Let’s talk about Anxiety!

No, I am not talking about Anxiety that you face because your client’s deadline is nearing or because your child’s board exams are around the corner (or your own board exams) or because you have to shuffle between 10 things from home to kids to work (or school/college to home-work to assignments) – not that any of this is not commendable, but we are talking about something else here.

I am talking about Anxiety which cripples you to lead a normal life. Anxiety, which may hamper you to carry out your daily chores or regular work. That may lead to palpitations every day for 8 hours or more. Anxiety may lead you to obsessive behaviours, which leads you towards comfort food (and this is different from just normal love for junk food). Anxiety, which so many times makes you feel that “YOU” are the problem, that “YOU” are overreacting to situations, that “YOU” are good for nothing.

It is that Anxiety that makes you lose confidence in yourself and makes you yearn for “approval” from others. It is that Anxiety which always leads to “self-doubt”. It is that which made me quit my beloved corporate job and disabled me to pursue any of my passions – Art, writing, reading. It is that Anxiety that hits you even when everything in your life may seem perfect.

A lot of people including leading e-magazines put, “so and so opens up about their mental health.” And when you actually read the article or listen to the interview you realise that, that the “so and so”, actually did not suffer from Anxiety or Depression. Maybe because a lot of people have started talking about mental health (MH) (which is good, though), it has sort of become a fad to talk and write about it, just so that you can grab eyeballs. But this is much more serious than just a fad about doing ‘pilates’ or following the ‘keto’ diet.

It is definitely not that Anxiety where recently a lot of celebrities have come out “in open” and spoken about their MH. Of course, while there are some who have genuinely faced an MH issue, others sound like they are using the word “Mental Health”, just because everyone is talking about it.

It feels like a joke when they casually refer to “I had mental health issues because my movies were failing and then I got better when one was a hit at the box office”. A temporary feeling of sadness or stress is not what we are talking about here. It is statements like these that mislead people into believing that MH is nothing but normal stress or anxiety or sadness. Not to say that failing at your work cannot lead to the MH problem for some. But if the person is able to operate normally in a few days time, then it is not an MH issue.

For the uninitiated, let me quote the definition of ‘Anxiety’:

“Anxiety disorder” is a mental health disorder characterised by feelings of worry, anxiety, or fear that are strong enough to interfere with one's daily activities.

Examples of anxiety disorders include panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Symptoms include stress that's out of proportion to the impact of the event, inability to set aside worry and restlessness.

Please draw attention to the ‘bold’ text above. It is this factor that actually tells you that a person may be suffering from an MH issue. When you are hampered to the extent that you are unable to carry out your daily routine/ work, persistently for a long period of time that is when you may have an MH problem.

There are two types of ‘stress’ – Good stress and Bad stress. Good stress pushes you to complete your work and do things on time. If you do not have ‘Good stress’ then maybe you would be lethargic/ laid back and will not get any work done. But ‘Bad stress’ is one which makes you panic to the extent that you may not be able to do any work. Hence, it is okay to have ‘Good stress’ and that does not constitute an MH problem.

The biggest problem of MH is that there are no physical symptoms for someone to take quick notice so that corrective action may be taken. You might have body reactions to your Anxiety, like palpitations, but predominantly everything is going around in the head and that is why people take longer to understand that they may have an MH issue. And so many times even when they realise that a possibility of MH may exist, they go in denial.

It is therefore pertinent to be aware and spread knowledge about what exactly MH means. It is important to Google and read up a bit about it and even attend workshops or seminars. Understand how a person with MH feels, so that you are empathetic and do not just rubbish off their problems as an over-reaction or being extra sensitive or make unconcerned remarks. Pick up the cues when a person talks of extreme sadness or is sad all the time or is nervous/ scared for the smallest of things. Instead of thinking the person is very negative, try to understand, and guide them and try to make them aware if they do not understand what is going on with them.

A lot of people, especially the older generation react saying, “there is nothing like depression! We have faced so much in our lives, but we have never behaved this way! You’re problems are silly! All you need to do is have a good lifestyle. Get up early, do yoga, walk in the fresh air, and don’t think too much about it, and then you would be absolutely fine”. While it may be true that leading a healthy lifestyle helps in improving MH, but it is not the solution to the problem. It is like saying, “have Tulsi to avoid getting cold”. It is true that Tulsi can prevent cold, but is it a solution once you actually catch a cold? Not necessarily, you may need medication to cure it. Tulsi may only be a  preventive measure but not cure completely, especially when the cold gets worse. Similarly for MH, following a good lifestyle is prevention but not the cure, or at best, a supplement to the overall treatment.

Treatment

Causes of MH problems may be deep-rooted in one’s childhood or may emanate from an event at any point of time. Treatment for MH may include medication and counselling/ psychotherapy. Depending on how deep-rooted the cause of MH is and for how long the problem has been persisting; the treatment can range from a few months to even a few years. Since the process to heal MH is different from physical health, one needs to have faith and patience in the process to heal. Also, cooperation with the therapist and willingness to do as guided is likely to help in quick healing. If one is aware of what MH is, the early signs of it can be picked up, so that treatment can be started quickly before it gets worse.

Having said that, it does not mean that any behaviour or reaction can be attributed to MH. One should attempt to understand this more, so that one may know whether one is actually suffering from it or just thinks to have it. Do not hesitate to approach professionals to help decode your problem.

Be kind, stay aware!!

Note: The author is no Mental Health expert, but wishes to spread awareness about the subject through her own experience. No part of the article should be considered as a professional advice.