Many people suffer from an anxiety disorder and it seems the numbers are increasing daily. We live in uncertain times and have so many things to worry about. All of this stress can ultimately leave someone burned out and bring on an anxiety disorder. With that comes shame for a lot of sufferers and they try to hide it from the rest of the world. We have to bring this disorder out of the closet, so that sufferers can stop feeling embarrassed and shameful.
Anxiety disorders are hard to understand if you have never had one. I understand that people just don't always get what it's all about. I've dealt with this disorder, on and off, most of my life and just recently opened up to others about it. When I was younger, I hid it. I made up excuses why I couldn't do things or go places. Most people didn't have a clue what I was going through.
It became so bad in my twenties that I became agoraphobic for two years. For all of you who don't know what agoraphobia is, it's being afraid to leave your home. It turns into a vicious circle, because when you do leave the house, you usually have a panic attack, which, of course, drives you back to wanting to stay home.
Panic attacks are a terrifying experience. You can have trouble breathing, start shaking, feel terribly frightened and out of control, think you're having a heart attack, think you're going crazy, feel dizzy, and many other things. These are just some of the common reactions. They are also very embarrassing and hard to control because they aren't based on any real threat. You just panic for no reason.
Unfortunately, many people think that someone with this disorder are just weak- minded or not controlling their emotions. The worst opinion is that you are crazy. This is why so many people try to hide them. They are under enough stress without having the stress of knowing people are thinking horrible things about them. Now that I'm older, and anxiety problems are more in the news, I opened up and decided to quit hiding my problem.
It's very sad, but apparently people are still very uninformed about anxiety disorders. I recently had a friend ask me what I was afraid of and I told him that it wasn't anything tangible, just terrible anxiety and fear. He told me that didn't make any sense, to which I replied, "That's why it's called a DIS-order." I don't think he even got what that meant. That's why I say that we have to bring anxiety disorders out of the closet. We need to stop being ashamed of them, whether others understand or not.
While they don't have concrete answers as to what causes these disorders, it is generally accepted that several factors could be to blame. These include genetics, brain chemistry imbalance and stressful or traumatic situations. It is not because you are weak or crazy. I urge people who don't have this disorder to become more familiar with it, so that should they ever have to deal with a loved one having it, they will know how to help, and not hinder, their problem.
The main issue I wanted to bring out in this article was that anxiety disorders are a very debilitating problem and the last thing we need to do is feel like we have to hide our problem. No one would make us ashamed of a broken leg, but if it deals with the mind, it becomes something of a different nature. It becomes a shameful secret, an embarrassing problem that makes us feel abnormal.
Between sufferers talking openly about it, and non-sufferers learning the facts about it, I hope the world can finally let all of us come out of the closet. We need support and help, not criticism and shame. I, for one, will not tolerate being made to feel like a freak of nature about this anymore, and I hope others will learn to hold their heads up high and recognize they have a problem that doesn't need to be hidden.
As a lifelong sufferer of an anxiety disorder, I have learned many things along the way that I want to share with other sufferers. If anything I share about my personal experiences helps you with this problem, I feel I've accomplished something good. It's a common problem that needs to be addressed to help people overcome, or at least deal better, with anxiety problems.
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