Anxiety, a mental health issue!

[Keep going]

From my point of view i don't think it is, we need anxiety to function e.g. go to work, drive etc. Even bad can be good, like protecting ourselfs. What do you think?

Stu:huh:

[nomorepanic]

Everyone needs anxiety in their life or they wouldn't react to anything at all and would be in danger.

If we didn't fear things that were dangerous we would take too many risks!

However, us sufferers take things to the extreme and are on constant red alert with anxiety so we suffer!

So I think it is a mental health issue even though I hate the word mental!

[Keep going]

Yeah, same here Nicola. The word "mental" is'nt the best word. Also has a stigma attached to it.

Stuart:)

[Tom_M]

I never use the word 'mental', instead I like to say a person is suffering from an emotional problem. With regards to anxiety. Anxiety is a protective mechanism that we all have to keep us safe. If we didn't have anxiety then I don't think we would last that long, seeing the number of times we all have to cross roads as part of of our daily life.

The main reason that anxiety and panic as become a big problem with people, is that society as advanced much quicker than the human mind as had time to adapt to it. We really are living in an artificial environment, where our minds sometimes can't cope with the changes of modern life. You just have to look at these tribes in New Guinea or South America where emotional problems just don't exist. It's mainly a problem efecting modern western societies.

[michellemumof4]

Ok you got me I too HATE the word mental as most of the people I work with will confirm , this is HOW i explain it to people

Anxiety is a PHYSICAL illness that effects our emotions and the only reason it is labelled under the mental health label is because it effects HOW we feel ,
ie it effects our moods .

I was told this by a Phsyciatrist once and it works for me lmao

[MissChampers]

I never use the word 'mental', instead I like to say a person is suffering from an emotional problem. With regards to anxiety. Anxiety is a protective mechanism that we all have to keep us safe. If we didn't have anxiety then I don't think we would last that long, seeing the number of times we all have to cross roads as part of of our daily life.

The main reason that anxiety and panic as become a big problem with people, is that society as advanced much quicker than the human mind as had time to adapt to it. We really are living in an artificial environment, where our minds sometimes can't cope with the changes of modern life. You just have to look at these tribes in New Guinea or South America where emotional problems just don't exist. It's mainly a problem efecting modern western societies.

Yes you've hit the nail on the head! We live in a society where we have huge pressure to be perfect and have everything then if you don't you're made to feel useless. I know I wish I lived in a tribe where life is much less demanding lol.

[littlemiss_sunshine]

i also dont think its a mental health issue, i hate this type of stigma used in our society. thats probably why i was so scared in case anyone found out at uni. funnily enough, i thought i was gunna go mental when the attack happened. but u soon enough realise that noones perfect. everyones different/unique.:hugs:

[shoegal]

Well my Dad's friend is one of the UK'S leading anxiety specialists and he told my Dad that anxiety is not a mental condition. It is an inbalance of chemicals that are released by the body and has nothing to do with the mind. Unfortunately, we get distressed by the unpleasant symptoms and may learn to associate places etc with the attacks, but the anxiety itself is a physical condition.

shoegal :)

[mat74]

I think a lot of it is psychological but NOT mental. Only had anxiety/panic for around 6 weeks now (when I had my first attack) and I admit I am more comfortable being alone at home than at work around people (like now) so definately a social/psychological problem in my opinion. We can all beat it, thats what I keep telling myself anyway!

[Bill]

These are only my thoughts and I'm sorry for rambling but I would be interested in what others think.

