What is Anxiety?
Whilst everyone has worries from time to time, there is a distinct difference between those worries and an Anxiety Disorder. Anxiety sufferers find it much more difficult to control their worries and fears and these feelings can take over people's lives. Anxiety is an umbrella term for several disorders. These include; GAD or Generalised Anxiety Order, SAD or Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
How Do You Develop Anxiety?
How Anxiety is developed varies from person, as it can be triggered by anything. Because there is no definitive trigger, we asked three of our co-workers at Rookie who suffer from Anxiety about their experiences with the disorder.
Rookie Worker #1 - I was bullied a lot in high school and gradually found it more and more difficult to be around people who caused me pain. Overtime I withdrew into myself and somewhere along those lines, my Anxiety began. There was never a definitive point. I never woke up one morning with the disorder. It slowly developed from normal nerves and anxieties and built into something much worse.
Rookie Worker #2 - When I was 12 I was very ill. For about a month, I was isolated in my own room, unable to go out or go to school. Before this, I'd never had any issues. Then suddenly after recovering, I could no longer deal with people and the outside world.
Rookie Worker #3 - I've always been an nervous person. As a child I worried far too much and was branded with the SHY label by teachers. Then as I got older the worrying just seemed to spiral out of control. By the time I was 17, I overthought everything, I constantly live in the What If universe. The fact is that because I was like this as a child and didn't really snap out of it, the progression into full Anxiety was natural.
What Does a Panic Attack Feel Like?
A panic attack feels like you're drowning, and whilst you're trying your best to get air, resurfacing and thinking rationally, you can't help but be pulled under by a stormy tide - or the growing anxieties. Sometime you might be sick or get too hot, other times people just cry a lot and feel unnaturally alarmed. After a panic attack has ended, you can feel exposed - like everything that you've bottled has just exploded and you are now left with the remains of that metaphorically scattered around you. It's truly horrible.
What Does Anxiety Feel Like?
Again, Anxiety feels different from person to person, but the overwhelming feeling is paranoia. Everything seems magnified - sounds, smells, emotions. Amplification. Basically, everything feels a lot worse than it probably is, but when your head is clouded by Anxiety, there's no way of seeing things as they are. Most people get nervous from time to time, but with an Anxiety disorder, this is a PERMANENT feature of your life. You can be happy and having a wonderful time - but that happiness will still be diluted by the overwhelming sense of concern and worry that fills your brain.
Is There Any Treatment or Help for Anxiety Sufferers?
Sadly there is no specific cure for Anxiety. It isn't something that just goes away but instead needs to be consistently worked on. Many sufferers take medication, or have therapy sessions such Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. For more information and help, check out the NHS website HERE.
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