What are the facts and what are the myths/fiction around anxiety?

Many eons later, I’d hoped that following the writing of Modern Day Girl Blog (MDGB – read more here and here about that), we’d be in a new era of unstigmatised mental health discourse.

Although things have definitely improved, and it’s a bit easier to talk about mental health, I’ve realised that there’s much more progress needed.

So, I thought I’d spend a bit of time going through some of the facts, as well as debunking some myths, around anxiety.

As always, I’m not a doctor and can’t help medically. I do hope that my personal experience helps! However, if you’re finding yourself here and are struggling, please do go to your doctor/call 101/999 for help and/or advice.

*Trigger warning*

Further down in the ‘Facts’ section, I touch upon a possibly sensitive topic around anxiety manifesting as a result of deeper root causes.

Skip this bit if you’d prefer to avoid addressing this topic. Come back later when you feel ready to, if at all. I’ll add a further warning prior to that point.

With that being said, let’s get stuck in!

Facts

1. Anxiety encompasses physical reactions that are hard to ignore

Although anxiety is more widely understood nowadays, most (unless you’ve been through it yourself) don’t understand the physiological impacts that anxiety manifests as.

Here are some physical symptoms of anxiety (that may also be as a result of other, deeper, struggles):

• Tiredness
• Trouble sleeping
• Dizziness/light-headedness
• Loss of appetite/eating more than normal
• A tight chest
• Shaky hands
• A feeling of nervousness
• A feeling similar to butterflies in the stomach but not quite the same
• Palpitations (or worsening if you already get them)
• Racing heart and awareness of it
• Jaw clenching/teeth grinding
• Feeling of impending doom or that something bad might happen

Some of these manifestations may sound alarming, which I totally understand. Please do get in touch with your doctor ASAP if any of these resonate with you.

However, I’ve felt all of these at some point, and not all at once. As scary as these feelings are in the moment, they do eventually pass if addressed, and don’t pose long term health risks (confirmed by my doctor at the time).

Nonetheless, anxiety presents both physically and mentally. It’s important to note that mental health really isn’t just, ‘All in the head’.

2. Anxiety and panic attacks are two different things

Anxiety attacks and panic attacks are two separate situations, and are probably the most misunderstood. The two terms are used (incorrectly) interchangeably, but each present differently.

Anxiety attacks are usually a culmination of many days or months of increased anxiety and stress. Your subconscious is perceiving a ‘threat’ or a stressor, that (I personally have felt), eventually rears it’s ugly head.

This is completely normal and a primal reaction that unfortunately isn’t helpful in our modern day life. Back in our hunter-gathering days, adrenaline, our fight-or-flight response, and a heightened alertness would have kept us safe from danger.

Nowadays, these reactions are mostly redundant. That doesn’t stop our brain and body from reacting to stress, though.

Understanding the psychological subconscious processes our brains go through will definitely help (more on this another time).

Panic attacks are a whole different ball game.

Panic attacks usually present very quickly, and can be extremely overwhelming. They usually involve a feeling of terror, intense fear and panic.

The person going through a panic attack can genuinely feel deathly, maybe that they are even having a heart attack.

Hyperventilation may occur, and it can be hard to focus on anything else. Hyperventilation can cause imbalances of oxygen and CO2 in the blood, causing fingers to go cold and possibly curl. This may add to the person’s panic.

As you can probably tell, I’ve done a lot of research around them, ha!

The worst-case scenario of a panic attack is hyperventilation and ultimately passing out. That’s your body pressing the restart/reboot button!

After talking to my doctor about panic attacks and researching extensively, though (and mentioned above), there are no side effects from panic attacks. It’s just your body falsely reacting to a perceived threat and releasing chemicals in response.

Hopefully my explanation makes sense!

3. Being told to feel less stressed won’t fix your anxiety

Although I’m sure that you, dear reader, probably knows this by now, but it had to be said.

Telling someone to just, ‘Get over it’, or ‘Just stop feeling so stressed’, or the worst one, ‘People have it worse than you’, obviously doesn’t instantly cure anxiety.

