Severe Anxiety Disorder and Tips for Coping day-to-day

A powerful story by one of our readers. Thank you for sharing your story and tips Daniel.

My Experience of living with a Severe Anxiety Disorder and Tips for Coping day-to-day

In 2010 I graduated college after four years, this should have been a time of celebration and looking forward to my future but unfortunately I had completely burnt out from all the stress and worry. One night before my last exam panic set in and I started sobbing uncontrollable… I literally could not stop… looking back on it now it was my way of releasing the sorrow that had been building up inside of me… my parents had separated three years previously and an ongoing court battle was taking place, my gran (one of the people closest to me) had also died around the same time, all this and with anxiety over my exams, I cracked at the last hurdle but even though I had had somewhat of a breakdown, I still managed to sit my last exam but went home a changed person. I felt completely deflated and my happy go lucky personality had gone leaving me with a feeling of hollowness and dread.

Looking back on it now I wish I had gone easy on myself and gave myself credit for all I’d been through but instead I worried about what results I’d get in my final exams and I felt so awkward and unsociable that I started to descend into a black hole. Being just 22 at the time I did not realise that these persisting negative and fearful thoughts were actually a mental disorder in full swing and not just feelings that would go away over time. I had reached a point where I realised that crying and not leaving the house in fear that I’d have a panic attack were not going to achieve anything and so I contacted my doctor, he diagnosed me with severe anxiety disorder and prescribed medication. The medication did not suit me and so I started attending psychotherapy regularly.

After three years in therapy, I’ve learnt a great deal about the disorder that I have and I’ve learnt how to get my head around the fact that life has dealt me a difficult hand but that it’s my choice as to how I live my life and that even though I face challenges everyday with my disorder, I’m safe in the knowledge that I have the tools to enable me to cope and be well and live a happy life.

My Tips for Coping with Anxiety disorders:

Remember Thoughts are not Facts, every thought (especially fearful thoughts) that come into your head cannot be taken at face value, ask yourself “Is this thought true?” and “Is this thought from a place of love and kindness?” If the answers are no then just observe the thought and let it go.

Remember your illness does not define who you are or what your capable of and never will. Say to yourself everyday: “I am powerful, I am loving, I have nothing to fear”

Some days you’ll feel sad and powerless about your illness. Acknowledge this and move past it, if you let fear dictate you will have no room in your heart and mind for any other emotions like happiness and love as fear is a negative and over shadows all positives therefore there is no time for despair, take things slow and comfort yourself at times of worry remembering that emotions sometimes rise but will eventually fall back to normal again.

Take deep breaths and exercise regularly, mental wellbeing is undeniably linked to physical wellbeing so keeping active is key and participating in group activities can have significant benefits to your mental health (watch how long you participate in any activity if you have OCD tendencies, exercise is good for you but be careful not to overexert yourself)

In moments of panic remember that there is no logic to a panic attack meaning that you cannot put a logical stamp on why they happen as no real fear or danger requires your immediate attention, your emotions or thoughts can overwhelm you in times of severe panic and at these times you need to find a place of calm. A tip is to do an on-the-spot exercise (quick blasts of energy are good taking your mind away from what your worrying about) also be aware of your breathing, meditation is good for this and there are many good meditation videos on YouTube which you can practise at home.

Remember that everyone has bad days and we all can be guilty of self-sabotage meaning that we don’t always do the things we need to do in order to keep ourselves on our toes and in good mental condition, try not to criticise yourself for this!! Remember that not everyone feels 100% all the time (we all have off days) talk to a trusted friend or family about your feelings as they can add a sense of comfort to how you feel. Most importantly remember to be your own best friend, life is a marathon not a sprit… and you’ll experience many blips along the way and that’s ok, comfort yourself as you would comfort a friend who may come to you with a similar problem and remind yourself of all the positives you have going for you and how strong you are.