Hello!
This week is
national Anxiety and Depression awareness week, so I wanted to write about
dealing with anxiety.
All of us will suffer from anxiety at some point in our
lives, regardless of how major or minor it might be. It’s only when anxiety
begins to take over your life and stops you from doing things is when it
becomes a real problem.
Anxiety is something I’ve had to deal with over the past couple
of years. Whilst I’ve dealt with anxiety I’ve never been diagnosed with anxiety
(my doctor told me I didn’t have anxiety when I quite clearly did) and the
anxiety I have suffered from has been quite minor.
Anxiety Facts
- · Anxiety is one of the most common mental health
disorders in the UK
- Affects 16% of the population at any given time
- · 195,000
young people have an anxiety disorder
- · In 2013 there were 8.2 million cases of anxiety in
the UK
- · Women are twice as likely to be diagnosed with
anxiety as men
With anxiety the biggest thing for me was accepting that from
time to time I can suffer from anxiety and it’s something I’ve had to deal
with. I’m asthmatic which means I can’t take any anxiety medication (despite my
asthma not having a major impact I was told I wasn’t allowed to take medication
as there was a risk it would set my asthma off). This took a lot of accepting
and understanding anxiety can’t always simply solved by medication and just
medication alone (I’m not saying medication doesn’t help because it clearly
must do).
Another thing anxiety caused me was having a million and one
worries floating round in my head which could sometimes get out of control. For
example I sometimes panic talking to people I’m not that close with, especially
if the conversation isn’t going anywhere, and I start thinking “Am I annoying
them” “Do they even like me” “Why can’t I talk to people normally”. I usually
end up feeling awkward and stop the conversation. I really do hate having this battle and
personally it’s one of the hardest things to deal with.
I have also suffered a few physical effects as well as mental.
Sometimes on a morning when I’m feeling particularly anxious I cannot eat
anything as I feel sick. When I’m very anxious I visibly shake and it can be
quite hard to control. Occasionally I’ve suffered from very minor anxiety
attacks, now while they’ve not been a full blown attack I find them unpleasant
and distressing. When I have an attack (always occurs on a night time) I start shaking,
get hot and cold flushes, need the toilet a lot and feel nauseous and this can
last for a good few hours.
However over the past couple of years I’ve learnt ways to cope
with anxiety and I’ve managed to get it under control. I want to share with you
these tips to help any of you who might be suffering from anxiety:
· Talk to
someone about how you’re feeling: For me I saw a counsellor and talking to
someone really helped me. My counsellor was lovely and gave me strategies to
help me cope and they’ve really helped. However you don’t have to see a
counsellor, you could talk to your parents, friends or a trusted adult. Just
don’t bottle up how you’re feeling
· Prioritize
your work: If you have set a lot of work in a short period of
time it can leave you feeling overwhelmed and panicking about when it’s all due
in. Make sure to set a list of all the work you need to do and then complete
each piece work in order of what’s due in first. This takes so much stress away
and stops you from feeling overwhelmed.
· Meditate: This is a
technique I’ve only recently been using but it really helps. I meditate for a
couple of minutes before I go to bed and it really helps to calm my mind. If
your anxiety is bad: close your eyes, sit in a comfortable position and focus
on your breathing for a couple of minutes.
· Sleeping: If I’m
struggling to get to sleep I use this technique which my counsellor taught me
and it’s so useful. As you breathe in you say “in” and as you breathe out you
say “out” (in your head of course), whilst I do this I also picture a balloon
inflating/ deflating and it really helps me drift off. Also if I’m over
worrying and can’t get to sleep I visualise putting my worries in a bubble and
making the bubble float away, it works for me.
Remember there are lots of ways to help people who suffer from
anxiety and I hope this post has taught you about anxiety. To anyone who may be
suffering with anxiety right now I hope you this post will help you.
