{"id":511,"date":"2016-11-19T05:18:53","date_gmt":"2016-11-19T05:18:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/?p=511"},"modified":"2019-11-20T10:18:23","modified_gmt":"2019-11-20T10:18:23","slug":"the-other-side-by-anonymous","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/2016\/11\/19\/the-other-side-by-anonymous\/","title":{"rendered":"The Other Side &#8211; By Anonymous"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-1 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" src=\"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tumblr_inline_oh3r4kCSLO1un32nx_1280.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"512\" data-link=\"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/?attachment_id=512\" class=\"wp-image-512\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tumblr_inline_oh3r4kCSLO1un32nx_1280.jpg 800w, https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tumblr_inline_oh3r4kCSLO1un32nx_1280-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tumblr_inline_oh3r4kCSLO1un32nx_1280-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/tumblr_inline_oh3r4kCSLO1un32nx_1280-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>I was diagnosed with a mild anxiety disorder 2 years ago, and at that time I felt as though my world had come to a standstill. I did not have anyone to confide in \u2013 my family wouldn\u2019t, and still don\u2019t understand, and my friends would shrug it off like it was no big deal, something they do with every situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;For the first year, attacks were an everyday thing, and it felt like I would never be able to lead a normal life, free of medication. I would attend 6 hours of school, and come back home only to spend another 6 crying in the bathroom because I felt extremely alone. My friends, even though they might have understood, would not make a conscious effort to make me feel included or even ensure I was okay. &nbsp;It was undoubtedly the hardest year of my life, mostly because I didn\u2019t have anyone to talk to and after hearing all the misconceptions about anxiety, I was convinced that I was retarded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;As someone who has dealt with anxiety for a couple of years I can most definitely account for the fact that one of the most persistent struggles for someone dealing with anxiety is what people get wrong about the disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>It\u2019s not a big deal.<\/strong>&nbsp;A lot of individuals, including the ones suffering from it, feel like its no big deal. They think that not being able to breathe while trying to deal with a multitude of emotions is normal. It\u2019s not. Most of the time, major psychological disorders end up stemming from an anxiety disorder itself. And a lot of the times, the individuals suffering from it don\u2019t realize this, which is why they never open up to anyone about it, or try to get help. It\u2019s a common mistake, one I made too but when I was ready to talk about it, I didn\u2019t have any person I trusted enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>People suffering from anxiety should avoid whatever is causing their fear.<\/strong>Avoidance won\u2019t help you. If anything, it\u2019ll make you build your anxiety further, because the more you avoid something which causes you a certain amount of stress or discomfort, the worse it gets. And the more you face your fears, or situations of even mild discomfort to you, the stronger you become \u2013 emotionally and physically. I had to learn this the hard way, since I had no medium of expressing my feelings, for the most part I would suppress them, but once I learned how to deal with them and talk to people about it without feeling like there was something terribly wrong, it gave me strength.&nbsp;<em>Enough strength to be able to write this.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>It only builds from one form of fear or trauma.&nbsp;<\/strong>While anxiety may come from a certain event that has occurred in your life, it could also be due to the genetic make-up of a person. The way you\u2019re wired directly affects your behavior and the kind of person you are, which makes you that much more or that much less susceptible to anxiety or depression, or any other psychological disorder for that matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For me, it was everything that triggered my anxiety \u2013 the fact that I wasn\u2019t included in group activities, the fact that my friends didn\u2019t care about me, the fact that I would put myself out there for everyone I cared about and get nothing in return, (not even a morsel of appreciation) turned me into the person I am today. I\u2019ve built up a wall over the past few years and it takes me a really long to be able to trust anyone, but when I do, it\u2019s for a lifetime. Fake people don\u2019t surprise me anymore, loyal people do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;<strong>There aren<\/strong><strong>\u2019<\/strong><strong>t any physical symptoms.&nbsp;<\/strong>When someone feels physically unwell due to anxiety, they are not imagining it. It is as much a physical and mental disorder as depression\/OCD\/PTSD\/Schizophrenia, etc. Most of the symptoms, in fact, are a sign that you are suffering from some form of anxiety. When people say, \u201cI can\u2019t breathe\u201d, it\u2019s not an expression. There is a constant lump in your throat, your eyes well up with tears and the next thing you know you\u2019re crying on the bathroom floor telling yourself your life has no meaning and that you\u2019d much rather die, because that\u2019s genuinely how intense anxiety can get \u2013 its how intense my anxiety was at one point in time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;The last two years have been the most difficult ones of my life, having to deal with this as well as Class 12 boards and college applications and all the stress that comes along with it. If it weren\u2019t for a few individuals in my life, I would not be standing here today, alive and more hopeful than I\u2019ve ever been. I\u2019vespent 3 weeks at Jindal University, and I am already so comfortable with the people here \u2013 the seniors are so welcoming and are willing to help you with anything and everything, the professors could be mistaken for your friends, they\u2019re that approachable and comfortable to talk to, and lastly, my batch mates are all extremely good human beings, and I\u2019m really glad I have the opportunity to get know people from so many different backgrounds \u2013 this is what makes me sure that I\u2019m going to be comfortable in my new environment, and that my anxiety will only get better from here. This doesn\u2019t mean there won\u2019t be hard days, there will be, because I don\u2019t think I can ever get back to the person I was before. But maybe if I am able to make bonds and friendships with people I trust enough, I can get through it without falling apart. And to be extremely honest, there\u2019s nothing more I could ask for.<br><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was diagnosed with a mild anxiety disorder 2 years ago, and at that time I felt as though my world had come to a standstill. I did not have anyone to confide in \u2013 my family wouldn\u2019t, and still don\u2019t understand, and my friends would shrug it off like <a href=\"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/2016\/11\/19\/the-other-side-by-anonymous\/\" class=\"btn btn-link continue-link\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-perspectives"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":513,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/511\/revisions\/513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jgu.edu.in\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}