It’s the middle of the night and your brain won’t shut down. The constant worry of trivial things like a delivery of furniture coming to work,or a song that gets stuck in your head and just won’t stop. Anxiety. It takes many forms some of which don’t cause panic attacks, don’t cripple you with heart stopping fear but does cause sleepless nights.
Many ask the question why are you feeling anxious? And to them I say – I just am. There’s no reason why it comes one most of the time, it just does. Nothing triggers it and telling the anxious person “it’sOK, there’s nothing to worry about”is by all means not comforting when you mind and body are telling you otherwise.
The fundamental problem lies with people that don’t realise that anxiety is a severe mental condition that comes in bouts of severity. Whilst, I don’t want to be the bearer of doom and gloom, in Australia one in six people experience anxiety or depression or both.To break this statistic down even further and just focus on Anxiety according to Beyond Blue, “Anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia.
On average, one in four people – that is one in three women and one in five men – will experience anxiety at some stage in their life. In a 12-month period, over two million Australians experience anxiety”. An alarming rate showing that the issue is far more wide spread than we may think. And there are several types of anxiety for instance according to Corrine Barraclough these are the different types of anxiety that one can be diagnosed with; Generalised Anxiety Disorder (can be about anything), Social Anxiety Disorder (fear of being judged in a social situation), phobias, panic disorder (having panic attacks), PTSD (getting worked up over something specific that happened to you), or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD includes thoughts you can’t shift, checking or counting things to calm your anxiety).
To the anxious person everything can be a trigger. We think the simplest ‘can I have a word” from the boss means “this is it, I’m getting reprimanded or even worse, fired”. Our minds tell us to think the worst even if our logic tells us it’s not what we’re thinking. Whilst anxiety is a nasty mental condition that at some stage most Australians will experience, it can be overcome or at the very least controlled.
There are ways to combat anxiety. Yes, medication works if you need to take it (like I do), however, yoga, meditation, exercise and any activities that bring you to calm state of mind all keep the anxious thoughts at bay. Getting the right amount of sleep also helps controlling the anxiety.
But in a world where we are always too busy to look after ourselves, where we prioritise work over health, it can be a struggle to juggle a work-life balance. Whilst anxiety like most mental health conditions is still a taboo subject for most people and not everyone talks about it , the conversation has started to shift because of organisations like R U Ok, Beyond Blue and many more. These organisations have shone a light that has reflected the vast reach of this non-discriminatory mental condition.
And our job now is to keep the conversation going.
If you believe you are experiencing anxiety talk to your GP about how you’re feeling. Anxiety can be over come with the tight help.
The Opinionist Online 