How I overcame my anxiety


In this article, I will describe my tussle with anxiety disorder and how I overcame it. I will also explain what exactly anxiety is and what to do if someone is going through it. I have also explained whether to use tranquilizers or not.

About Anxiety

"Anxiety is a normal and often healthy emotion characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil, often accompanied by nervous behavior such as pacing back and forth and rumination" (as mentioned at www.wikipedia.org). However, when a person regularly feels disproportionate levels of anxiety, it might become a medical disorder. Anxiety disorders form a category of mental health diagnoses that lead to excessive nervousness, fear, apprehension, and worry. These disorders alter a person's emotion and also causes physical symptoms.

There are six types of anxiety disorders
  • Separation Anxiety Disorder
  • Specific Phobia
  • Social Anxiety Disorder
  • Panic Disorder
  • Agoraphobia
  • Generalized Anxiety Disorder
Symptoms of anxiety are
  • Restlessness
  • Racing thoughts or unwanted thoughts
  • Feeling of impending doom
  • Palpitations and chest pain

My Experience

In September 2017, my maternal grandmother passed away, and when I was at her funeral standing in front of her body I was witnessing the eternal truth of life. At that very moment of torment, I felt a deep stabbing pain in my chest and numbness in my body. I thought it is the end for me too, but the pain vanished after some time and I was normal. Bur this normalcy was not for too long. That moment had a deep impact on me and my thought process. From then I had a constant feeling of uncertainty in my mind, a feeling that my life is too short and it could end anytime.

After some days that very pain returned, but this time I committed the mistake of Googling it, which triggered what was going to be the most miserable phase of my life. When I googled my symptoms the result came out to be Mitral Valve Prolapse and it also showed that this problem happens in teenagers and with those who have lost their loved ones. And, that was my case too. This cemented my belief that my end is near. This fear of dying hindered my daily activities and it pushed me into shut down mode. I was so scared that I even missed my 10th pre-Boards just because I was scared that I didn't want to die away from my parents. Whenever I felt that pain I was getting deeper in that mode. This didn't stop here. I then started experiencing palpitations, this made the condition worse. Those sounds of palpitations took away my sleep and there were many sleepless nights. I was drowning deeper in that fear, despair, and desolation. After bearing this agony for one and a half months I consulted a doctor. The doc said that it is nothing serious but I insisted him to prescribe me to do my Echocardiogram. At first, he rejected the suggestion, but when my symptoms didn't ease away he did my echo. The echo report was normal and after that, my pain seemed to be gone but actually, it was that fear of having a heart problem was gone. The doctor explained to me that there is nothing to worry and he gave me some tranquilizers. But I never consumed any because I never required it. From then onward whenever I felt that pain I calmed myself down and remind myself that its nothing serious, and gradually I overcame the fear, the despair and finally came out stronger than before. I have understood that death is not something to be scared of and is inevitable.

My Suggestion

If you are diagnosed with an anxiety disorder then don't worry, you're not alone. There are more than 10 million such cases per year in India only. There are some tips from my side that could help you in this battle but you have to fight it on your own.
  • If you are experiencing any change in your body even the slightest one, convey it to your parents or someone you trust the most.
  • Consult the doctor as soon as possible because the more you evade it, more difficult it will become to get out of it.
  • When you'll be diagnosed with anxiety the doctors will prescribe you the tranquilizers. But I suggest not to consume it until the symptoms are unmanageable because tranquilizers slow down your brain and it has other repercussions too.
  • Whenever your body manifest any symptom try to relax and calm down yourself and take deep breaths as this will bring your racing heart down.

And remember this quote: Anything that doesn't kill you makes you stronger.


Comments

Author: Umesh15 Dec 2020 Member Level: Platinum   Points : 4

Before posting my comment I would take the liberty to appreciate the efforts of the author to write on a difficult subject. I wish him to continue his good work in this portal and wish him all the best.

Anxiety is a natural reflex in human beings and is a consequence of higher consciousness about things. Humans have a great capability to foresee things and understand the implications and results of many of the activities and efforts and only from that assimilated knowledge and observations the anxiety takes birth. So, to some extent anxiety has a positive side because it keeps us alert to do things in a right perspective to avoid the anxiety at a later time. At the same time increased anxiety levels make us mentally weak and we start feeling fear and apprehensions even in taking normal routine decisions as our mind will always be having a retarding phenomenon invoked by the increased anxiety levels on us. Hence, though there are no easy solutions to subdue the anxiety pangs and eradicate them from our lives we can make some efforts in calming down them with control on our activities by better planning and substantial homework. Complete remission from anxiety is not possible and some residual amount will always be there in our minds.

Author: Swati Sharma25 Dec 2020 Member Level: Gold   Points : 6

The author provided valuable content in this article. There are certain situations in life when even a strong- hearted person becomes anxious and fearful. This is bound to happen for a short time in difficult situations, but when a person has a habit of always living in anxiety or fear, then later this mood can change into a serious problem like anxiety disorder.

I would like to add some suggestions for these types of problems are -
- Do regular exercise/ yoga. Meditation is also beneficial to avoid this problem. Set the priority of tasks.

- If you are ever angry about something, make a habit of facing it. Never try to avoid it, because the more the person tries to avoid such a mood, the faster the problem increases. Try to solve such problems by dividing them into small pieces. It is not possible to solve them in a single day. So try with patience.

- Daily, before going to sleep, write in your diary in detail what worries or fears have troubled you the most throughout the day and what has been done on your part to overcome it, try to convince yourself logically that this apprehension is unfounded.

- Stay away from caffeine and alcohol, because consumption of such things increases anxiety.

Even after these efforts, if there is no improvement in mood, then you should consult a psychological counsellor or a psychiatrist for treatment.



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