Fabiha Atiq
Sophomore
School of Life Sciences
Independent University, Bangladesh
October 13th, 2017
A dear friend once described the following incident to me:
It was a Saturday night, which turned into a Sunday morning as she studied for a quiz. Her alarm went off, and she realized she hadn’t slept at all. “It’s okay. It’s fine. I’ll just go to class with a mug of coffee,” she said to herself. But then all of a sudden, without warning, this intense and hitherto unfamiliar feeling came crashing down on her. She felt weak, and even thought that she might die (her words not mine). Her head had started hurting, and she felt as if an earthquake was taking place inside her skull. She tried to get up from her bed but fell back, collapsing into what felt like an abyss.
Over the next few weeks, she skipped classes, quizzes, meals, and going out, paralyzed by the fear of another attack. All the blood tests in the next two weeks couldn’t help her or her family figure out what was wrong with her. Everything showed normal in the test results. Until, that is, one doctor recommended a psychologist.
The psychologist, after a lot of assessment and tests, diagnosed her with an anxiety disorder. What she had experienced was a panic attack. Note that panic disorder (which results in panic attacks) is a type of anxiety disorder, and anxiety attacks (characterized by a momentary fear and shortness of breath) tend to be milder and more short-lived than panic attacks.
Now, in our culture, a psychologist is usually referred to as a “pagol-er-daktar” (translated – a doctor for crazy people). But in actuality, a psychologist is a mental health professional who analyzes behavior and mental processes, and recommends strategies for overcoming behavioral impediments to proper functioning. Psychiatrists are similar to psychologists, with one of the main distinctions being that psychiatrists can prescribe drugs.
Let us refresh our memory a little by recalling what mental health is, maybe? Mental health refers to one’s emotional, psychological and social well-being, and affects how one thinks, feels and hence, acts. Mental health disorders may or may not have clear biochemical bases.
The dictionary defines anxiety as a feeling of worry, nervousness or unease, typically about an imminent event. Science adds that it may not necessarily be about an imminent event or an identifiable trigger. Regardless of how it occurs, anxiety can rob a person of their appetite, their social skills, and their ability to function properly or study. There are different levels of anxiety, like any other illness out there; from mild cases to very severe ones.
A person with anxiety overthinks often and to an extent that they feel nauseous and faint. Breathing becomes difficult, and the person loses strength in their limbs, feels terribly weak, which can lead to to them thinking that they will collapse any second, which some actually do.
Several factors may contribute to triggering anxiety. Environmental factors, medical factors, genetics, brain chemistry, substance abuse, or a combination of these. Biologically speaking, anxiety appears to be tied to our fight-or-flight response, which involves the secretion of adrenaline and the priming of the body to respond to danger. But the problem is never the fight-or-flight system itself. The problem is the fight-or-flight response getting activated from a falsely heightened perception of danger, or when there is no danger at all.
Having said that, social factors also have a huge role to play here. Society tends to stress people out. Society often expects something from a person which they feel obliged to do even when they don’t want to (for instance, choose a subject they don’t want to study), which then stresses them out when they don’t like doing it, and thus cannot perform to live up to expectations. This can lead to anxiety. But there are can be a variety of reasons.
It is very easy to confuse anxiety with other similar mental illnesses, for example, depression. One might actually have questions as to how one differentiates between depression and anxiety. Depression is characterized by frustration, sadness and irritability amongst others whereas anxiety is associated with trembling, increased breathing rate and incredible sweating. They do, however, have some traits in common: restlessness, having trouble thinking/concentrating, having trouble with making decisions, excessive worrying, agitation and more. Many people with depression do suffer from anxiety. Truth be told, there is no differentiating between them on your own, and it is best to leave it to one’s psychiatrist or psychologist, who will prescribe the appropriate drug, therapy, or course of action.
I have close friends, and immediate family who suffer from anxiety. I myself suffer from anxiety. Anxiety which is so bad I shamelessly admit that I have to take medication (prescribed of course) to function properly on a regular basis.
To most people, anxiety is basically nothing. They will tell you to not worry about it. But it can quickly turn into a severe illness. It is better to pay attention, and address the symptoms early on, before it becomes severe and leads to loss of functioning, self-harm etc.
In our culture, people may be afraid to seek help because of social stigma.
“Are they going to call me crazy?”
“What will society say?”
“Will people look at me differently?” and on and on it goes.
It doesn’t matter. Seek help, for it can get bad. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, and if you don’t feel comfortable enough, then don’t. For there is a place called the internet. There are so many people out there, going through what you are going through, and they will come through and help you, if you only reach out and ask.
Take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs. Hold your breath to the count of "three." Then release.
It isn’t a myth. It works.
Go online, make a blog, drink, eat, breathe, live.
Take one step at a time. But live.
