Anxiety Disorders
You Are Not Alone
About one in 10 people in the UK are affected by severe anxiety. Although it is more common than most people may think, anxiety suffers often feel like they are alone and that no one understands how they feel. This feeling of isolation can further increase feelings of anxiety and compound an already stressful situation. Anxiety suffers may often beat themselves up and can have a low opinion of themselves. They may wish they could ‘just get over it’ like everyone seems to be telling them to, but when they are unable to break free from the chain of anxiety, they can often feel guilty that they have let everyone down. This again can add to the sufferer's ever growing spiral of despair and frustration, as they battle to overcome the prisons of their own minds and yet many remain hopelessly trapped.
Different Types of Anxiety Disorders
- Panic Disorders
- Social Phobia
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Agoraphobia
- General Anxiety Disorder
- Phobias
- Social Phobia
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
- Body Dysmorphic Disorder
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
- Agoraphobia
- General Anxiety Disorder
- Phobias
Anxiety Disorder Or Just Normal Worry?
Everyone worries and gets anxious at times, it’s a normal part of life. But it is when the worrying and anxiety spirals out of control and takes over a person's mind and life, often to the point where they can no longer function normally, - it is no longer ‘just worry’ - but it has become a serious and debilitating condition.
For people who have never personally experienced an anxiety disorder, it may be very difficult to understand how the condition can affect someone so severely. It may seem like people with anxiety are ‘over reacting’ ‘being weak’ or they just need to ‘take a chill pill.’ But in actual fact, anxiety disorders are extremely debilitating conditions and have the potential to tear apart and destroy someone’s life. Anxiety can be so overwhelming that it can literally paralyse the sufferer and hinder them from simply getting through the day. Its a real illness... which like any other illnesses can have a severe impact on a sufferer’s day to day life.
Just like a physical disease can cripple a person, a mental illness can cripple a person’s mind, to such an extent that it can drastically incapacitate a person and stop them from living a normal life that many other people may simply take for granted.
Personal Stories
“Everyday felt like hell. Each night before I fell asleep, I would pray that I wouldn’t wake up the next morning… the thought of having to get through yet another day in my miserable and pathetic existence of a life was destroying me and I had lost the will to live. I felt like I was merely existing… a shell of myself, and I could see no way out” (Anonymous)
“Anxiety was destroying my life. I couldn’t believe how much it had taken over. I didn’t feel myself, nor was I acting like myself. I was so aware and conscious that I was acting strangely around people, but couldn’t stop it, and this only made me feel even more anxious and worse. I couldn’t even look at my close family and friends in the eye, and would make excuses to escape social situations to hide away on my own. But even by myself, I was unable to find any rest or peace for my mind and I felt like there would never be any real escape or rest for me” (Anonymous)
“My heart was racing like crazy, it felt like it was about to burst out of my chest at any moment. I couldn’t breathe and I was so scared that I was either about to have a heart attack or keel over on the spot. I felt like a freak. Everyone else seemed so normal and happy… why was this happening to me and why couldn’t I seem to control it? I wished that it would all just go away…” (Anonymous)
“I knew it didn’t make any sense to feel so afraid and anxious of something so small and insignificant…but try as I might, I just couldn’t stop it. I felt like everyone was laughing at me behind my back and I so badly wanted to change, but didn’t know how” (Anonymous)
“I didn’t understand what was happening to me… I used to be so confident, happy and full of life… but now I couldn’t even bear to face the day. I had become a shadow of my former self and as much as I fought to get rid of the ugly, crushing, heavy feelings that consumed me day and night, they just wouldn’t go away. Day after day was a struggle… it felt like my whole world was crashing down around me, and I was powerless to stop it. It was like I wasn’t in control of my mind or body anymore. It wouldn’t do anything I wanted it to do. It was like somehow my mind had a mind of its own… thinking thoughts I didn’t want to think and feeling things I didn’t want to feel. I felt like I was going crazy and that no one in the world could understand how I felt. I didn’t know where to turn or what to do” - (Anonymous)
“ I’ve been suffering from depression and anxiety for many years and felt like there was no future left for me. All I could see was never ending pain and I wished each day would be my last. I felt like I was ‘merely existing’, going through all the motions, trying to look normal on the outside, when really what was going inside was hell. I could see no escape except to end it all. But as much as I didn’t want to live… I was also too afraid to die. What would happen to me after? Would my family be ok... I felt trapped, unable to die, yet unable to live…” (Anonymous)
There is Hope
Anxiety disorders are incredibly difficult conditions to live with, but with the right support and help, you can learn to manage your condition and still live a rewarding and fulfilling life.
I hope this website will help you in some way along your journey of dealing with mental illness and I hope that by sharing our knowledge and experiences we can help one another in the unique way that only survivors of mental illnesses can.