Mental Illness Awareness Week - Living with Anxiety

Over social media recently I am reading tweets,statuses and Tumblr posts about Mental Illness Awareness Week and as it is World Mental Health day I thought I would share my story about anxiety. Someone, somewhere has woke up dealing with their own personal struggles and problems which can affect them on a day to day basis.

For someone with anxiety they sometimes wish they didn't wake up from their dreams as they have to deal with daily life. People with anxiety have different types or different triggers which affect that person. For example, I get myself worked up over the littlest things, but I have learnt different strategies and techniques to help me keep a positive frame of mind. Here is a link which has different information and resources to help with Anxiety.

One of the worst things for me having anxiety is the panic and anxiety attacks especially when I have asthma. Trying to describe what it is like having anxiety is difficult, but I found a Tumblr post which is close to what it feels like so 'Having an anxiety disorder is like that moment where your chair almost tips or you miss a step going down the stairs but it never stops' 
It is like a wave of emotions, feelings and thoughts just hits you then you cannot breathe and with every breath you just keep panicking and worrying that it won't stop. Anything can just trigger this type of attack so here are a few things which can help someone who is experiencing a panic or anxiety attack.

A very useful thing to do that someone can use do during an attack, especially when it occur is to control your breathing. Breathing is one of the most important things you can do in this situation as you are gasping for air with every exhale. One of  the important things which helped me if you have asthma is taking my inhaler with me everywhere. So if it occurs I just take as many puffs as I need of my inhaler and it helps me to focus my breathing again so I can start breathing exercise.

One of the worst things someone can do in this position is crowding someone as it limits the oxygen around the individual and sometimes the amount of people can be overwhelming.


When I am getting worked up and upset over something, I feel an attack may occur. I found that listening to music helps me. It is different techniques for everyone, but I discover that putting my headphones and concentrating on breathing exercise can benefit me when I am feeling overwhelmed or upset.  Another trigger for my anxiety is the lack of sleep which makes me tired or distressed, so I try get my sleep pattern into a routine and sometimes a nap can make me feel better. But this may not be the case for everybody.




Here is also some information about Panic and Anxiety attacks and some tips which may help:

There is very beneficial if you end up in this type of situation where someone has one of these attacks. Out of my own experience, something which has prompted an attack is drinking alcohol, which I have had the experience of pain in my chest causing me to worry that it was going get worse which has affected my breathing. I managed to control this attack from occurring by doing three things the first thing I did was remove myself from the situation which has happened in the club. So what I did was I went to the bathroom or outside to get my breathing under control using the breathing exercises. After I calmed myself, I then use my inhaler to ensure the problem is not my asthma. Finally, I had a glass of water to help with the pain I am feeling and eventually the ache goes so I try continue my night or I will go home depending on how I am feeling.


For someone who doesn't understand anxiety or how someone with anxiety is feeling, then here are some posts which can explain some definitions of various experiences with anxiety. I will try to explain with my own knowledge of the perspective. So firstly 'People without anxiety just have no idea what it’s like to feel so much worry for something they “think” is so small and “not a big deal".  Right I have had many moments where someone has said something about me and it is has had a huge impact on me. For example,  if someone says I am annoying, I feel like this person must think I am annoying all of the time and they are just putting up with me. But I have learnt that I shouldn't care what people think of me because in the future this person may not even been in my life so what is the point letting this person get to me? I also feel like everyone can be annoying at times as no one is perfect. I use a positive outlook on the over thinking allowing it  to reassures myself so I feel so much better.

Another post is 'You know that unexplained sickish feeling where you're not really sick and you don't really have a headache, but you just feel wrong and you can't get comfortable or find something that you're really into but you kinda feel too ill to sleep or eat its like your body saying “I don't know what i want you to do but this isn't  it”.

At university last year my attendance was hugely impacted by my anxiety effecting me which caused me to be unwell. I was getting so stressed and upset due to a number of different factors such as assessments, personal issues or over thinking silly things. This led to me feeling so ill and tired that I spend days in bed sleeping the days away but I got myself back on track with the amazing support of my friends and family. I managed to improve my attendance slowly, I got support from my university and I kept a positive outlook, Using different techniques such as exercising, listening music,visiting home and socializing with my university friends. This is the first time I have written about my major struggle with anxiety and only a few people knew that I was getting myself unwell because of it. Sometimes it go to the point where I couldn't eat or sleep properly so it led to me sleeping all day instead which is not healthy.

As you can see in my Facebook statuses as I was having a difficult time with my health due to my anxiety. I was also having personal problems with everything and everyone so I am just glad people can read this and understand what I was going through. University can be a lonely and difficult place sometimes where everyone can have those days or struggle with things.

After this is hiccup in my university life I managed to improve my grades with assessments, I got extra support with my education with the help of my DSA (which I covered in an earlier blog post) and even got help with understanding my anxiety more. Even today I still have those days where I just want to stay in bed and ignore everything but I think myself, this won't help me, I need to keep moving forward to a more positive future.

The last post is one which I think is extremely important for people to understand so 'Never get mad at someone with anxiety for apologizing a lot. It’s a coping mechanism and yelling only makes it worse. They don’t need tough love or anything like that. Reassurance that they are fine is the most important thing'.
Personally, I do either apologized or get worked up at someone who is arguing with me or having ago at me because It won't help the situation, especially as it can trigger someones anxiety causing them to get upset,suffer from an attack or make them feel bad. Talk to someone in a calm manner about how you are feeling or what your problems are will help make the person suffering with this mental health issue feel so much more relaxed allowing them to respond appropriately in the type of situation. Just because you don't understand their mental health problem, it does not give you the right to be rude, insulting,or yell at someone as I have recently experienced this on a night out.

Reassurance is very significant to someone with anxiety as some people are constantly worried or upset about what people think of them or how they feel about them. It is the same for everyone we all can be concerned or paranoid about things. So reassuring towards someone about how you actually feel about them or compliment them can allows that person to feel calm, allowing their feelings and thoughts to be more positive.

Here is some positivity to just remind people even know you are struggling to keep moving forward and it will improve!






So just remember this as this is very important so read this:

The only reason someone is aware if someone is having an attack if the person suffering speaks out or someone notices the signs that the attack is happening! Just remember everyone everyday struggle with this! I am aware everyone struggles with their own problems, thoughts and feelings which I respect can be very difficult. I am not trying to make it a competition, I just want people to be more aware of anxiety. I am trying to help people understand some tips, techniques and/or insight of the life of someone living with anxiety. I couldn't be more thankful for my friends and family for their amazing support. From the panic attacks to understanding my struggles to just dealing with me been a nightmare sometimes.


To you all who support and care for me, I am extremely grateful to have you in my life and I couldn't be more happier to say that you are the reason why I get up in the morning and you are the reason why I am so much more positive and happier today.

To the people who also have anxiety, keep moving forward and you can do this! You should be proud of yourself and what you have achieved within your life! :)
Please remember this post if you are
dealing with an attack or having a tough day!

Here is some links to anyone who wants any information or advice on Anxiety by clicking here and here

For anyone on tumblr who need advice click here

For anyone on twitter, you should check out and follow Anxiety related pages click here and here

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog post!  :)
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Apologies for anyone spelling, grammar or sentence structure mistakes!