Friday 27 November 2015

Anxious deafie

I'm sure many of you have experienced anxiety at some point in your lives. It's a common type of feeling we experience when we come across circumstances that make us feel that way.
But what about if you suffered anxiety as a condition? 

Unfortunately for me I have suffered anxiety for quite a while and this has been medically confirmed. It stemmed from bullying in school. My main anxiety was what people said when they laughed behind my back about my hearing and stared. Also I was obsessed with my hair and whether it was thick enough to cover and hide my hearing aids (crazy I know!). I went great lengths to keep my deafness secret, you wouldn't believe, but that's another story. 

I want to raise awareness of this condition, because it's a hidden condition. My anxiety started in high school and begun with one small anxiety, as mentioned above. Unfortunately when my bullies left school and move to college (I stayed in sixth form) I thought that would be the end of my anxieties. I couldn't be any more wrong. 
My life was one big anxiety at one point. All my worries just exploded right in front of me. One example was my fear of going deaf, which I have managed to deal with better now. Basically I would overthink and think the worst. I was negative about everything and didn't think I was capable of overcoming anything. I just felt this mountain of worries piling up whilst I slowly drowned. Similar feelings of drowning experienced with my depression. 

It's important that I communicate with my loved ones to stop this from happening. I need to be open with my feelings and work with people around me as a team to deal and talk about these anxieties. 

Whether they're the most stupidest or randomness anxieties, people need to remain calm and not judge. People need to be understanding. An anxious person in my opinion needs lots of reassurance, to build up his/her confidence. I for one certainly need lots of reassurance! 

This post basically is trying to raise awareness of this hidden condition and suggest possible tips to deal with people who are anxious. I have questioned professionals about this and why I seem to select negative parts of something and not acknowledge the positive. For example, someone talking to me and I only acknowledge certain parts of what they say (the negative bits) and go bananas about it. 

Basically I just worry and worry lol. 
An anxious person can be very negative. It takes time to improve. Provide reassurance and support. Even if it's over the stupidest things. Keep reassuring, even though it can be exhausting. You're actually making a difference to their cognitions and their self esteem. From experience, this gradually works for me.

Support is important. If they're worth it, you can help them and be patient :-) 

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing.

    Yeah, anxiety is common. I've experienced it plenty of times. When you said this paragraph:

    Whether they're the most stupidest or randomness anxieties, people need to remain calm and not judge. People need to be understanding. An anxious person in my opinion needs lots of reassurance, to build up his/her confidence. I for one certainly need lots of reassurance!

    It made me think of my best friend. I'm starting to suspect that her anxiety is much bigger than I think. It grew worse as the years went by. She ended up having a panic attack over something that made her so anxious and upset. I think I need to have a word with her to see how she feels this.

    Oh yes, I agree on the reassurance bit as my friend has confidence issue so a lot of reassurance helps in the long way. She is definitely worth it. All I can do is offer support and be patient when she feels anxious.

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