Sophomore
School of Life Sciences
Independent University, Bangladesh
October 13th, 2017
A dear friend once described the following incident to me:
It was a Saturday night, which turned into a Sunday morning as she studied for a quiz. Her alarm went off, and she realized she hadn’t slept at all. “It’s okay. It’s fine. I’ll just go to class with a mug of coffee,” she said to herself. But then all of a sudden, without warning, this intense and hitherto unfamiliar feeling came crashing down on her. She felt weak, and even thought that she might die (her words not mine). Her head had started hurting, and she felt as if an earthquake was taking place inside her skull. She tried to get up from her bed but fell back, collapsing into what felt like an abyss.
Over the next few weeks, she skipped classes, quizzes, meals, and going out, paralyzed by the fear of another attack. All the blood tests in the next two weeks couldn’t help her or her family figure out what was wrong with her. Everything showed normal in the test results. Until, that is, one doctor recommended a psychologist.
The psychologist, after a lot of assessment and tests, diagnosed her with an anxiety disorder. What she had experienced was a panic attack. Note that panic disorder (which results in panic attacks) is a type of anxiety disorder, and anxiety attacks (characterized by a momentary fear and shortness of breath) tend to be milder and more short-lived than panic attacks.
Art by Gemma Correll
Now, in our culture, a psychologist is usually referred to as a “pagol-er-daktar” (translated – a doctor for crazy people). But in actuality, a psychologist is a mental health professional who analyzes behavior and mental processes, and recommends strategies for overcoming behavioral impediments to proper functioning. Psychiatrists are similar to psychologists, with one of the main distinctions being that psychiatrists can prescribe drugs.
Let us refresh our memory a little by recalling what mental health is, maybe? Mental health refers to one’s emotional, psychological and social well-being, and affects how one thinks, feels and hence, acts. Mental health disorders may or may not have clear biochemical bases.
The dictionary defines anxiety as a feeling of worry, nervousness or unease, typically about an imminent event. Science adds that it may not necessarily be about an imminent event or an identifiable trigger. Regardless of how it occurs, anxiety can rob a person of their appetite, their social skills, and their ability to function properly or study. There are different levels of anxiety, like any other illness out there; from mild cases to very severe ones.
A person with anxiety overthinks often and to an extent that they feel nauseous and faint. Breathing becomes difficult, and the person loses strength in their limbs, feels terribly weak, which can lead to to them thinking that they will collapse any second, which some actually do.
Several factors may contribute to triggering anxiety. Environmental factors, medical factors, genetics, brain chemistry, substance abuse, or a combination of these. Biologically speaking, anxiety appears to be tied to our fight-or-flight response, which involves the secretion of adrenaline and the priming of the body to respond to danger. But the problem is never the fight-or-flight system itself. The problem is the fight-or-flight response getting activated from a falsely heightened perception of danger, or when there is no danger at all.
Having said that, social factors also have a huge role to play here. Society tends to stress people out. Society often expects something from a person which they feel obliged to do even when they don’t want to (for instance, choose a subject they don’t want to study), which then stresses them out when they don’t like doing it, and thus cannot perform to live up to expectations. This can lead to anxiety. But there are can be a variety of reasons.
It is very easy to confuse anxiety with other similar mental illnesses, for example, depression. One might actually have questions as to how one differentiates between depression and anxiety. Depression is characterized by frustration, sadness and irritability amongst others whereas anxiety is associated with trembling, increased breathing rate and incredible sweating. They do, however, have some traits in common: restlessness, having trouble thinking/concentrating, having trouble with making decisions, excessive worrying, agitation and more. Many people with depression do suffer from anxiety. Truth be told, there is no differentiating between them on your own, and it is best to leave it to one’s psychiatrist or psychologist, who will prescribe the appropriate drug, therapy, or course of action.
I have close friends, and immediate family who suffer from anxiety. I myself suffer from anxiety. Anxiety which is so bad I shamelessly admit that I have to take medication (prescribed of course) to function properly on a regular basis.
To most people, anxiety is basically nothing. They will tell you to not worry about it. But it can quickly turn into a severe illness. It is better to pay attention, and address the symptoms early on, before it becomes severe and leads to loss of functioning, self-harm etc.
In our culture, people may be afraid to seek help because of social stigma.
“Are they going to call me crazy?”
“What will society say?”
“Will people look at me differently?” and on and on it goes.
It doesn’t matter. Seek help, for it can get bad. Talk to your friends, talk to your family, and if you don’t feel comfortable enough, then don’t. For there is a place called the internet. There are so many people out there, going through what you are going through, and they will come through and help you, if you only reach out and ask.
Take a long, slow breath in through your nose, first filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs. Hold your breath to the count of "three." Then release.
It isn’t a myth. It works.
Go online, make a blog, drink, eat, breathe, live.
Take one step at a time. But live.
Fabiha is in her second year at IUB. She is a bookworm, a shutterbug, and loves to write.
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