As I sit here in my comfy chair answering questions from sufferers dealing with severe anxiety, I can’t help but think how confusing all this must be for them. For me dealing with severe anxiety, it truly was a roller-coaster ride filled with many low points, and the rare high points in a day. But more importantly I keep asking myself the same question, and that is:
Is Today’s Information Age Adding To Our Already Heightened Levels Of Severe Anxiety?
As I ponder this question in my head I can’t help but think about one fact I ran into the other day. That fact was that today’s high school students, have the same anxiety levels as people in the psych wards in the 1950’s. I can only grieve for today’s generation that are forced to grow up in a world of information overload.
But let’s talk about you for a second, the one with the severe anxiety condition. Whether this severe anxiety is caused by health concerns that lead to panic attacks, relationship issues and possible social anxiety, or even a certain phobia that may be limiting your life experience in some way. Where do you turn for help, and how can you trust the information given to you?
The first line of treatment in today’s age of information overload first starts with a label. “You have an anxiety disorder,” a ‘professional’ might say. You take this information and live up to it in every possible manner you can think of. You speedily eat your food as if it’s going to run out, you cringe at the sign of another person asking you for directions on the street, and you rush to book an appointment with your family doctor the moment your left arm begins to tingle during that long walk you just had.
All Because Your New Identity Of Anxiety Disorder Demands That You Organize Your Life Around It
Oh it gets better. Your doctor now prescribes you with an anti-anxiety medication combined with an anti-depressant for your severe anxiety. At first you love the idea, and the first week feels pretty good. Only to run into a wall one day, and side effects begin taking shape. Little did your doctor tell you about these, as well as the long term dangers of taking these medications
You’ve now opened up a whole new ‘can of worms’ for yourself
Not to mention the time it will take you to get this toxic crap that is filling your system out of you. Yes, severe anxiety is a tricky thing to deal with. Mainly because of these two reasons:
The Advice You Get From Most People Won’t Help Because They Have Never Felt The Effects Of Severe Anxiety, And Doctors Today Truly Have No Clue On How To Deal WIth Your Severe Anxiety
The best advice I can give you in finishing up my rant about dealing with severe anxiety is this. Understand the 6 steps to freedom from severe anxiety and also understand that in today’s world of information overload, you are your own healer.
If I wanted to become a great golfer, I would follow Tiger Woods. If I wanted to learn how to be the best stand up comedian, I would read books from Russell Peters and so on. If you want to end your battle with severe anxiety, begin educating yourself about why you feel the way you do, and start learning from someone who has been in your anxious shoes in their past.
I’ve also come to the conclusion that people condition us to think that what we have, Is more difficult to overcome than it truly is. So we live by their rules, and cope with severe anxiety all day everyday because of the information that is fed into us from bad sources!
In closing I simply want to offer a message of hope to you. I know what you’re going through, and things look bleek right now. But I encourage you to go back to the basics. That means to think about your life before some guy you barely know labelled you with having an anxiety disorder. You’re truly still that person deep down. All you have to do is take a good look at how the path you are on is fueling your severe anxiety further, and decide that It may be time to go down another road. A road that simply encourages natural results that has worked for others.
Hi there I am from south africa and have been suffering from anxiety now for almost a year now. I have been on so many tablets that I even forgot what they all were called. Currently I am on Azor 1mg for the past 6 months and it has helped me a lot but still I get that scared feeling late afternoon and by that time my tablet has worked out of my system because I only drink one tablet in the morning…must say I can’t remember when last I had a good nights rest…I have been sick with broncitis now for the third time this year dr says its because of my stress levels…how do I stop stressing???
I think information overload does contribute to anxiety. My dog was diagnosed with diabetes last week. At first, it sounded easy to deal with – 2 insulin shots a day 12 hours apart. But then I started researching it online and learned that there are different kinds of insulin and some dogs react differently to the different types. Some people feed their dogs only once a day and others three times a day depending on their reaction to the type of insulin they use. Then there are the side effects – blindness, liver disease, kidney failure, etc. I have started having panic attacks thinking about. I can’t sleep. I can’t eat. I cry all the time. I even tried giving my dog away to friends because I’m afraid I’m going to accidentally kill it. If I would have just listened to the vet – 2 insulin shots a day, 12 hours apart – then I probably wouldn’t be so stressed out about it. I think I over-researched and it caused me to freak out.
Thanks for sharing Ally.