If you've listened to our most recent episode, you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental health disorder in the US. Because of this, I think one of the hardest parts of dealing with anxiety is this overwhelming feeling that if everyone is anxious is anyone actually anxious? Like am I just experiencing a feeling that is normal? And if that's the case, does that mean I should just not make a big deal out of it?
I think that it is often hard for us to remember that just because others are dealing with something, that doesn't mean that we are not allowed to struggle too. Both things can be true, people around us can be having a hard time and so can we.
As rates of anxiety, and other mental health disorders, have gone up, I often hear people equating increase in prevalence to diminishing in importance. In other words, people will often say if something is more common that it is not as important - basically saying that if everyone has it than is it even important anymore?
Obviously, my answer is 100% yes. It doesn't matter how common a disorder is, if everyone is struggling with it then everyone deserves support. I think that a lot of times, our society is plagued with a short attention span. People will see increasing rates in mental health disorders and instead of remembering what the hell happened the last four years, they just assume that we are over diagnosing and that people are somehow weaker than they were before. And that tendecey of our society to look down on others instead of trying to understand the why of something happening is something that we can talk about on another day but it is important that I mention it.
Overall, if you feel like things have gotten harder recently, that you feel more on edge, that the world feels like a scarier place, chances are that the last 4 years (and even before that) have taken a toll on you. And that's ok. We appreciate and support you. Please know that you are not alone.
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