Anxiety: Very Common Yet an Enigma

I hear about anxiety quite often now a days. This term is used many a times particularly after COVID. Frequently I come across articles and videos on depression, anxiety and mental health. As I started reading more about it and talking about it with friends and family, I realised that all of us have anxiety issues; for some of us it is a minor and for some it is a major mental health problem.

The dictionary meaning of anxiety is fear, nervousness or unease about something with an uncertain outcome. Till date, I have not come across any individual who has not experienced this kind of feeling of nervousness and unease. The only difference is in the degree of this feeling and that is the reason I say that all of us have anxiety issues.

Anxiety disorders:

Anxiety disorders differ from normal feelings of nervousness or anxiousness and involve excessive fear or tension.

Here, I want to make a point that fear is very common in all areas of life and exists in most of the people; anxiety in job performance, school or college work, personal and professional relationships, social and health etc. It becomes a disorder when this fear gets out of proportion, when this fear becomes regular and starts interrupting in daily life.

As long as these anxieties are normal feelings of nervousness and are controllable, these are usually ignored. But when these anxieties become disorders then they must not be ignored. Occasional anxiety is a normal part of life while for people with anxiety disorder, anxiety does not go away and can get worse over time.

It is very important to identify when these minor daily anxieties become disorder.

Symptoms of most types of anxieties

1. Feeling nervous, restless or tense.
2. Having difficulty in concentrating as the mind is constantly thinking of the present worry.
3. Feeling fatigued, tired or weak.
4. Having headaches, muscle aches, stomach aches or unexplained pains.
5. Feeling of trembling and increase in pulse rate.
6. Difficulty in controlling feelings of worry.

I started reading and researching about anxiety as I was suffering with it. I noticed changes in me that were not usual. My pulse rate would shoot up and I experienced unexplained pains in the body. I would feel tired, weak and unhappy.

Again I am going to make this point that these kinds of emotions are present in all people when we face an uncertain situation, but they are for short duration and manageable. It becomes an anxiety disorder only when the extent of these emotions are for long durations, recurring and uncontrollable. Therefore, it becomes very important for people to see and recognise changes that happen within them.

Sometimes, people who are facing anxiety disorders are themselves not able to acknowledge and perceive the changes that occur within them; so, people who are close to them should be alert enough. Being alert and attentive plays a very vital role in recognising mental and physical changes that happen to an individual.

How to release anxiety from our body? The following measures that I am going to highlight are based on my personal experience.

• Daily walk or exercise or just being out in nature is very important. I know that for individuals who face anxiety disorder it is easier said than done but then people who are close to them should encourage and help. Also self-awareness and self-determination to literally push oneself out of the house helps a great deal.
• Be alert and not an ignorant being: a person can feel changes in breathing pattern and pulse rate when gripped with an anxiety attack. Take deep breaths and deliberately watch funny videos that would make you laugh and feel at ease. Under an anxiety attack I realised that I had to divert my mind from that particular worry that was gripping me so I used to watch different comedy videos or movies on purpose.
• Meditation: Continuous meditation whether under anxiety spell or not helped me a lot. I would suggest even when you come out of anxiety disorder, continuing meditation for 10-15 minutes’ will benefit you a lot.
• Communication: if you are facing anxiety related issues, please talk about it with your friends and family who you think are close enough and trust worthy. If you talk to your near ones and they don’t pay any heed to it, speak again and again. The point I want to emphasise is that please communicate, do not stop talking about it, if you feel unusual changes within you.
• Visit a doctor: visiting a psychiatrist is not to be ashamed of. The way we visit a doctor for our physical illness is helpful, similarly visiting a medical practitioner for diagnosis and treatment of mental illness is helpful.

In a recent study conducted in India on why people avoid visiting a psychiatrist revealed that people see it as some kind of social taboo; they consider psychiatrists as a group who are slightly crazy themselves and visiting a psychiatrist is seen as out of the norm. Let me tell you psychiatrist are doctors who 1^st do their MBBS and then they pursue an MD in psychiatry. A full time psychologist cannot practice till the time they complete Masters in the psychology subject.

In the end, I would like to reemphasize that we all have anxiety issues, the difference is only in the degree. So be an empathetic, compassionate, considerate, alert and helpful being.

Disclaimer: information is drawn from Google, views and thoughts are purely based on personal experience. The above suggestions are general and can be followed but I am not a doctor and I do not encourage people to get treated on their own.