If it did, my anxiety would’ve disappeared twenty plus years ago! If only 😅

Rather than telling someone struggling to just, ‘Get over it’, I’d recommend simply listening. Allow them time to talk without judgement if they feel able to.

If they aren’t able to open up, make it known your door is open whenever they feel ready to.

That’s all.

Sometimes, that’s all we really need – to know there’s someone there to listen if we need it.

4. Anxiety is a mechanism our body is hard-wired to subconsciously trigger (and has no detrimental effects)

As mentioned above, an anxiety response is completely natural and not harmful in any way.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with feeling anxious or have pangs of anxiety – it’s very normal! In fact, 1 in three of us will experience some form of mental health struggle in our lifetime. So, if it’s not you, it’ll be someone you know.

Accepting and sitting in the feeling of anxiousness can and will help. It may take some time, though, and that’s also okay.

5. There is nothing wrong with taking medication for anxiety/mental health

Over the years, I’ve read some quite toxic and unhelpful advice around medication for mental health.

I will always advocate for a natural approach when helping mental health and anxiety first. But, there’s nothing wrong with taking medication either. I was prescribed the SSRI Citalopram for many years and it certainly helped me when I needed it. Although I don’t take it any longer (I have a betablocker-esque tablet that’s safe for asthmatics like me now), I one hundred percent recommend speaking to your doctor about medication if you think it might help.

No one should be looked down on for taking medication. It is one of many tools we have in our toolbox when recovering through mental health struggles.

****Trigger warning****

****Skip this point if you are aware there might be deeper roots to your anxiety that you’re not wanting to address right now****

6. Anxiety might be a coping mechanism for deeper struggles

My penultimate point around anxiety and the facts that surround it is that, unfortunately, your body may be signalling there are deeper issues to be investigated.

I only know this because, at thirty-eight years young, I have/had deeper feelings that I needed to work through. Mostly surfacing after my BPD and suspected schizophrenic father passing away last year.

At some point I’ll write about my personal experiences around bereavement, PTSD, C-PTSD, trauma, childhood trauma, PTSD and trauma informed therapy (including exposure therapy), but that’s six or more separate topics and 20,000 words plus later.

I also don’t want to scare you away just yet haha 😅

Anyway, anxiety may be a symptom of something deeper down that you may have been surpressing.

This is completely natural, of course.

Our brains are ridiculously complex and highly efficient at self-preservation. Blocking memories is one form of self-preservation, and very common among those of us that may have traumatic and/or selective amnesia.

If you think anxiety may be a symptom of other deeper root-causes for you, I’d highly recommend you refer yourself for trauma-informed therapy. You’ll be screened/triaged first to make sure this is what you need. But, I can only speak highly of the results if appropriate for you.

7. Your brain is running on a Windows 95 operating system with a dialup modem (at best)

Although I’ve touched upon this above, I’d just like to finish on this point.

As much as we may hate our brain sometimes (trust me, I regularly wish I could transplant my brain with single-brain-cell Gizmo – on the right)…

… Our brains really are amazing things.

Yes, they are probably our own worst enemy a lot of the time. I know mine is. But, I also know that we’re ultimately just mammals and our brain is reacting as it should during times of stress.

Just don’t be so hard in yourself if you’re struggling.

You’re doing the best you can with a brain running on a Windows 95 operating system, dialup internet and floppy disks (for the geekorinos like me, that was 1.44MB max) for storage.

Now that we’ve got the facts out of the way, let’s delve into some of the fictional ideas/thoughts around anxiety.

Fiction

Quite a few of the fictional thoughts and ideas around anxiety stem from some of the facts above.

Unfortunately, the fictional points outlined below probably emerged as a result of half-truths and lack of education/ignorance.

This isn’t anyone’s fault at all. Moreso, these points came about due to a lack of conversation and sharing. For these reasons, I’d like to address them today.

Let’s get to it!

1. You’re not being over-dramatic

As mentioned above, I’m on the wrong side of my thirties. Mental health wasn’t talked about when I was at school in the early 2000s. The only controversy I experienced at school (I went to an all-girls school too), was sex education and me being the only person in the class as a twelve year old asking what a blow job was, that we were all assumed lesbians, and that I got into two physical fights.

