Living with anxiety can have a bad impact on your standard way of living. It can lower your self-worth, make it harder for you to make friends, and even affect your work life. Living and trying to address that you may have some form of anxiety disorder is difficult and you may have a hard time sharing this with family and friends because you find it worrisome. You may not understand it but there are plenty of individuals who don’t comprehend it as a mental illness.
What is anxiety?
Anxiety is the feeling of fear or worry which is worse than the common ‘feeling’ of anxiety. For instance, you’ll feel anxious before a vital exam or you’re about to have an operation. However the mental illness: Anxiety disorder, it’s just like the feeling of regularly being on trial. You awake from your sleep and you’re anxious about anything and everything. Sometimes anxiety can make it hard to sleep because you may be awake worrying about things that had happened within the previous day or what could happen tomorrow.
Different types of anxiety disorder
There are 5 forms of anxiety and here is a list of those with the symptoms to give you a general understanding of the disorder.
General anxiety disorder
General anxiety disorder also referred to as GAD, is the constant and uncontrollable feeling of fear or worry. This reciprocally affects their standard of living because they’re under a relentless feeling of stress because of their uncontrollable fear or worry.
Symptoms of anxiety
- Lightheadedness
- Pins and needles
- Headache, backaches, or other aches and pains
- Sweating and hot flushes
- Sleep problems
- Grinding your teeth (especially at night)
- Restlessness or unable to sit down and be less fidgety
- Nausea
- Churning in your stomach (constant feeling of stomach butterflies)
- Faster or irregular heartbeat
Panic disorder
A Panic disorder is where you’ve got regular but sudden panic attacks which may commonly happen without a reason. Some panic attacks can last up to 5-20 minutes. In rare cases up to an hour.
How does one know if you’re having a panic attack?
There are many symptoms of panic attacks and here is a listing of them:
- Racing heartbeat
- Feeling faint
- Sweating
- Shortness of breath
- Trembling or shaky limbs
- Dizziness
- Numbness
- Pins and needles
- Dry mouth
- Feeling nauseous
- The feeling of being choked
It’s important if you’re experiencing panic attacks on a daily basis, to talk together with your doctor. It may well be an indication that you simply have an anxiety disorder.
Phobias
A phobia is when someone develops a staggering and draining fear of a specific place, object, feeling, activity or animal. One of the most heard phobias may well be arachnophobia or claustrophobia. you’ll be fearful of spiders or being in tight places. Phobias generally are overwhelming to the person that has them which reciprocally can cause lots of stress and may affect their daily lifestyle.
Symptoms of phobias:
- Dizziness, lightheadedness, and unsteadiness
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Increased pulse rate
- Shortness of breath
- Trembling or shaking
- Panic attacks
- An upset stomach
It’s important to notice that folks with a known phobia will experience these symptoms once they get in contact with the thing, place, feeling, or animal that they experience a fear toward.
Post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD is caused by a past event that is traumatic for the person experiencing it. If someone has PTSD they will feel as if they are reliving their past traumatic experiences.
Causes of PTSD:
- A serious accident like a car accident
- Physical or mental abuse (domestic abuse, sexual assault, mugging, kidnapping, robbery, etc.)
- Serious health problems
- Childbirth experiences
- Military services
- Watching or experiencing the loss of somebody you were near
PTSD can affect anyone immediately after experiencing a traumatic experience and may affect up to 1 in 3 people according to the NHS.
Symptoms of PTSD
- Flashbacks
- Nightmares or night terrors
- Repetitive and distressing images or sensations
- Physical sensations like pain, sweating, feeling sick and trembling
- Panic attacks
- Difficulty sleeping
- Irritated constantly
- Difficulty concentrating
- Angry outbursts
Because of the negative effects of the traumatic experience, the person with PTSD could also be having difficulty understanding the trauma they have suffered. The traumatic event will constantly be there as if on replay in their mind and it takes plenty of support to assist them through it. There’s also a risk for individuals with PTSD that may cause other mental illnesses. A good example could be depression.
Social Anxiety (Social phobia)
Social anxiety is a fear of social interactions or events such as going to parties, events, or even work. It’s common to develop social anxiety in the teenage years and can be caused by a number of things. For example bullying.
