Let's talk about anxiety!!

roro1990

Hi Everyone,

This is an important post for me to write and I hope I can express myself properly. I seen a similar thread on AH about depression, which I thought was fantastic and if I can even express the issue of anxiety disorders half aswell as the guy who started this, I'll be happy. (here's the link if you wanna check it out http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056481009). Whilst I could empathize with what everyone in that thread has gone through, I couldn't fully comprehend it because depression is not my mental illness. Mine is anxiety. I'm not looking for sympathy here, or validation, I just feel strongly about this subject.

So what is anxiety and when does it become unhealthy?

Everyone feels anxiety in their life. It is actually a perfectly normal response in certain situations. If you have a job interview and you're worried about it going tits up, that's anxiety. When you're in school/college and worried about doing crap in upcoming exams, that's anxiety. The majority of people feel these kinds of anxieties but actually tend to perform better because of them. I suppose my own definition of anxiety becoming a problem is when it effects your ability to live a normal life.

For example, I suffer with health anxiety. How has this affected my ability to live my life? Because it gets in the way of me enjoying the present moment. I could be having an ok day in work or with friends when suddenly I get a pain in my chest/head. My automatic assumption is "oh ****, what if it's a heart attack/aneursym, or what if I just drop dead on the spot?" I then ruminate for hours, looking up symptoms on google and coming to the worst possible conclusion. Possibly, (read usually) I then leave work and go to the nearest Emergency Department to get checked out. This is clearly not a healthy form of anxiety as it effects my work, my social life and my general enjoyment of life.

The issue with us who really suffer badly from anxiety is we always imagine the worst possible scenario in our head and it takes away from our enjoyment of life. We're not necessarily depressed. In fact, I love life. And i'm sure many anxiety suffers out there also love life. I love to travel, I love to play guitar, I love football and I love trying different food from all over the world. But my enjoyment of these things is always being hampered by the background anxiety that goes on in my mind.

A remarkable thing about anxiety disorders (and depression) is that you might not even know people you are close to are suffering from it. We can be in an extremely anxious mindset, **** scared of whatever worst case scenarios are minds are jumping to at that time, ruminating like ****, and on the outside we'll act like nothing at all is wrong with us.

Those who are very close to us will definitely sense something is off but they will most likely just assume it's a bad mood. We tend to be very irritable and snappy with people. From my own experience I know that when i'm anxious, even if my parents try talk to me, I'll act all distant and like I don't want to talk to anybody.

What can we do to overcome it?

I'm not sure if it's the same for everyone but first you have to identify your triggers. The things that make your mind go at 1000 mph and jump to the worst case scenarios every time. For me, one of the main triggers is caffeine. One cup of coffee is fine, but anything more than that and my mind races so fast that it's a struggle to keep up with it. Alcohol is also a bitch for anxiety sufferers. It has this horribly paradoxical effect of making anxiety better and worsening it within the space of 24 hours. The typical scenario for an anxiety sufferer is that we drink to calm ourselves down. Inhibitions are lowered, confidence is high and we generally feel relaxed.

The problems arise the next day. The alcohol has worn off and our bodies are in such a state of flux from the booze that our anxieties come flooding back ten times worse. I've only ever had panic attacks the day after a heavy night of drinking. Key takeaway here : anxiety sufferers need to at least limit alcohol, if not completely eliminate it. As a 24 year old who drinks on occasion, it'd be hypocritical of me to tell people to stop. All I know is, drink is in no way helpful for anxiety as a long term cure.

I personally think diet is also important. When I eat crap food, I feel crap. Stuff high in sugar, high in bad fats tend to make the anxiety way worse. A clean diet can definitely clean up your mind and remove unhelpful thoughts, although it is by no means a panacea.

One of the main things I've found helpful for bad anxiety is mindfulness or some form of meditation. I'm not encouraging anxiety sufferers to shave their head, go on a meditation retreat and become a Buddhist monk. But being aware of your thoughts is vital. Way too many times in my life I've got sucked into my thoughts, assumed the worst was going to happen and let my actions be dictated by these thoughts. Meditation encourages to become aware of these thoughts, but to see them as what they are and allow them to pass through us without judgement. They are products of our minds and in most cases are related to some future, imagined threat that is in reality extremely unlikely.

I am in no way cured of anxiety, and I know there is a long way to go. There are many other options which I haven't discussed due to lack of experience with them. Such as CBT (http://www.anxietybc.com/self-help-cognitive-behavioural-therapy-cbt), psychotherapy, medications and exercise.

I guess the reason for this post was to get awareness out there about anxiety disorders. I am by no means an expert, i'm only a young guy and maybe some of my anxieties are part and parcel of being an adult. I just wanted to share my experience and hopefully resonate with others who suffer from it. It is a truly horrible illness that takes away so much from our lives. It literally, almost by definition, prevents us from living the way we want and doing the things we really want to do. A lot of anxiety sufferers have potential to achieve amazing things in their life. But a lot of us won't because we never seek help for it. And I think that is very sad. Thanks for reading.

Just a little Samba

Thanks for the post OP!

I have at time suffered from anxiety so I really appreciate your honesty and intent!

Links234

roro1990 wrote: »

The issue with us who really suffer badly from anxiety is we always imagine the worst possible scenario in our head and it takes away from our enjoyment of life. We're not necessarily depressed. In fact, I love life. And i'm sure many anxiety suffers out there also love life. I love to travel, I love to play guitar, I love football and I love trying different food from all over the world. But my enjoyment of these things is always being hampered by the background anxiety that goes on in my mind.

That right there is me

Can't help it, I'm always feeling like the worst thing is going to happen. One time I called my mum and she didn't answer her phone, so I rang again, and panic started to set in, I started wondering was she ok, did something happen, did she end up in the hospital? There was no logical reason for me to think any of this, but it's like all these negative thoughts just kept popping up out of nowhere. And I was seriously freaking out, even though I knew it was ridiculous, I couldn't hold back that reaction.

It's hellish sometimes

the evasion_kid

After years of suffering with it my cure was to say fcuk it,if these panic attacks are going to kill me then fcuk it,take me. Haven't had one in a long time.....also avoid the booze it'll make it 10X worse and you could find yourself drinking to keep them at bay again,a road you don't want to go down.

GSF

My friend suffers from anxiety attacks quite badly and has had the ambulance service out quite frequently because he feels chest pains or similar symptoms. Quite recently he has become obsessed with making a will even though he is only 33 and doesn't own much by way of assets. I had worried that he may have been suffering depression but can see from reading the OP that he may be thinking quite differently and sees making a will as a reassurance rather than meaning he is planning to self harm. This is something I hadn't thought of previously.