“Hey, you’re not the only one to be anxious — stop complaining!”
“Dessert is the best solution to all types of anxiety or stress!”
There’s a big difference between anxiety and stress, and most people don’t understand how all-consuming anxiety can be. In fact, these consoling terms ignore the facts behind anxiety and worsen the symptoms. There are many myths about anxiety, that continue to stigmatize anxiety and act as barriers in fully understanding an anxiety disorder or the way it affects the life of the individual.
The myths about anxiety fall in a spectrum, one end it is either belittled or dismissed as something everyone experiences to an extent. Whereas at the other end of the spectrum, anxiety is associated to affect only those with other mental disorders or those with the inability to cope with life stressors.
In fact, General Anxiety disorder (GAD) is much more complex and myths associated with anxiety can camouflage the truths and fail to address the people who really need help or assistance in understanding their issues.
Among the many misconceptions that exist, the following are often quoted in relation to anxiety:
Myth # 1: Anxiety is not a real mental illness
Fact: We all experience some level of anxiety, which is natural and essential for us to face challenges involving activities of daily living. These are the anticipatory or life-changing moments such as attending exams, or interview or when you’re standing at wedding podium. When the natural anxiety takes on the form of a disorder, it causes negative impairment leading to behavioural, psychological and physical symptoms affecting normal functioning.
People with an anxiety disorder diagnosable by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Health, fifth edition (DSM-5) must have a certain number of symptoms that persist for at least six months. Anxiety disorders can be extremely debilitating and distressing to an individual.
Myth #2 : It’s just a personality trait
Fact: Individuals with personality traits need not always inherit anxiety disorder.
One classic example is shyness vs social anxiety. Shyness and introversion are personality traits. People with these traits may have difficulty talking to people they don’t know or value their time away from others. In contrast, social anxiety disorder is a mental illness, where individuals can experience a significant amount of fear, embarrassment or humiliation in social situations, to the point where the person avoids the situations entirely or endures them with a high level of distress. While many people with a social anxiety disorder are shy, shyness is not a pre-requisite for social anxiety disorder.
When an individual is clinically diagnosed with GAD, it can not be considered as a “personality trait” but a mental illness.
Myth #3: Exercise and healthy eating will cure your anxiety
Fact: Regular exercise activity helps to increase endorphins and regulate mood, which can have an impact on anxiety, but does not treat anxiety.
Regular exercising and eating habits have an impact on the stability of mood and help to reduce stress levels. For example, individuals prefer coffee or their favourite cocktail as a remedy to anxiety. However good it may sound, just like exercise, food impacts the mood, not the illness. Regular exercise and healthy eating may help to manage anxiety but not a cure to mental illness.
Myth 4: Someone with anxiety should avoid stressful situations
Fact: People who suffer from anxiety often have certain triggers or stressors tend to aggravate their symptoms, or lead to feelings of panic. Avoiding stressors might help individuals with anxiety, however, it is not possible. In fact, stressful situations are an important part of managing anxiety. Effective anxiety treatment usually involves gradually and safely exposing to the source of the anxiety. Despite the negative feelings, these situations and challenges help the individual in learning and adapting the coping strategies. On the other hand, avoiding stressful situations may increase the symptoms and keeps individuals on flight mode.
Myth#6: The only way to treat anxiety is with medication
Fact: Anxiety disorders are treatable medical conditions. Medication is one option for managing anxiety and can be life-changing for some people, however, there are effective alternatives. These include therapeutic approaches such as Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), Exposure Therapy, Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (DBT), Interpersonal Therapy (IPT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Mindfulness-based approaches.
The anxiety management and stress coping strategies can often be combined, and proven effective with the right support. The treatment plan varies according to individual needs.
Myth #7: People with anxiety have a ‘nervy’ disposition
Fact: Although anxiety is extremely debilitating to those who suffer from it, it is often not noticeable to people around them. It can often be hard to tell if someone has an anxiety disorder. Individuals with GAD can mask their symptoms, they may tend to dismiss or ignore the physical symptoms. In some ways, this can make anxiety worse or more difficult to manage.
Even the most confident and outgoing person can experience anxiety. The thing to remember is that if the behaviour of someone you care for has changed, look beneath the surface and talk to them to try and find out what is going on.
Myth #8: Real anxiety is having panic attacks
Fact: Panic attacks can be part of anxiety, but not always. Statistics show that about 35–50% of adults will experience at least one panic attack in their lifetime. But this does not mean they are living with an anxiety disorder. It’s estimated that 6.8% of adults will experience panic attacks that are frequent enough to meet the criteria for panic disorder.
There are many anxiety disorders, and all may or may not experience a panic attack.
Myth #9: Anxiety will go away on its own
Fact: Anxiety disorders can be chronic and persistent, and if not dealt with properly, anxiety symptoms are likely to worsen or return. Those who are still able to work and function well enough often delay getting help, hoping the anxiety will get better on its own.
Unfortunately, anxiety cant disappears on its own. It is also important to factor that anxiety can co-occur with other mental health conditions such as depression, which requires treatment.
Myth #10: Anxiety disorders are not common
Fact: Anxiety disorders are the most common mental disorders, and 33.7% of adults in the United States will experience an anxiety disorder in their lifetime. There are different types of anxiety, and the prevalence varies depending on the disorder.
The Singapore Mental Health Survey (2010) found that about 100,000 Singapore residents (aged 18 and above) had anxiety disorders at some point in their lives. It took an average of 6 to 9 years for persons with anxiety disorders to seek help from the onset of illness.
Myth: Anxiety is a problem mostly for adults.
Fact: Anxiety affects both children and adults Although anxiety is the most common mental illness for adults, it’s also common in children. About 7 per cent of children aged 3-17 years old (about 4.4 million kids) have diagnosed anxiety, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Anxiety can cause children behavioural, emotional, and physical symptoms in children, just as they can in adults.
Learn more about anxiety and break free from from myths.
Medical Disclaimer: StrokesandHopes aims to improve people’s quality of life struggling with substance use or mental health disorder with fact-based content about the nature of behavioural health conditions, treatment options, and their related outcomes. The material published is researched, cited, edited and reviewed by certified Psychotherapist. The information provided is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
Durga is a compassionate Counsellor with a diverse experience in Physical Therapy, Counselling and Business management. She believes in the client-centred integrative framework and has proven experience working with the client from a wide variety of demographic and cultural backgrounds. Approaches duties with diligence to support holistic healing as indicated through a strong history of related volunteer work, combined with targeted education.