ANXIETY DISORDER
Written by Nina Greenberg - 11/28/2020
The term “anxious” can be defined as experiencing worry, unease, or nervousness. Similarly, the term “anxiety” is said to be a feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease. “Anxiety,” however, carries a separate connotation, as associated with anxiety disorder, otherwise known as a disorder characterized by excessive uneasiness and apprehension, typically accompanied by compulsive behavior and/or panic attacks. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorder and affect nearly 30% of adults at some point in their lives. Furthermore, approximately 8% of children and teenagers experience an anxiety disorder, with many symptoms developing before the age of 21. In 2017, an estimated 284 million people worldwide experienced an anxiety disorder, making it the most prevalent mental health disorder around the globe.
There are several types of anxiety disorders, including generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, and various phobia-related disorders. People with generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) display excessive anxiety or worry, most days for at least 6 months, about a number of things such as personal health, work, social interactions, and everyday routine life circumstances. Symptoms can include feeling restless, wound-up, or on-edge, fatigue, difficulty concentrating, being irritable, muscle tension, difficulty controlling feelings of worry, and sleeping issues. With panic disorder, people struggle with recurrent unexpected panic attacks, sudden periods of intense fear that come on quickly and reach their peak within minutes. Attacks can occur unexpectedly or can be brought on by a trigger, such as a feared object or situation. People with panic disorder often worry about when the next attack will happen and actively try to prevent future attacks by avoiding places, situations, or behaviors they associate with panic attacks. A phobia is an intense fear of—or aversion to—specific objects or situations. Although it can be realistic to be anxious in some circumstances, the fear felt by people struggling with phobia-related disorders is out of proportion to the actual danger caused by the situation or object.
For many people with an anxiety disorder, the feeling of unease and apprehension can be ever-present and get worse over time. Symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, school work, and relationships. Model Meena Synder commented on this during her interview with All For Us Magazine, explaining that she feels like “the hardest struggle [she’s] had to deal with is [her] relationships with other people.” She goes on to say, “It weighs a lot on my parents and friends having to deal with it. It definitely affects everyone around me also.”
For Meena, her anxiety disorder “would affect [her] in everyday life,” while the people around her would ask “well, what’s wrong with you?” Receiving a diagnosis “helped make things a little more clear,” giving her an answer to those around her who might’ve previously worried or wondered what she was going through. Meena described some of her symptoms as heavy fatigue or pressure. “I feel like everyone around me is just like staring at me or paying attention to me or counting on me, and it just gets overwhelming and feels like a lot of built up pressure,” she explained. “Some days I wake up and I just don’t feel good. I shake, and I sleep a lot. I get really tired often, and sometimes I will just sleep the entire day. There are definitely day to day struggles.”
She went on to detail other symptoms, such as tics. “I have little tics that I do, but there are a lot of different things,” she said. When asked how she coped with anxiety, Meena responded by saying “one thing that definitely helps with it is that I try to keep my schedule busy. When I’m home a lot and sitting by myself I get into my feelings more. It just really helps being around people...who are building you up.” While having a crowed schedule may be overwhelming for some with anxiety disorders, Meena has found that keeping herself busy does more good than bad, helping instead to alleviate some of the stress and keeping her mind busy. However, she notes that “[she’s] still the same person, regardless of if [she has] anxiety or not,” evidence that struggling with mental health does not define a person. It’s past time for society to accept mental health disorders, including anxiety disorders, as a norm for many people.
We concluded the interview by asking Meena what she would say to those with and without an anxiety disorder. For those without, she advised to “just try to be considerate of people who are having issues. The best thing you can do if a loved one or someone you’re close with has any sort of mental or physical disorder is to try to be understanding.” For those with, she reminds that “there are so many people, to different extremes, who feel what you do. You’re not alone.”
For more information and resources, check out https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/anxiety-disorders/index.shtml and https://adaa.org/understanding-anxiety/generalized-anxiety-disorder-gad/resources :)
Author’s Note: Thank you again to Meena for opening up to us during her interview. These conversations are so valuable and your story was truly inspiring. I’m so glad that we got a chance to work with you, and I know that your shoot and interview will help others in similar situations.