What is Anxiety?

“Mental Health” and “Mental Illness” are increasingly being referred to as the same thing; however, they certainly are not.

What is Anxiety

Everyone has mental health just like everyone has health. Mental illness is something not everyone has, it is an illness that affects the way people think, behave or interact with others, for our daughter mental illness is Anxiety. More recently her mental illness has included potential depression.

For our daughter, her mental illness is Anxiety. This is something everyone suffers's from, too some degree such as one may be ANXIOUS before an exam, presentation or a party, this emotion is normal. When we become anxious, it triggers our “fight – flight – freeze” response and gets our body ready to protect itself; however, for someone with Anxiety, this emotion is felt often and at a more drastic level.

For someone without Anxiety, anxiousness can be managed and understood. However, for those who have anxiety, it is harder to articulate and to manage those extreme emotions.

So what exactly is anxiety?

Anxiety disorders are a group of mental disorders characterized by significant feelings of heightened worrying and fear; i.e., about the future, current events and situations. Anxiety is a constant overwhelming feeling that enables you to carry on with everyday life.

There are many kinds of Anxiety one can suffer from, for example, our daughter has been diagnosed with Social Anxiety, Generalized Anxiety and Unspecified Anxiety disorder in the background of Cluster B Traits.

Social Anxiety – Involves intense fear of being negatively viewed by others or embarrassed which leads them to avoid all social situations. This can intrude on everyday situations such as school, work, activities, and life in general.

In regards to our daughter, she feels extremely self-conscious about how others will judge and perceive her. This leads to constant worrying that becomes overwhelming as it occurs in both public and private situations. Her anxiety manifests in such a way that even situations with people she's comfortable with can suddenly become overwhelming. This will lead her to fixate on these negative emotions which will consume her thoughts and intensify her anxiety which is also known as "the Spiral effect."

Generalized anxiety – Unrealistic worry and stress with little or no reason what so ever, in regards to multiple smaller everyday problems that lasts for periods exceeding six months. This form of anxiety is often accompanied by physical symptoms including; stomach aches, being physically ill and sleep problems.

Although this is a very general definition of the disorder, this sums up perfectly what our daughter suffers from.

Unspecified Anxiety Disorder in the background of Cluster B Traits -

Unspecified refers to anxiety-like symptoms that cause distress and impaired functioning but are not linked to a specific Anxiety Disorder.

Cluster B Traits - Include but are not limited too, unpredictable thinking, behaviour or interactions with others, and being overly emotional or dramatic. They are often accompanied with the following cluster B personality disorders which can include but not limited too; Borderline personality disorder, Narcissistic Personality disorder, and Antisocial personality disorder.

Someone who suffers from Cluster B traits/personality disorders does not by any means have to suffer from all of them, for example, our daughter suffers only from possible mild Borderline personality disorder which for her are accompanied by overwhelming emotional, unpredictable thinking and behaviour. Her diagnosis has changed multiple times as she's grown up and is currently un-specified until she's older.

Regardless of the anxiety disorder, physical symptoms can be and certainly not limited to:

+ Panic and overwhelming fear

+ Restlessness/Uneasiness

+ Sleep (lack of it at times and then hours at a time)

+ Not being able to stay calm

+ Not being able to sit still – tapping feet, legs bouncing up and down, wringing of the hands.

+ Mood swings –short tempered

+ Nausea

+ Stomach aches

These symptoms apply to our daughter but are limitless as every person will experience Anxiety symptoms individual to them.

So how do you manage Anxiety?

This is an open-ended question as everyone is entirely different and what works for one person does not necessarily work for someone else. Here are some key helpful strategies that can help any person who is experiencing anxiety……or at least those of which have worked for us.!!

#sohowdowemanageanxiety