Heyy guys! Today's mental health topic I want to talk about is anxiety. Anxiety comes in different forms and today I'm going to talk about General Anxiety. We all experience anxiety at some point in our lives, before an exam, before we meet someone new, before an interview but for people with anxiety this feeling doesn't go away. Everyones heard of the flight or fight reflex, the idea that if something was to attack us our chemicals in our brain would allow us to take action and decide the best thing to do, this is why we get anxiety. But nowerdays we are less likely to be attacked by wild animals and so this relfex is not so useful to have before a driving exam, as you can't fight or flight the situation the feeling stays with you for a long time. What is meant to be a useful mechanism, becomes a pain. People with anxiety have these feelings at a high level on a day to day business meaning they can't get on and do everyday things such as go to work or school or even go outside. Sometimes this feeling builds up to a panic attack.
A panic attack is the bodys reaction too all the emotions at once, fear, excitement, anger and can lead to pounding heartbeats, shaking and sweating and even blackouts. This feeling is terrifying, often people feel like they're going to die during the ten or twenty minuets it happens. People may never have panic attacks some people hay have one or two during a lifetime and some people have them several times a week, they come without warning and strike randomly. Some panic attacks wake you up in the night which can be worse as you're confused and helpless too.
People are more anxious than others because of personality types, current circumstances, past experience or a mixture.Feeling anxious about something may be something that was written into you as a kid, to fear people or places, even things you do on a daily basis such as take in high sugar and high caffeine and drug use lead to signs of anxiety and increase attacks. A main one and the one that causes anxiety for me is the future, worrying that something might happen and feeling helpless because I can't do anything about it.
Anxiety can have a huge impact on peoples lives, it is not a case of "pulling yourself together" and just doing what ever it is your scared of but it's a serious condition which makes it hard for people to live their lives. Telling people with anxiety that they're worrying about nothing or that it wont happen isn't going to help either, I know for me that if there has been a plant seeded in my head that theres even a small possibility something may happen being told its silly isn't going to make me stop worrying, just as telling someone with depression to "cheer up" isn't going to make them happier or telling someone with a broken leg to get up and walk will make their bones fix. People with anxiety may find it difficult to hold down a job or relationship or even have leisure time. There is of course, help. Councilors and medicine which may help and ease the pain. I think taking days one day at a time really helps, living for the here and now, not forgetting the future but not focusing all your time onto it and stressing about it so that you lose focus on whats going on right now.
I hope this post opened your eyes to anxiety. Remember there's still time for you to write a post on a mental health issue and send it to me at smitheh01@gmail.com and I'll have it up next week.
Lots of love
Eleanor x
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