Let's Talk about Anxiety
I'm thankful that our society talks about mental health more now than in the past. Although some use it as a cop out to excuse their behavior and fears, it is very real to many. I've learned that it cannot be buried and forgotten. It will continue to resurface until we face it, and deal with it. Then it will continue to resurface, but we'll recognize it and know better how to live with it. I'd like to preface the rest of this article with the disclaimer that this is my personal experience and interpretation. We are all different, based on our unique bodies and experiences.
From the Mayo Clinic website: "Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often, anxiety disorders involve repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks). These feelings...are out of proportion with the actual danger and can last a long time." That proportion is the key, I think... "Out of proportion" was so well-depicted in a commercial years ago for some medication, where it first showed a person's normal point of view entering a room where there was a social gathering, then the person's distorted point of view with social anxiety, where all the people were magnified and much closer in to the person, almost like in a house of mirrors.
Briefly, my journey with anxiety began with a difficult year. With medical and psychological help, I've determined that I have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from that year. For many years, I believed that only the miscarriage we suffered was the beginning of the anxiety attacks, but about a year ago during acupuncture treatment of all things, I realized that the entire year was an avalanche of traumatic experiences. If you've done any study about how the body records and sometimes holds on to such experiences, you understand that our body can begin to respond in new circumstances when it fears or senses that something similar is happening again. Our "fight or flight" instinct kicks in, many times unnecessarily. That's the best way I can describe it. That type of response has been part of my story since 1995.
Anxiety is not the standard worry, or stress. Having anxiety doesn't mean you "can't handle" situations emotionally, it means you have a physical reaction you cannot control sometimes. Many times I'll have a normal day, then the chest pains will come and I'll have to think to figure out to what thing my body is responding. It's like my body read a circumstance one way, even though it didn't register in my mind. I know, it's weird.
For those of you who do not suffer with or understand anxiety, guess what? You don't have to get a full grasp on it. But for the love, please if you know someone who suffers, stop guessing. Just be there for your loved one or friend. You can't go wrong with these phrases: "How can I help?" "I'm so sorry you're dealing with this." "Let's pray right now." Also, a note or text with a scripture or letting them know you love them and are here for them, is always appreciated. People just need to feel seen, accepted and loved.
Here's the thing. We all have something, you know? The longer we live in this imperfect world with our imperfect bodies, the longer we will be affected. I'm not feeling sorry for myself because I understand that it's just part of being human, and we all have challenges in life. You can't look around and assume others who look perfectly healthy and put together, are in fact healthy and put together. So don't bother ranking yourself among people you know or don't know, just assume we all have stuff, and do your best to be who God made you to be and to be kind to the other people who are also doing their best. That's so simple but honestly, I don't see a lot of it on the daily.
I do know this, when you're real and honest with people, you usually get real and honest back, and an appreciation from others that you don't try to hide the ugly. Please let's put the days of the perfect facade behind us and be in this human thing together, and help each other by sharing experiences and helpful ways to cope. Life is not a competition.
Being a Christian is not a competition either. If we're all trying to jump high enough to touch the moon and my vertical leap is 4" and yours is 10", are either of us really that close to the moon? Let's not fool ourselves. Being a Christian is not about what we can do, it's about how much Jesus has already done. We don't have to touch the moon, we only have to reach his hand, and he's right beside us. So instead of expending my energy to no avail, to find ways to avoid this little thing called anxiety, I do what I can in the way of medication and self-care, and I live my life, holding on to His hand. I allow Him to guide me though this life with that challenge in my human body. Through Him I am victorious over death, so I trust that I'll be victorious over that little thing called anxiety. Then when people say, "I wouldn't have known from the outside that you have that issue," I know they are not seeing me, they are seeing Jesus. Praises!
From the Mayo Clinic website: "Experiencing occasional anxiety is a normal part of life. However, people with anxiety disorders frequently have intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations. Often, anxiety disorders involve repeated episodes of sudden feelings of intense anxiety and fear or terror that reach a peak within minutes (panic attacks). These feelings...are out of proportion with the actual danger and can last a long time." That proportion is the key, I think... "Out of proportion" was so well-depicted in a commercial years ago for some medication, where it first showed a person's normal point of view entering a room where there was a social gathering, then the person's distorted point of view with social anxiety, where all the people were magnified and much closer in to the person, almost like in a house of mirrors.
Briefly, my journey with anxiety began with a difficult year. With medical and psychological help, I've determined that I have post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from that year. For many years, I believed that only the miscarriage we suffered was the beginning of the anxiety attacks, but about a year ago during acupuncture treatment of all things, I realized that the entire year was an avalanche of traumatic experiences. If you've done any study about how the body records and sometimes holds on to such experiences, you understand that our body can begin to respond in new circumstances when it fears or senses that something similar is happening again. Our "fight or flight" instinct kicks in, many times unnecessarily. That's the best way I can describe it. That type of response has been part of my story since 1995.
Anxiety is not the standard worry, or stress. Having anxiety doesn't mean you "can't handle" situations emotionally, it means you have a physical reaction you cannot control sometimes. Many times I'll have a normal day, then the chest pains will come and I'll have to think to figure out to what thing my body is responding. It's like my body read a circumstance one way, even though it didn't register in my mind. I know, it's weird.
For those of you who do not suffer with or understand anxiety, guess what? You don't have to get a full grasp on it. But for the love, please if you know someone who suffers, stop guessing. Just be there for your loved one or friend. You can't go wrong with these phrases: "How can I help?" "I'm so sorry you're dealing with this." "Let's pray right now." Also, a note or text with a scripture or letting them know you love them and are here for them, is always appreciated. People just need to feel seen, accepted and loved.
Here's the thing. We all have something, you know? The longer we live in this imperfect world with our imperfect bodies, the longer we will be affected. I'm not feeling sorry for myself because I understand that it's just part of being human, and we all have challenges in life. You can't look around and assume others who look perfectly healthy and put together, are in fact healthy and put together. So don't bother ranking yourself among people you know or don't know, just assume we all have stuff, and do your best to be who God made you to be and to be kind to the other people who are also doing their best. That's so simple but honestly, I don't see a lot of it on the daily.
I do know this, when you're real and honest with people, you usually get real and honest back, and an appreciation from others that you don't try to hide the ugly. Please let's put the days of the perfect facade behind us and be in this human thing together, and help each other by sharing experiences and helpful ways to cope. Life is not a competition.
Being a Christian is not a competition either. If we're all trying to jump high enough to touch the moon and my vertical leap is 4" and yours is 10", are either of us really that close to the moon? Let's not fool ourselves. Being a Christian is not about what we can do, it's about how much Jesus has already done. We don't have to touch the moon, we only have to reach his hand, and he's right beside us. So instead of expending my energy to no avail, to find ways to avoid this little thing called anxiety, I do what I can in the way of medication and self-care, and I live my life, holding on to His hand. I allow Him to guide me though this life with that challenge in my human body. Through Him I am victorious over death, so I trust that I'll be victorious over that little thing called anxiety. Then when people say, "I wouldn't have known from the outside that you have that issue," I know they are not seeing me, they are seeing Jesus. Praises!
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| Photo by Juan Jose on Unsplash |
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