Anxiety

Anxiety is a normal part of life. In this two week series I will be talking about anxiety disorders and occasional anxiety.

“Anxiety is a feeling of unease, such as worry or fear, that can be mild or severe.” – NHS Inform Article

“Occasional anxiety is an expected part of life. You might feel anxious when faced with a problem at work, before taking a test, or before making an important decision. But anxiety disorders involve more than temporary worry of fear.” – MentalHealth.gov Article

Some of the most common anxiety disorders are: generalized anxiety disorder, social, anxiety, panic disorder, OCD, and PTSD.

One of the first steps to working through anxiety is to figure out if it’s occasional anxiety or an anxiety disorder that you’re experiencing. If you have been diagnosed with one of the above then you’ll know for sure that the kind of anxiety you’re experiencing is an anxiety disorder. It is important to note though that you can experience both an anxiety disorder and occasional anxiety. Personally, I have grown up with an anxiety disorder that I have had since very early childhood. But I also experience occasional anxiety at times.

“Anxiety is not weakness. Living with anxiety, showing up and doing things with anxiety takes a strength most will never know.”

Simple tasks that many people are fine with doing, can cause extreme anxiety for others. We should never make fun of anyone for being anxious. Anxiety is not a choice.

Anxiety is often misunderstood. It can be thought of as being rude or standoffish, and this couldn’t be further from the truth.

We need to show more empathy for people with anxiety. We can’t always tell someone to just pray for anxiety to go away. Prayer is very important, and God can heal. But if someone needs medical help or counselling, we should encourage them to go for it. God can still teach us a lot through this process.

“Having anxiety does not mean you have a faith problem.”