Mental illness hinders millions of lives on a daily basis, especially the lives of college students. Anxiety is among the most common mental illnesses that a person will encounter throughout their life, either because they were born with it, develop it, or meet someone who has it.
One thing that people struggle with, though, is the difference between being nervous and having anxiety; the two are completely different levels. It’s normal and healthy for people to experience and cope with nervousness- you can experience nervousness over a test, over texting the person you like to see if they want to grab dinner, or anything else that creates those butterflies on our stomachs. Anxiety is nervousness times ten- there’s a physical component. …show more content…
This is something that I’ve learned through personal experiments and group counseling through my university. If you search methods for coping with anxiety, you’ll find a multitude of articles, videos, and books that talking about “bullet-proof” ways of curing anxiety and halting anxiety attacks. If only those “bullet-proof” claims were true. I’ve tested multiple methods and found the ones that help and the ones that don’t. Just for example, I’ve learned that the best way to slow or stop my anxiety attacks is to be held tightly in a hug and spoken to. The person talking could be talking about anything, but just to hear another voice and to listen to them talk about something else that isn’t related to what just caused my attack is super soothing. A person in my counseling group said they can’t stand to be touched during an attack and that it only makes it worse. And as we discussed coping methods such as grounding, meditation, relaxation, and list making, everyone in the group could single out which methods were most beneficial and which ones weren’t. This evidence, and all other articles that on the internet that talk about how people manage their anxiety, all can bring out true fact- coping methods are not universal and no one should expect them to be. So if you or someone you know is trying a new method and it just isn’t working, don’t get frustrated. Just get back to the drawing board and research new …show more content…
This is a very important fact to comprehend and study if either you or someone you know and love has anxiety. As mentioned earlier, anxiety and panic attacks fall on spectrums and can include traditional symptoms, dangerous symptoms, or even symptoms that make the person under attack look as though they’re not having an attack at all. This is where understanding yourself or understanding the person you love becomes critical. It may take a few attacks to be able to pick up what your trademarks are. I’ve learned that my personal traits are that I’ll develop a twitch- whether I’m shaking a foot, doing something with my fingers, or playing with my hair nervously. These are signs that you see right before my attack. My attacks themselves range in severity- I can be balled up crying uncontrollably, rocking back and forth. I can be pacing, scratching at my skin. Or I can be spaced out, frozen solid, not listening to anyone or anything, swamped by a million thoughts that are flying through my head screaming at me. Either way, no panic attack is pleasant, and as mentioned before, they can be emotionally draining and embarrassing if you are rendered to one in public or in front of someone that you didn’t want seeing you that way. But panic attacks are not something you should be mad at yourself for having- instead of beating yourself up, find ways to minimize and stop them, and most importantly be kind to