Coming from personal experience, brain-based illnesses are largely treated as invalid. To come out as anxious, or mentally ill in general, is seen as the equivalent of weakness in society.
Far too often, someone unaffected by anxiety will smirk and proclaim that the anxiety is only “in their head.” But that’s exactly it. To say that the anxiety is “in one’s head” is one hundred percent correct, which is both the point and where the problem lies.
To have the nerve to tell someone that they are delusional or imagining their sickness is ignorance. Imagine what would happen if you went up to someone with a broken arm, pointed at the cast, and stated that the injury was not real. I highly doubt that the reaction would be agreeable. Why is anxiety disorder treated any differently?
The brain is one of our most vital organs, but when it falls ill, the sickness is deemed invalid. Anxiety is only one of the many illnesses being cruelly harnessed in the mind, yet is one of the most stigmatized. Five myths in particular demonstrate the need to erase the stigma.
1.) An anxious individual can “calm down.”
One of the most common myths is that an anxious person can calm down on command. Telling someone suffering from anxiety to calm down is implying that they are choosing to be anxious, and that they have the ability to flip a switch in their brains and enter a mode of tranquility on command. If only it were that simple. Moreover, realize that telling an anxious person to calm down is counter effective. If you really want to help, listen. Rub their back. Reassure them to the best of your capability. But don’t tell an anxious person to calm down. It won’t help, and will result in more anxiety.
2.) An anxious person is being overly dramatic.
I’m sorry, is a person suffering from the stomach flu being overly dramatic? The effects of these illnesses are legitimate, just different body parts being affected.
Believe me when I say that the last thing an anxious person wants is to burden another person. They are not being overly dramatic, but terrified of their own mind and its capability to wreck them. All an anxious person wants is someone to talk to or, on the extreme side, not talk at all and bottle up the anxiety.
Due to this, it should not come as a shock that if anxiety is bottled up, it must spill out of the brain bottle at some point. Show compassion. Listen, rather than roll your eyes. If someone with anxiety is confiding in you, feel honored that they trust you enough to tell you their problems and do everything in your power to help.
3.) Generalized anxiety disorder isn’t “that bad”
There are multiple forms of anxiety disorders: social anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). For whatever reason, many people seem to view GAD as less detrimental to one’s wellbeing than other anxiety disorders.
Spoiler alert: generalized anxiety disorder is real. Those suffering from it do not want pity, however kindness and attempts to help are never overlooked. It is no picnic to be on edge twenty four seven. In what world is that not “that bad”?
4.) Social Anxiety is the equivalent of shyness.
While the saying “painfully shy” can apply in some cases, there is a noticeable difference between social anxiety and simply being shy. Coming from someone who has had firsthand experience with both shyness and social anxiety, one major difference between the two is that social anxiety is physically painful.
Bashfulness and coy eyelash fluttering aside, social anxiety involves sweating, a racing heartbeat, and a fear of interactions with others.
It can make an extroverted-dominated world a horror to live in at times when in full-effect. Common aspects of life such as calculating change while paying for groceries, feeling as if everyone is staring at you, and obsessing over what and when to say everything take a tole on one’s psyche. That is not shyness: it’s debilitating.
5.) Anxiety can be cured.
This is the cruelest myth of the five. For the past few years, various media sources have been instilling false hope for those suffering from anxiety disorders, by writing about supposed cures for the illness.
While anxiety medication, meditation, journaling and therapy can certainly help to an extent, it is a lie to say that they are cures. Anxiety is treatable, but it is not curable. There are instances where the anxiety is not as severe or even gone for a while, however it can never actually “go away”, so to speak.
Anxiety is a lifelong battle that can be managed with treatments. On a less pessimistic note, there have been numerous success stories of people who function daily and live life to its fullest capacity with treatments and the support of loved ones.
Surrounded by myths, anxiety disorders are largely misunderstood. The brain is one of our most essential organs, and cannot afford to be tossed under the radar any longer. It is time to start talking. It is time to start making conscientious efforts to help those affected by anxiety. It is time to erase the stigma.