This is how I did not let anxiety take over my life
Generalised Anxiety Disorder is on top of the list of Common Mental Disorders. It affects women twice more than men. Mixed anxiety and depression cause one fifth of days lost from work in Britain.
I will never forget the first thing my therapist (the only one of many that actually taught me something useful) told me after listening to my rambling for a few minutes, right after I met him in his office for the first time: “So, you do realize that you are having a crisis over something you think is going to happen in ten years, right?”.
I was. Right there I realized that all the issues and obstacles inside my head were non-existent: my only real issue was anxiety. Because that is exactly how anxiety works. In my mind, every single action has consequences with huge impacts (most of the time, tragic) on my near and long term future. In less than a second, I see hundreds of disastrous possibilities flashing through my mind that would take hours to be explained, considering how slow speech is, compared to thoughts.
If I had not dealt with it and learnt how to manage my own anxiety seven years ago, back when I was 20, mainly thanks to the same therapist I talked about before, I would probably be a very negative person right now, which I am not. Actually, I consider myself to be very positive and for that I am thankful.
This does not mean that I do not feel anxiety anymore. I do, but every time it appears I let my reasoning take over my feelings and sort. I try to look at the situation from the outside, with a bit of objectivity, in order to see the range of real possible outcomes and that is when I comprehend that even when the tragic consequences are indeed “possible”, they are not very probable. When it becomes a matter of probabilities instead, there is space for logic. The more I did it, the faster it became. Nevertheless, the more challenging the situation is, the more complicated it is for me to apply this knowledge.
I have to admit that being an anxious person also has its advantages. For example, I am very good at planning almost anything, I am a cautious and analytic person, I have good reflects because I am usually paying attention to my surroundings and I am definitely trustful behind the wheel ☺
Can you tell when I am anxious?
Although anxiety does manifest itself physically through symptoms such as racing heartbeat, shortness of breath, chest tightness, dry mouth, nausea and even tremor or sweating, most of the time these are very difficult to spot. Unless I am having an exceptional crisis, day to day anxiety happens in silence and is invisible to others.
This is probably why a lot of people would not believe that anxiety is a widespread issue. Generalised Anxiety Disorder (CMD) is categorized as a Common Mental Disorder (CMD). Phobias, panic attacks and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) are closely linked to it. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), at present 40% of disability worldwide is due to depression and anxiety and based on information gathered by the National Health Service (NHS) in the United Kingdom, mixed anxiety and depression cause one fifth of days lost from work in Britain.
Why me?
If there is one thing we know is that women all around the world are twice more affected by CMDs. In England, anxiety is the most commonly identified disorder and all types of CMD were more prevalent in women than in men. Just take a quick look to the following table, based on the most recent Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey, performed by the NHS in 2014.
NHS. Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Published in 2016
Anxiety is a normal human response to danger
Everybody feels anxious once in a while, although there is a great gap between having experienced anxiety and living with an anxiety disorder. In any case, breathing exercises are essential and for those like me who deal with anxiety more frequently, keeping a diary and having “to do lists” (though it sounds like a very simple task) can be life changing. If anxiety is taking over your life, definitely seek for professional help to learn anxiety managing skills, as I also did.
Getting enough sleep, keeping blood sugar stable and energy levels up through an organized diet and doing physical activity are other simple habits that generally improve life quality and also have an impact in managing anxiety.
