The lack of mental health awareness speaks for itself if we analyze the number of individuals in Pakistan suffering from mental illnesses in silence. It takes a lot of courage to even accept help is needed and take a step to acquire help.
Talking about mental health openly has been an unfailing stigma for a long time. This makes it very difficult for people enduring mental ailments to share their experiences, gain support for improvement and get help.
Anxiety is a problem taken very lightly in contrast to how serious it actually is. At least one person in our surrounding is dealing with this. For this reason we should all be aware of the issues our friends and family might be facing.
Following are things you should know about people who suffer with High functioning anxiety :
Physical Fatigue:
A common misconception is that mental illnesses are restricted only to the mind but people going through this constantly feel tired and fatigued. The constant overworking of the mind makes your body feel exhausted and drained most of the day. This causes procrastination.
Nervous Habits:
Anxious people have the need to do things repetitively like counting things and rocking back and forth. Other habits include playing with fingers or hair, biting your lip, avoiding eye contact, nervous chatter.
Overthinking:
Overthinking is the main issue of anxiety. The uncontrollable need to overthink everything and anything is what causes major distress. Their ability to magnify small things and assume the worst takes a toll on the mind.
Fear of saying no:
People with anxiety have a problem of not saying no and being unable to convey their feelings. This results in an over busy schedule and lots of workload.
Reassurance:
They need reassurance in everything and confirm information again and again to make sure they have it right. Trust issues and frequent need for comfort is a common dilemma in anxiety.
Pleasing people:
Anxiety makes you feel unwanted and unloved. To feel more important and relevant an anxiety patient turns into a people’s pleaser. They have a fear of driving people away and this causes them to make immense efforts to please everyone.
Increased heart rate and breathing:
It causes heavy breathing and a fast heart rate resulting in panic attacks, sweating and shivering.
A suggested way to overcome anxiety is treatment and therapy which include psychotherapy such as cognitive behavioral therapy or a combination of therapy and counseling.
