. If you label your problem under an intricate name and get a paper signed by a counselor to say that you in fact have this problem, it fuels the issue rather than works on diminishing it. In a way, it manifests the problem even further and makes you think as if it's unchangeable, when most of the time that is not true. I believe that if we treat us like we're broken, we will believe our whole lives that that is the only way, whereas if we learn to accept that this is who we are and push ourselves out of our comfort zone just a little more every day, amazing things can happen, and we might even overcome the obstacle in our brain.

It's all about the law attraction. What we put in the universe, the universe will give back to us.

“The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.” - Stephen Richards

I don't admit this to many, and no one but people who are closest to me know, but I struggle with anxiety and panic episodes. It sounds way more drastic than I mean it to. I don't like using the words "anxiety" or "panic"; however, for the sake of trying to explain just for this time, I'll use these. I have always been that person who doesn't want to justify these things as mental disorders, because they are not. Not to me. It's not how I see them. I refuse to see them that way. I refuse to believe they are, because I don't want to give my anxiousness the power these words radiate.

Anxiety is a state of being, not a state of life.

I don't think having anxiety or panic is a mental disorder. I think it is a part of what it's like to be human. It's an existential state of mind that is triggered by fear and it is so common that every human experiences it. So calling it a disorder is like calling the entire human race mentally ill. True, it differs in every person, but that is because the fear that causes the anxiety is designed differently in each person. And I believe we must find the root cause of the fear in order to understand it. I urge everybody to find the root cause of their anxiety—that is what healing is. If you discover what is causing the anxiety, you are one step closer to conquering it. I won't say it will be easy, but it will definitely help. I think taking pills mindlessly to stop anxiety before looking into the cause of it is wrong. We have seen from countless stories throughout history that putting unnecessary drugs into one's body in a fragile mental state only makes things worse. The only true step toward a better direction happens when the character gets clean and focuses its energy toward exploring the world within itself.

During my years on this planet, I have thought a lot about where my anxiety comes from and I think I have figured out most of it. My conclusion is: the root of my anxiety lies in an irrational fear I have had my entire life and depending on how many other smaller fears a situation I am in is combined with, will have an impact of how big the anxiety or panic attack is. I'm no psychologist, but I don't think it takes a lot to figure out that ultimately having anxiety and panic is the fear of having no control.

I am not saying that we can't talk about our problems, because we can and we must. In fact, I have learned that sometimes in the midst of an anxiety episode, the only cure is telling someone else about your issue for it to be solved. In a way talking to someone else makes the mind feel grounded and realize that it is all going on in the head. I don't claim to be perfect and I don't claim to always have the strength to keep myself from getting sucked into a vortex of panic, but after all, we are the creation of our mind and as hard as it may seem, regaining control is just a perspective-shift away.

I am not saying that the girl on my university course was a bad person for using her anxiety as an excuse to not do work. I am sure her reason was valid. I'm simply saying that that is not what I would do. I am not minimizing the realness of anxiety or questioning its existence. I am simply choosing to think of it differently, and I urge others to try and do too. Choose to not give it the power to consume you, but rather to teach you how to get to know yourself better.