Front Porch: Acknowledging feelings of anxiety first step to dealing with it

Anxiety is a sneaky thing.

There you are, living and enjoying your life, handling the problems that come up, when, blam, you are overwhelmed by a crushing sense of dread. Surely the world is ending and we’re all going to die.

Welcome to anxiety disorder.

It is not that extreme for everyone, and it’s worse for others. I know people who have wound up in the ER, curled up in a fetal position and with chest pains surely indicating a major heart attack. In their cases, the heart’s fine. They’re in the middle of a panic attack. And for others experiencing anxiety issues, it’s a lower level but persistent occurrence, but definitely enough to interfere with the normal living of a life.

There’s been a lot of reporting on anxiety lately because, thanks to all of us having gone through the COVID pandemic, it’s more prevalent in society, including, and most worrisome, among children. It’s also increasingly raising its ugly little head among us older folks.

Since May is National Mental Health Awareness Month, this seems like the right time to speak of it.

The National Institutes of Mental Health observes that 31% of the adult population in the United States will experience anxiety disorder at some time in their lives. And that statistic now includes me.

It’s hard to express how surprised and somewhat embarrassed I am at having been diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. I come from a stoic German family. We’re tough. We don’t get these things. Yeah, right.

I really understand that any of the varieties of anxiety disorders can visit anyone and that it’s every bit as real as a broken bone or cancer. Still, in addition to working to tackle this latest uninvited visitor to my life, I have to fight the feeling that this is a personal failing on my part and would go away if only I were stronger.

I know that’s not true, but within me lies an unwanted remnant of society’s stigma about mental health versus physical health. Thankfully, progress has been made in the understanding of and treatment for mental health matters, but I can’t help feeling some guilt at being at this place, though I know I shouldn’t. Anxiety disorder is a real thing that I and millions of other people are experiencing, a thing that is really making trouble in my life. Biting the bullet or denying it away isn’t going to fix it.

Everyone is anxious sometimes. Things happen that make us so. But it resolves. Anxiety that is intense and excessive, often accompanied by behavioral and cognitive symptoms and a variety of physical manifestations – well, that’s something else again.

I have read that there isn’t necessarily one trigger. It can simply come from a piling on of events. And it appears under a number of headings – generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, social anxiety and a variety of phobias.

The tricky thing about it, which is why it’s so sneaky, is that its symptoms are so varied and are common to other ailments. The sense of impending doom and/or excessive worry is the leading indicator, but other manifestations can include sweating and trembling, heart palpitations and irregular heartbeat. Abdominal distress. Grinding of teeth. Trouble concentrating or making decisions. Difficulty sleeping or sleeping too much. Brain fog.

It can also be closely related to and affected by issues of physical health, which is how I think I entered the scene (personal opinion from someone with zero medical credentials) – last summer, after my husband and I came through more than a year of one ailment after another, I received an unexpected and scary potential diagnosis that led into an autumn of further medical matters. Happily, the worst was not realized, but that’s when my anxiety became pervasive.

I talked with a relative who has generalized anxiety disorder and has had panic attacks, and I got a lot of good fellow-traveler counseling. The first and best piece of advice was what I had just done – find someone you trust and say the words out loud to them, giving it an airing with someone who cares about you. Fear grows in darkness. Giving it some sunlight makes it less frightening.

I did see my doctor, and I agreed reluctantly to try medication. I am very sensitive to these kinds of meds, so that course hasn’t been a smooth road. Still working on that and some other therapies. There are any number of paths for help, including meditation, acupuncture, talk therapy, any kind of exercise (gentle or vigorous). Definitely spend time outdoors.

So, a few words to anyone in the throes of anxiety. Express your concerns to a trusted friend or family member. See a doctor. For me, deep and slow breathing is helpful when I’m feeling symptoms. Also, change what you’re doing at the moment. If you begin to feel anxious while you’re in a chair reading, get up and do something else – fold laundry, do the dishes, rake pine needles, wash the car. Sometimes those small normal activities of life are the best medicine of all.

No one therapy is going to work for everyone. Find what’s best for you. Anxiety can be managed. For many, it can be resolved after treatment. The World Health Organization states that anxiety disorders are the most common of mental disorders, with more than 301 million people experiencing them.

If one of those people might be you, please seek help.