Mental Health – Anxiety

Often, I talk about mental health in the general sense; of all the issues we deal with under one roof, so to speak.

However, while some things apply across the board, such as being understanding, raising awareness, taking responsibility to care for those around us, there is a lot that doesn’t necessarily apply to everyone or everything.

This time around, I want to talk about anxiety specifically, and while some thoughts may apply to other things, this is targeted specifically at those with anxiety.

Now the first thing to acknowledge is that there are different kinds of anxiety and different levels of severity, it’s an absolute minefield trying to navigate mental health and this may be one reason why there is not an adequate system for tackling it.

There isn’t a general fix. While there may be some similarities between them, every case and person are unique and needs help tailored to them.

For me, this is where the crux of the issue lies in effective mental health provision, be it anxiety or anything else.

There should be professionals that can talk to you and find a way forward that suits your needs and not just reduce us to numbers on an appointment list or throw medication at the problem, hoping it will dull our sensations enough to keep us away for another month so they can cross a name off their list.

Okay, so maybe I’m ranting a bit, but we cannot deny that over the last few years this has been a significant issue. It is estimated that ‘Three in ten young people are not being given the support that they need’ and that three in four people with mental health problems receive little or no effective treatment for their condition. This is a huge failure.

While there is a lack of mental health professionals, GPs need to be trained in providing a better service for mental health, I have heard too many stories from people of how medication is just being thrown at the problem when all they wanted was to talk to someone or learn how to better cope. Medication can be important and helpful, but it doesn’t fix everything.

Yes, I did veer off-topic. This is about anxiety after all. But was I off-topic? One thing that makes me anxious is that people do not always get the treatment they need. I get anxious talking to my GP about how I’m feeling in case the only response I get is here, have some tablets. Anxiety comes in many forms; it can be huge and it can be so very small. But don’t confuse huge and small with severity.

By huge, I mean it can be you’re anxious about life in general, or what the future holds, huge big issues that stretch out in front of us. By small, I mean managing to get a pint of milk, to walk your dog in the morning. These vary in severity; I have seen someone have a complete breakdown because they are too anxious to walk into a shop.

Let me stress, this is not someone being silly or over dramatic. This is someone that is having a crisis and you most likely cannot understand how they are feeling, but don’t shrug them off. Be there for them, accept how hard it is for them, try to help them.

The reason I talk about the lack of provision is that anxiety can be general, social, panic drive, obsessive. There are different types and different levels of severity and the current health provision just doesn’t know how to best tackle this, but you know your loved ones the best, ask them how you can help.

Even if they don’t know how you can help, just be there for them, accept them, let them know they are not alone with this. Anxiety can be crippling to live with, and the worst thing is when somebody does not take it seriously.

Be the person who reaches out, be the person who is different, the person who listens and the person who offers their hand in someone’s time of need.

For anyone reading with anxiety, take a deep breath, try to take the smallest of steps and work towards finding the help that is right for you. I will leave you with one of my favourite quotes, which always helps me in times of difficulty.

‘Nothing is permanent in this wicked world – not even our troubles.’ – Charlie Chaplin.