Anxiety is an important part of our being. In fact, it is a crucial aspect of our survival mechanism. It jump starts the activation of our body’s fight or flight response which is helpful when a threatening situation is sensed.
Although anxiety has been around since time immemorial, it is only recently that experts have come to fully understood it. However, a lot of wrong beliefs about anxiety still abound these days. Don’t be quick to believe in some of these myths otherwise you will place yourself at risk of being a victim of it, too. Check out the following list of myths and remember, they are MYTHS.
Having anxiety is no big deal.
Anxiety isn’t something that must be ignored. If left untreated it could largely contribute to the development of illnesses. Its symptoms could also escalate and jumpstart the onset of depression. Some people also suffer from substance abuse due to their difficulty coping with their anxiety.
Anxiety starts from having difficult childhood.
This is not always the case. Although some cases of anxiety do start from childhood but many people who grew up to be healthy adults with no negative issues in their childhood still find themselves suffering from anxiety.
Anxiety will just disappear on its own.
Many people mistakenly believe that anxiety will just resolve even without any interventions. There are many cases of anxiety that started out as mild while others were deemed as “normal” part of life. It is for the same reason that some people do not take any effort to have it checked by a professional only to find it developing into a disorder already.
Taking in alcoholic drink can ease anxiety.
Alcohol can only make a person’s anxiety worse. If the person makes it a habit to drink alcohol whenever anxiety creeps in, he is at risk of developing dependency towards alcohol. And, before he knows it, he is already into substance abuse.
Anxiety is not a real form of illness.
Although anxiety is deeply rooted into our fight or flight system, if it becomes chronic it can also cause mental and physical impairment and if left untreated it could turn out to be a real illness, too.
A person with anxiety must avoid stressful situations.
This is just impossible. Besides, stressful situations can be everywhere. Avoiding situations which you think can cause so much stress will only make you more prone to having anxiety attacks because you always have this perception about yourself that you’re fragile.
Anxiety can only be treated by medications.
Medications do provide relief to an individual affected by anxiety. However, such relief is only temporary. The underlying cause of anxiety must be addressed so that the person will become better at staving off its symptoms.
Social anxiety is just another term for shyness.
Shyness is just one of the symptoms of social anxiety. People who are plagued with social anxiety suffer from higher level of shyness that elicits many negative symptoms from a person.
With these myths in mind, hope you’ll now have an idea of what anxiety really is. If you think you’re having anxiety, might as well get yourself checked right away. This way, you will be given sound advice on how you can prevent it from wreaking havoc to your life.