I’ve suffered from anxiety in various forms all my life, even from the pram it seems as my mother said I’d always scream if she wasn’t in sight.
I read the post asking “Anxiety-a mental health issue?” In a way I guess it is because it creates physical symptoms as a virus would so it inhibits us from functioning as we’d like. However, virus symptoms are present all of the time until the virus has run it’s course so if anxiety were an illness, why should we not suffer symptoms when we’re enjoying ourselves, engrossed in something or chilling out?
I do feel we suffer general anxiety because it is in our makeup i.e. in our genes, and so we worry excessively but in other types of anxiety I think it could develop from trauma whether from our upbringing or an event in adulthood.
I think to say anxiety is an illness would be like saying an ultra confident person is extremely well. Also anxiety symptoms such as panic attacks are often only brought on by a particular situation. For instance a person could be terrified of a spider but not of a cream cake unless they’re on a diet! Lol
I’ve also tried most anti-depressants but none have ever had any lasting effect so it would seem to me that although anxiety is in our genes, it is not a biological illness as such. For instance some people suffer depression without any obvious cause and so react well to anti-depressants whereas depression in others is brought on by outside influences such as their environment. However, I do think that in some cases anti-depressants can ease anxiety symptoms but I don’t feel they tackle the main causes to our anxiety just as we take painkillers for virus symptoms.
In my opinion anxiety is excessive worry caused by fear and we become afraid of experiencing fear (fear of fear) i.e. our anxiety symptoms but in reality they won’t actually harm us. Anxiety loves to bully us so it loves us to react to it because it gets it’s enjoyment by watching us suffer. Therefore if we try to resist or react to it, we’re acknowledging it by fighting it and so the more it bullies us. For instance, if someone is afraid of a situation or an object they’ll panic wanting to get away from it. The more they panic, the more the symptoms take hold and so experience panic attacks because they are fighting the fear they’re experiencing. Once they are away from the situation, the fear subsides and so do the symptoms. However, we wouldn’t be afraid of relaxing listening to music or normally of a cream cake and that’s how I think we need to treat fear so I believe the key is to remain calm and relaxed by not reacting and instead learning to allow the fear to go through us in the knowledge that what we are experiencing won’t harm us and so there’s nothing to be afraid of.
I think the mind is very powerful so even subconscious thoughts can bring on anxiety but if we learn to reprogram the mind then we can re-gain control of our thought patterns.
I also believe that absolutely anyone can experience a trauma; however confident they are, and placed in that same situation will create fear for them. Once we allow ourselves to experience our fear and so re-build our confidence to prove to ourselves it won’t actually harm us then we become no longer afraid and so don’t experience the symptoms that make us feel that we have an illness.
What is “normal” anyway? I think we all have a weakness and our weakness is irrational fear because of our genetic makeup or due to a trauma but I do feel in both instances the fear can be overcome with willpower and determination.
I haven’t yet overcome all my anxieties but I no longer suffer panic attacks and I am learning how to cope without medication so that I’m able to do what I need to.
These are only my opinions but I don’t regard myself as suffering an illness. I’m just sensitive, insecure and a worrier due to my lack of confidence in my own abilities!!!

[PUGLETMUM]

:D i think this is a really helpful thread, because there are people on here who do class themselves as being'ill' and i really dont agree so sometimes find it hard to communicate with them.(my problem!)

i think until youve properly come to understand anxiety you may believe you are ill because you want to think that something other than yourself is causing your problems? this is why people keep going back to their gprepeatedly to try to find something wrong with them to explain why they are feeling soooo bad!

like everyone else who has commented on this thread i 'know' that anxiety is not a mental illness (even if sometimes you feel as though you are indeed going mad! nobody ever went madfromanxiety!!), but the constant lack of balance in the body caused by too much adrenaline and cortisol etc plus the fact that a great many of us will be breathing incorrectly most of the time,and BANG you are going to feel 'ill' for a great part of your day, week,month, year, life!!!! so like my lovely therapist says all we do is 'worry ourselves sick' and for me this is the only explanation i need.

the tricky part is finding the best ways to reverse this habit of worry, that mayhave been present for many many years and like bill said for some people it feels as though it has been present since they were born!!! (myself included, my mumtoldme the exact same thing!!!)

buttheexperts know that it can be reversed and you can enjoy your life,my therapist likened it to walking through a field of corn on the same path every day-you wear down a path? and then when you try to walk away from that well worn path you feel anxious and ill at ease with yourself, this is why we give up trying to reverse our ways because it is sooooo very hard!!! but if we allow ourselves this knowledge and treat ourselves with the respect and kindness we seem to reserve for everyone else!! (whether they deserve it or not!) then we can continue to try to reverse this way of thinking so that our lives can be fuller,happier and calmer than they are now.

best wishes to all:hugs:

[Bill]

Emmas,
I meant to reply to your post sooner! I agree with all you say. It sounds like you've got a good therapist.
As you say, it's the symptoms that make us feel we've got an illness so we look for things to treat the symptoms which distract from the underlying cause (the way our mind is thinking) but until the underlying cause is treated, the symptoms will keep making us feel ill.

This leads me on to another way of explaining it. How many of us would regard ourselves as being "sensitive"? I feel our sensitivity makes us more prone to hurt. When we hurt we become tense and tension causes worry leading to anxiety and then our symptoms start.

If then to add to that mixture you add a lack of confidence, you then don't feel able to tackle hurt or stray from the "safety path" we've created for ourselves.

So how do we break the cycle? Build confidence by proving to ourselves there's nothing to fear by straying from our safety path and in so doing reduce sensitivity through exposure to the things we're afraid of. Our fear and tension will be eased so we'll be more relaxed, and we won't feel ill! That's what's worked for me in the past.

One last thing. Sometimes we store our anger/frustration through traumas and they also cause us anxiety symptoms and depression and so sometimes they can only be released through talking a therapist who can show how to deal with those feelings.

They're my thoughts anyway.:shrug: