Common Myths About Anxiety, and Wetin Actually True

Anxiety fit be the most misunderstood feeling wey dey. Almost everybody get am, almost nobody dey talk about am honestly, and the gaps dey fill up with folk wisdom wey often dey backward. People go end up dey shame about something ordinary, or dem go wait years before dem ask for help wey dem for get since.

The stories wey we dey tell ourselves about anxiety matter, because dem dey shape wetin we dey do with am. Believe say na character flaw and you go hide am. Believe say e go pass if you just avoid the thing wey dey trigger am, and you go quietly shrink your life. So e worth to pull few of these beliefs into the light and check dem against wetin dem actually know.

This na the ones wey we dey meet pass.

Myth: Anxiety na something wey you suppose comot completely

Na this one na the big one, and na the one wey dey cause the most needless suffering, because e dey set impossible goal.

Anxiety no be malfunction. Na survival system wey don dey run for human being for very long time. When your brain sense threat, e dey flood your body with stress hormones to make you ready to fight, run, or freeze. Na the same machinery wey dey keep you alert for slippery road and dey make you study for exam. As the Cleveland Clinic take talk am, healthy amount of anxiety dey serve purpose and fit even help you solve problems. The aim never be zero anxiety. Life without any anxiety at all go be dangerous one.

The goal no be flat, fearless mind. Na to get anxiety wey match wetin actually dey happen, and to fit come back down once the moment pass.

Myth: If you get anxiety, you rare or you weak

Small beliefs dey lonely pass to think say na only you, and small dey less true pass am.

Anxiety disorders na the most common mental health conditions wey dey. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, about one-third of U.S. adolescents and adults go experience anxiety disorder at some point for their life. One-third. That no be small fringe group. Na the person wey dey sit near you for the train, the colleague wey look like say nothing fit shake am, probably somebody for your own family.

And e no get anything to do with being weak. Anxiety no dey follow toughness or willpower or how strong person be. E dey run through genetics, life experience, brain chemistry, and circumstance. Some of the steadiest, most capable people wey you know dey manage am quietly. You no fit see person anxiety from outside, na exactly why plenty people dey assume say na dem alone dey with am.

Myth: To feel anxious mean say something dey wrong with you

Real and important line dey between everyday anxiety and anxiety disorder, and to confuse the two dey cut both ways.

To worry before big presentation no be disorder. Nerves before first date, tight belle before hard conversation, jolt of fear when motor swerve come your side, all of that na your system dey work as dem design am. The National Institute of Mental Health dey describe everyday anxiety as normal part of life: most people dey worry about health, money, work, or family from time to time, and e dey pass.

Anxiety disorder different for few specific ways. The worry no dey go away. E dey show up across plenty situations instead of one. E dey usually out of proportion to the actual danger, and e dey block ordinary life, your sleep, your work, the people wey you care about. The presence of anxiety no be the problem. The question na whether e don stop to match the situation and don start to run your days.

So if you dey feel anxious sometimes, nothing dey wrong with you. If anxiety don take over the steering, something dey wey person fit treat. Those na two different sentences, and the two na good news.

Myth: To avoid wetin dey scare you go make the anxiety fade

This one dey feel true, na wetin dey make am sticky like that.

When something scare you and you comot for im way, you dey get instant relief. The fear dey drop. Your brain go note say to dodge the thing make you feel better, so next time the pull to avoid go even stronger. Relief for the moment, smaller life over time.

The wahala be say avoidance dey teach your brain the wrong lesson. Because you never dey stay inside the feared situation long enough to see say you fit handle am, you no dey give the fear chance to settle on im own. The dread go stay intact because dem never test am. Na why plenty effective treatment dey work for the opposite direction, dey gently and gradually face the feared thing for steps, so your nervous system fit learn from experience say the catastrophe no dey come. The point no be to flood yourself with fear. Na to stay long enough to collect evidence say you safer pass wetin your alarm dey insist. You no need throw yourself into the deep end. But the way out na usually through, no be around.

Myth: Nothing really dey help, so why bother

Na this one na the quiet one. E no dey argue. E just dey sit for the back of your mind and dey talk you out of trying.

E dey wrong too. Anxiety disorders dey among the most treatable mental health conditions wey dey. Mayo Clinic note say dem generally dey respond well to treatment, and say anxiety easier to address the earlier you get help. Cognitive behavioral therapy, structured talk therapy wey dey help you work with anxious thoughts and slowly reduce avoidance, get strong evidence behind am. The NHS dey describe typical course as somewhere between six and twenty sessions. For some people, medication dey help too. Plenty people dey find say lifestyle changes and coping skills dey make real difference on their own.

No honest source go promise say every approach dey work for every person on the first try. E no dey always work. Sometimes the first therapist no be the right fit, or the first medication no be, and the answer na to adjust instead of to quit. The picture dey far more hopeful pass wetin the hopeless voice go make you believe, and to find wetin dey work for you dey genuinely possible.

Wetin worth to hold on to

If you take one thing from all of this, make e be this: to feel anxious no dey make you broken, rare, or weak, and e no mean say your life gats become smaller to manage am.

Difference dey between the anxiety wey dey come with being human and anxiety disorder wey dey wear you down. If your own don cross that line, if the worry no gree quiet, if e dey follow you from situation to situation, if e dey cost you sleep or work or the ability to dey present with people wey you love, that one na reason to talk to doctor or mental health professional. No be because something dey wrong with you. Na because help dey, e dey work for most people, and you no need keep enduring am alone. To reach out early dey usually make the road shorter.

Wia dis info come from

• National Institute of Mental Health, Anxiety Disorders
• Mayo Clinic, Anxiety disorders, Symptoms and causes
• Cleveland Clinic, Anxiety Has Its Benefits, But Only in Healthy Doses
• NHS, Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Overview