Blogging My Way to A Solution

 I ultimately dealt with my anxiety issues through the help of others who were also suffering from anxiety disorders in their own lives. When I first experienced my anxiety issues I used to feel I a was alone in my struggle, and during my school days I used to envy the classmates I knew who were the most popular and active kids in my school.  They would arrange group events, were the first to give a speech during class, everybody wanted to be their friends, and they were well-known by teachers, parents, and students alike.  Due to the fact that I felt inadequate and wanted to be just like them for all of my school years, I ended up feeling a great deal self-pity.

College Years

This continued throughout the majority of my college years as well, where I used to be jealous of the girls who would behave with confidence, friendliness, and engagement with others – Observing their happiness seemed to make things worse. During this time I felt that I was truly not worthy of anything and that I was a useless student, and upon graduating from college I joined a call center and ended up being verbally abused by strangers from all over the world, all day, and every day.  Although I hated my job and wanted to leave, I didn’t know whether or not I was qualified for any other type of work, I had few friends, and my parents seemed to have lost hope in me long ago.  During this time I also happened to fall in love with the wrong guy who just used me and left me when I needed him the most.

During this time I had lost all hope in my life, and I was looking for a new job to earn a living. While browsing the web I saw a statistic indicating that six million Americans have a panic disorder and forty million have an anxiety disorder. At that time I was shocked to learn about the fact that so many were suffering just like me – Throughout my whole life I have wanted somebody to understand me and for someone else to express feelings that were similar to my own. At that moment I felt that I was not alone, and I wanted to meet as many of these other suffering people as I could in order to share my feelings with them and learn about their experiences as well.

Blogging Begins

I immediately started a blog for people with anxiety disorders, and since I had many things locked in my heart which I had wanted to share for years, I wrote many pages of honest content, and I just completely opened up to what I was feeling and encouraged the readers to do so as well.  My page views increased considerably within a few days, and we all discussed our depression, fear, negative feelings, and life challenges with each other. People who suffered from anxiety also shared how they overcame their challenges, which was helpful to everyone.

Once I had taken this step I no longer felt inferior, and I was actually proud to be the owner of a blog that was helping so many others who had been suffering like me. Suddenly I felt that I intuitively knew everybody who had shared their anxiety issues with the group, and we felt like family - We updated each other on our daily activities and continued to share our past experiences where anxiety had played a significant role in challenging us throughout our lives.

These days when I share my feelings with others I feel that I have established a positive connection with them, which helps me to feel that I am not suffering and struggling alone. As a team we experimented with a variety of techniques, which help to reduce our states of anxiety, and we discuss the differences that these strategies have made in our lives and our progress over time. We also discuss with each other how medications for anxiety may work and their many side effects.

During this period of openness and sharing my feelings with others, I was able to discuss my options with everyone, and I finally discovered what worked for me.  I went to therapy, which was suggested by one of my readers, and this turned out to be very effective for me. I practiced breathing exercises and meditation to control my fear and to cultivate a state of peace. Meanwhile, I also reduced my caffeine intake which was suggested by one of my blog readers, and this was effective for further reducing my anxiety.

Purpose

During this time I no longer allowed anxiety to rule my life, and I felt increasingly responsible for my readers.  I wanted to serve as an example to others, and I became a successful full time blogger, which provided me with immense confidence.  I conducted research and suggested many effective strategies to my readers which included meditation, yoga, sports, prayer, exercise, etc. When my readers came back to me with complaints about how certain strategies didn’t work out for them, I advised that they wait for the results because things don’t actually work overnight when you are making a massive change like this. We are working with the mind here, and this is one of the most critical parts of our experience to train and cultivate, but it’s one of the least addressed by most people, so to control its activities requires alot of effort and patience. When a reader would report that he or she was finally able to overcome his or her anxiety because of this blog, I would feel inspired, which would assist me with imagining my anxiety problems leaving my life. On my blog I have also suggested many positive thinking and self management books which has proven to have helped many readers. 

From this experience I have learned that sharing and helping others seems to relieve both my pain and the pain of others, which brings happiness to both the giver and the receiver.  Is that a surprise?

-Anonymous Contributor