Over 40 million Americans have anxiety disorders, making them the most common mental illness in the United States. Anxiety disorders are easily treatable, yet many people remain untreated. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder, and I believe most people remain untreated because they either are not educated about treatments or ignore their anxiety. Luckily, I have a father who suffers from GAD, and he has educated and helped me through my roughest moments. However, he had to figure out everything he has taught me for himself because no one informed him about GAD or gave him any resources to help battle it. Anxiety disorders, along with many other mental illnesses, are not given the awareness they deserve because they are largely invisible.
- How to be supportive of someone with an anxiety disorder
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Sometimes, I feel like it is helpful to talk about what not to do. First and foremost, it takes a lot of courage for someone to tell you that they are struggling with anxiety or any mental illness. From experience, I can tell you some of the worst things to say to someone when they decide to share that very private piece of information with you. The first time I told someone outside of my family that I have GAD, they said, and I quote, “Yeah right; you are way too happy to have anxiety. Do you even cry?” Mental illnesses have “mental” in the name for a reason; most times, you don’t know if someone is dealing with something serious from the outside. So please do not respond that way if someone chooses to tell you about that part of their life. It is a very difficult thing to do and they are putting lots of trust in you by telling you. The best course of action is to let them know that you’re there for them and you’re glad they trusted you enough to confide in you.
Another thing to keep in mind is that anxiety can present itself in different ways. For example, I don’t always have a specific reason as to why I’m feeling anxious. Randomly, about three times a day, I’ll have heart palpitations, shortness of breath, chest pain, and headaches. All of these symptoms aren’t visible, so many times, I need to announce to the people around me that I’m feeling anxious and need to step out.
Just because someone seems fine on the outside, do not assume that they are. My anxiety leads to more physical symptoms because I worry about the initial ones being more than just a reaction of being anxious and stressed. For example, if I’m having chest pain as a result of anxiety, I’ll immediately think it is something serious when in reality it’s all in my head.
- Resources
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I can’t imagine how tough it is to not have a support system when battling anxiety. If you don’t have people around you to help out, having a list of resources you can consult will come in handy. The most important thing to do when you have anxiety is to breathe. Taking several moments throughout the day to drop everything you’re doing and breathe is incredibly important. Also, there are many apps that help you to do this. I use an app called MyLife. MyLife makes you breathe for 10 seconds, has you pick five emotions that you’re feeling, and then provides you with audios based on how you are feeling. I find this app incredibly good at helping me stabilize my anxiety throughout the day and fall asleep at night. Calm is another great app for anxiety. I don’t use it myself, but I have heard great things from a few of my friends. Calm allows you to listen to audios from a variety of celebrities, so if you have a strong desire to have Harry Styles rid you of your anxiety, this may be the app for you.
Outside of media resources, I strongly encourage you to talk to the people close to you or a therapist about how you’re feeling. Doing so rapidly decreases the stress in your body and takes some of the weight off your shoulders. I would recommend trying to talk to family members first, but I do realize that this can be very tough for some people. Definitely reach out to your closest friends if you feel up to it, and you just may find that they are dealing with similar things and are searching for someone to share them with.
You are so strong. Although anxiety isn’t something you can get rid of completely, it is most definitely something you can manage.