“No
one understands what i'm going through,” does
this sound familiar? It was my daily thinking during my anxietydisorder, and it is the most common sentence used by sufferers to
describe the people around them who they've opened up to about their
struggles with anxiety and panic, without much guidance in return.
As
I look back on my own struggles as well as others I have worked with,
I will always have the belief that people
who suffer from an anxiety disorder are some of the worlds strongest
and bravest people, period.
Minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day we fight and battle
against a believed threat to our existence with everything we have.
We
become tired and fatigued to the point where getting off the couch is
difficult, but yet we battle on against our biggest fears. This
unfortunately is adding to the already steep hill that we are forced
to climb in order to achieve full recovery.
So
in fact, thinking that everyday people in our lives can actually
understand and lead us towards some kind of road map to recovery
might just be asking for too much. I came to the realization that it
wasn't my friends or families fault that they didn't understand the
intense physical sensations of anxiety, that led me to the emergency
with a full blown panic attack for example.
I've
learned that all your family members and friends can do is be there
for you in your time of need, and listen to your struggles with
continued support and optimism that the road to recovery will be
available to you soon, which you have found through this program (if
understood and applied of course, but no reminder is needed of
course...right?).
At
the peak of Michaels frustration (my close friend who suffered with
Panic disorder and depression for many years before recovering) with
his friends and family over not understanding Michaels struggles, he
did the smartest thing any sufferer could do. He bought a short book
about the facts about dealing with anxiety disorders, he thought
about who in his circle of friends cared enough to help him in any
way they could.
He
handed his friend the book and told him to read up on what Michael
was REALLY going through and didn't speak again until his friend had
fully understood and finished the book.