Mental health didn’t even get talked about until I started MDGB, honestly. I was mid-twenties at that point.

Anyway, I digress. Up to that point, I had no idea mental health was a, “thing”.

My point is, is that no matter who or what makes you think you’re being, ‘dramatic’ or, ‘too sensitive’, you’re not.

2. Day-to-day stress is the same as anxiety

Ha, yeah. It’s not.

Those 2/3 people I mentioned earlier that don’t ever experience mental health, carry on through life with one less burden. They definitely experience stress, whether through work, education or other commitments. I’ll never minimise anyone’s struggles, mental health or not.

But, those that are predisposed to mental health struggles carry an extra, unseen weight through life.

And I’m not asking for a pity party either. Recognition and empathy is all I wish for, and for everyone.

3. You’re being stupid for feeling the way you do

Similarly to the above, too often are we made to feel like we’re being stupid for feeling anxious/struggling with our mental health.

That is something that needs to disappear sharpish.

Again, inroads are being made to acknowledging mental health as a real issue, but more work is definitely needed.

Your feelings are completely valid and should be recognised as such.

4. You look fine so you must be fine

This is another infuriating statement I’ve heard, although not so much anymore.

The trouble with anxiety and mental health is that masking becomes a finely tuned talent.

***Trigger warning***

To the shock of many, Chester Bennington of Linkin Park committed suicide on July the 20th, 2017. I remember when I heard the news very well and to this day.

Yet, the day before he died, Bennington e-mailed former Guns N’ Roses drummer Matt Sorum, saying he’d like to perform again with their all-star covers band, Kings of Chaos.

I’ve read other stories of those that committed suicide that they were perceived by friends and family as completely ‘normal’ even hours before.

Therefore, appearing ‘fine’ on the outside is one hundred percent not a guage of someone’s mental state or wellbeing.

5. Being told to, ‘Just calm down’ will fix everything

This is another statement that needs to go in the bin.

When has someone telling you to calm down ever made you calm down? If anything, it makes things worse!

“Oh, wait, Baseballbat Cramplesnutch (Click… ) told me to calm down – miracles do happen – I’m flipping calm all of a sudden!”

You get my point.

6. Medication is always bad and won’t solve anything

Another point I’ve touched on above, but another fictional idea around anxiety I felt needed addressing.

Medication is most definitely not always bad.

Medication might not work for some people, and that is totally okay.

Exercise, grounding techniques, breathing exercises and a healthy diet (read more here) should always be the first point of call. But, if you’ve tried that, like I did, then by all means go with your doctor’s recommendation.

Medication is just an extra layer added when dealing with the root cause of anxiety and there’s nothing wrong with that.

7. The holistic approach is best

This is another sometimes toxic statement made in the dark crevices of the wellness industry.

It’s important to differentiate between blending diet, exercise, meditation/grounding/breathing exercises and medication, and ‘wellness’ treatments.

Having a holistic approach to your mental health is something I one hundred percent recommend, as you know.

However, you may be persuaded and swayed by cleverly worded copy, interlaced with the hard selling of products categorised as ‘wellness’, ‘alternative’, ‘complementary’, ‘holistic, or’ homeopathic’ remedies. These products may promise quick results and include very convincing testimonials.

The NHS has a page you can read around their investigations and the results of homeopathy.

I’d also recommend watching this documentary (unfortunately I can’t find subscription/free streaming location), for UK specific, real-life stories and the consequences of ‘alternative therapies’.

So, yes, the holistic approach is recommended, but only through your GP and qualified practitioners. Heck, I fully welcome vetting of my posts on this blog – feedback is always welcome. I’m not a qualified doctor, but I write from personal experience (and through research).

In conclusion

I know I’ve covered a lot in this post but I wanted to make sure I addressed some of the most common myths around anxiety, and highlight the facts.

I hope you’ve found this useful! Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Lots of love,

Jess

Xoxo