Social anxiety is not just being shy because it’s a constant fear that won’t go away. It affects your self-confidence, your social life, daily activities, and your school/work life. This makes it harder for someone with social anxiety to meet new people which in return will make it harder for them to make friends. This can lead to loneliness.
How to get help and support
Getting help and support may be a worrisome thing for someone with anxiety. People with anxiety may even be too worried or fearful to go and get diagnosed. However, getting diagnosed helps you in the future as it allows your GP to get you the correct treatment.
You can always speak to a loved one, someone you know, or trust. If you’re too nervous you can always pull them aside and speak to them privately. Talking to people you are close to can help them to understand the situation and in return they will help support you and make you feel better. This isn’t for everyone but for most people find talking helpful.
If you have social anxiety you may feel that talking to people you know may not help. Talking to your GP will be hard but maybe you can ask a loved one to support you and come with you during the visit to the GP. It’s always good to have that emotional support.
What can I do to help myself cope?
Self-care
If you have been diagnosed with any kind of anxiety disorder, there are ways to cope on your own without the help of treatment from your GP.
Some of the options to help you cope with your anxiety are as followed:
Exercise regularly
Exercise can help you relax the mind and you can do it either at home, in the gym, or outside for as long as you feel you need to!
If you smoke, maybe stopping smoking could help as a coping method
Smoking can affect your mood and if you can quit it can make it much easier to cope with a certain anxiety. Not to mention, it’s better for your lungs.
Cut down on caffeine and alcohol
Caffeine can cause your body to have a high amount of energy. This can also greatly affect your mood, especially with your heart rate going up with the more caffeine you drink during the day. Cutting down on caffeine and substituting it for maybe water, apple juice, etc. may help you to feel more relaxed. Same with alcohol only alcohol can also make your behavior erratic and you could physically hurt yourself if you take too much alcohol into your system.
Meditation
Meditation helps to relax your breathing and mind. This is a great way to calm your mind and also may help affect the way you feel during the day.
Yoga
Yoga is good for exercise and also helps to make you feel less tense. It helps to stretch the muscles which makes the body feel less tense. The good thing about yoga is that you can do it at home or with others.
Try to sleep at a regular sleep schedule making sure to get 8 hours
Sleep is important in general so getting a full 8 hours on a regular sleep schedule will help improve your mood. Sleeping can also help you with other things such as concentration, and focus and you won’t feel fatigued during the day.
Speak to your GP
You should always speak to your GP if you believe you may have an anxiety disorder but also if you believe that it will affect your daily life. Your GP can offer you a series of treatments that may help.
Here is a list of treatments your GP may offer:
- Psychological therapies – you can get therapies that could include behavioral therapy. You don’t even need a referral from your GP you can do this yourself!
- Medicines – your GP may prescribe you an antidepressant known as serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
How can you support someone with anxiety?
There are several different ways that you could help someone with anxiety to give them your support. Just being there with them to support them through being around can sometimes not be enough so I have listed other ways you can help them.
Don’t pressure them
According to www.mind.org.uk/ taking your time with the person will help. Be patient, and help them through their uncomfortable situations. Allow them to take their time and don’t make them feel forced to do something they are uncomfortable with.
Be understanding
Research and find out as much as you can about anxiety. Learning about it can help you to understand the disorder. Understanding will also make the other person feel comfortable around you. This is because you have an understanding of what they’re going through.
Ask how you can help
They may already know you are there to help them through difficult situations. However, it is always good to ask them how you can help. They may ask you to join them in their exercise activities or join them in a doctor’s appointment. The little things always help and just asking can show them you’re there to support them.
Finally, just to support them when they seek help
I may have mentioned before that a person with anxiety may ask for help with social things, however, might be too nervous if they have a social anxiety disorder. For example, seeing a doctor. This helps them to feel less stressed, especially those with social anxiety. You could also help them with finding help, for example, searching for a therapy that might benefit them if they wish to not be referred by their doctor.
Support
http://www.sane.org.uk/what_we_do/support/helpline
If you need help regarding your mental health you can contact SANEline or Samaritans for free! You can also contact them anonymously.
SANEline are available between 4:30pm – 10:30pm
Samaritans are available 24 hours a day!
