Approximately 30% of adults in the USA suffer from anxiety. So why is it that less than half of those actually get help? Why is it that anxiety sufferers don’t get help?
Speaking up About Anxiety and Mental Health Issues
Society will always have people who look down to mental health illnesses. Those type of people are why anxiety sufferers don’t get help. And it doesn’t just end there. It is because of those people that sufferers of most if not all mental health issues don’t get help.
Mental Health Awareness
The fact that people are having to suffer so deeply because of the stigma that surrounds mental health is actually, in one word, depressing. People who are already suffering so much should not then have to suffer even more because of how society will judge them.
Mental health needs awareness spread. Without people knowing about mental health they will never feel comfortable with talking about it and getting help. What people say can deeply affect ones way of thinking. If you were constantly told that having Anxiety is bad – would you get help with it knowing “people would judge” as you would get told?
Why Anxiety Sufferers Don’t Get Help
The main reason for why anxiety sufferers don’t get help is the fear of being judged and criticised. We’ve all been heavily criticised and nobody likes it. But for someone suffering from Anxiety think of the criticism being weighted one hundred (100) times. It then becomes very very unpleasant for them.
Because of this most if not all anxiety sufferers don’t get any help or speak up about it. This only makes them feel worse and they don’t get the help that they need. When you have been suffering for so long and you still aren’t getting the help you need you seriously start to question your existence and whether all of this is worth it.
This has to be stopped. The stigma that surrounds mental health must be tackled. People are losing hope and ending their lives because of it. Sufferers need hope and support. They do not need to be made to feel worthless and helpless.
Anxiety Help – 3 Questions You Must Answer Today
Now You Know Why Anxiety Sufferers Don’t Get Help. Can You Help?
The simple answer to that question is yes, you can. What you need to do is look out for someone. Recognise the signs. If you see someone who you think might be suffering from Anxiety or any other mental health illness for that matter, talk to them and comfort them. Ask them how they are. Don’t get too clingy and make them uncomfortable though.
You would want to provide them with the reassurance that you are there for them if they need you. Once you have their trust you can talk to them about getting professional help and speaking up about their mental health issues. By doing this you will have helped one sufferer get the help that they need to get better and get on the road to recovery.
I’d love to hear your thoughts and comments on this post below in the comment section.
Don’t you find that they are not likely to speak up because they feel others will not believe them? It is not easy to SEE a person that has anxiety unless you are looking very closely and I think that is what stops some people from speaking up.
I believe we are better at judging what is internally going in with a person then we give ourselves credit for.
I have been trying to help a friend of mine that has social anxiety. I am not forcing her to do anything she does not want to, but I am trying to get her closer to going into public with big groups of people to enjoy herself. The steps are small, but the progress is there.
Progress over outcome. This type of focus is key I agree.
My friend was suffering from anxiety, what made it worse was it was manifesting physically, hand movements were happening involuntarily and she would just randomly collapse to the ground. It was terrible to see her suffer, but when we asked her what’s wrong, she never explains what the problem was. I think it had something to do with her family… Hope anxiety awareness becomes a thing and those suffering from it do not get judged, because this is a real problem. There really still is a stigma towards treating mental illnesses, don’t you think?
Absolutely, and was my case for many years..
Im not sure how long ive had anxiety, but all thats said in this article is true! ive spent hours alone having panic attacks and never spoke up until I finally did one day, and my mum didn’t believe me until later on down the track. Its hard for outsiders to fully understand untill they’ve suffered from anxiety.
Like a friend in highschool had a huge panic attack infrount of me and this Was before I suffered so I didnt understand her.
So much truth