The Reality Of Anxiety

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the heart starts to race and beat harder and stronger through your chest.
Your palms begin to sweat and a cold chill travels throughout your body while your stomach starts to tighten and start to summersault inside. Your muscles begin to tense and you begin to shake while the mind continues to drown in worries or fears that nothing is going to be okay and bad things will happen.. This is anxiety,  and we all have it.
Anxiety is normal to an extent, it can actually help motivate people to get through tough situations and actually help achieve goals, but to others, it can be the biggest weight on your shoulders and allow you to think unclear, lasting weeks or months that end up affecting the people around you and your everyday life.
These people are not crazy, they are not overreacting, we are suffering from an anxiety disorder.

Anxiety and depression have been so locked behind a door for ages and finally, it has been surfaced and talked about. It is a serious form of mental illness and blocks the capability for some people to handle life like others. There are several different types of anxiety disorders, such as,

 

• Generalized Anxiety Disorder- when someone has unusually high levels of anxiety and worry about aspects of life and health, well-being, finances, family or work.People suffering from this disorder tend to always expect an disaster and thinking positively becomes a challange .
  
  
• Panic Disorder-    A panick attack comes suddlenly, giving someone an unexpected rush of fear that could lead to numbness, shortness of breathe, pappitations, sweating, shaking and sevre dizzyness Lasting anywhere from 1-10 minutes, Sometimes even lasting more, at wich point you should seek medical help.
  A panick disorder can also exist with agoraphobia . A strong fear  and urge to avoid being in places where escape may be difficult or embarresing, like crowds and public places.
  
  
•  Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD) – When a person has been through or witnessed a traumatic event.PTSD is one of the most common forms of Anxiety and mental illness, More than 5 Million people suffter from this disorder.. Some examples of tramutic events are war, assualt and crimes, accidents and natural disaster. A person suffering from PTSD can relive  these events  at anytime incudig in their nightmares and fflashbacks and it can be extremley harmful to their all around mental health.
  
• Social Anxiety Disorder– is when s omeone is terrified of social settings and they feel other people are always judfing them .They feel embaressed and insecure and shy even if they are the most outgoing person.Alot of people would chooose alchohal to help them through these situations  hurting their mental health even more .
  
• Separation Anxiety – Is a disorder when someone experiences high levels of anxiety from seperation of home or an individal .It is most typical in children and young teens but can travel into adulthood. These people tend to live in a fear that something bad will happen to their loved one if they leave.They will refuse to leave without the loved one or caregiver and will have a fearof being alone nad nightmares about being seperated.. Seperation anxiety is can be caused by an early stage of traumatic events like death , or can even be hereditary.
  
• Obsessive-compulsive disorccer (OCD) – is when a person has  recurring, unpleasent thoughts that turn into obessions  like thinking their hands are always dirty, or that maybe they didnt clean something properly and someone will get sick or,  As a reasult, they  tend to develop repetive and time-consuming ehaiviours that try to reduce anxiety or streess, like washing their hands hundres of times of day -which are compulsions.

 

 

Anxiety is the most common type of mental health disorder affecting roughly 3 million of Canadians .
Anxiety can be hereditary or brought on by several events, For myself, it goes back to my days as a kid, I had a slight abondonment issue and was left alone more than i can remeber.
I did not like to be around kids my age and would always be found lingering around the grown ups .
At 9 years old I found out my dad was not pursay my dad and my life went into a complete utter spiral, i felt i could trust no one  and that my whole life i was lied to.
Everything was tense around the house, night after night another fight would break out and it was time for me and my mom to go.
At this time i was still very angry and refused to call my dad, dad . I told him horrible things that completey broke his heart and left him with his whole world crashing down aswell .
I honestly had no idea what do anymore and started experiencing with drugs and alchohal at the  early age of 11. No one knew. No one. Not until i was about 13 or 14 maybe, and by then i was in deep. I was a heavy smoker of both weed and cigarettes, i drank heavy amounts of liqour , consumed handfuls of mixed drugs, only killing the few healthy brain cells I had left. I later gained a bond back with my dad, and we became the best of friends, I would go back and forth from my grandparents to my dads throughout the next few years.I would later go through 3 traumatic deaths that left me in a very lost state of my life, the drugs and alcohol increased and I only hurt myself more.
 I hold little bits of each disorder and when I have a severe anxiety attack, there is no thinking positive, there is no thinking clear, everything is overwhelming and slightly overreacted. I refuse to take Chemical medications, as I have taken several in the past years of trying to get better, I only find they make me much worse. Only in the past year, i have been finding that eating and living a healthy lifestyle is the most natural medication I can give myself.

When I take care of myself,  truly love myself, I am on top of the world, but no sugar coating here, I have not been doing so well lately, When you lose yourself, it can take you backward and put you in a circle that takes a lot of work to get out of. I got to full in myself that I was doing ok.However, I am extremely sensitive and when I listen to other people and not myself I tend to spiral, same with when putting everything and everyone before yourself. One should never, ever, put anything ahead of them, we are the most important person on this planet and can not  love or help anyone if one is not healthy.
I was getting more panic attacks than normal, lasting longer than normal, life was getting extremely hard to go on with, I just wanted to barricade myself and sunk into a depression and was not as strong as I could be. It was time to take charge . AGAIN.

Once panic attacks take over your life, you need to step up and take charge, Take a look at your life and what needs to change and improve. We are meant to live happily and if such is not happening, something is not wrong.

How do you know you’re having a panic attack though?

For me, it’s obvious, but to anyone just discovering they may be going through this it can be scary and confusing, for me I start to feel the following :

• I start to feel as if  something terrible will happen
• I’m having trouble breathing or catching my breath
• My heart starts to race and beat through my chest
• My body/hands begin to vibrate and shake
• I’m breaking out into sweats
• I feel lightheaded or dizzy
• I have goosebumps and chills all over
• I feel a tingling in my hands and feet
• I feel disconnected from reality
• I feel nauseous and numb

What can you do about anxiety disorder

• Counselling: Since 15 to about 23 I had my share of counselors, I did benefit from a special form of counseling called cognitive-behavioral therapy or CBT. A CBT is a  mental health professional trained to help us work through any thoughts, emotions, behaviors and triggers contributing to the anxiety problem. They can also teach you coping skills.
• Medication: Anti-anxiety medications can be used in combination with counseling to reduce your body’s response to anxiety. As I have said these where not my choice of help, but doesn’t mean they wouldn’t work for you. Everyone works differently.
• Support groups: You are not alone. Anxiety disorder support groups are a great way to share your experiences and learn from the experiences of others.
• Self-help: A Few things you can do and I do on my own to help me feeling better are, Regular exercise, healthy eating, Spending time outdoors, With loved ones, keeping a spiritual mind and monitoring the use of alcohol

A treatment for these is different for everyone, its best to talk to a doctor to work together to find ways to prevent and treat these symptoms.
Instead of judging the next person acting “weird” around you, please stop and access the situation, ask the person if they are ok or need help. We all need to start working together more, as we are what the future and this planet count on.

Keep your head up high.
XoXo CB