4 ms·

I don't know anyone who thinks of 'having anxiety' as an out, identifying it as something that's negatively impacting your life is just the first step in making

I don't know anyone who thinks of 'having anxiety' as an out, identifying it as something that's negatively impacting your life is just the first step in making changes to reduce its presence. Furthermore the vast majority of people, with or without mental illness, are happier and more supported with some amount of therapy. If you can get that from your friends/partner alone, great, but often times it's quite beneficial for your relationships to take some of that emotional burden off of those people as well. I'm quite concerned about the rate of medication being prescribed these days, often as a band-aid fix when people really are in need of serious life/habit changes. But I'm really surprised by the amount of people in this thread talking down on psychology and psychotherapy.

raffraffraff 5y ago
Someone I know has social anxiety. They told me that when they read about it and could finally give it a name, it really helped. Up to that point, they just felt like they were an oddball. They couldn't really explain to anyone, which made it feel like they couldn't get help or do anything constructive about it. Being able to name it lets you know that other people also have it. It can help you feel more "normal". It can help you research ways to work with it. Of course, falling back on a diagnosed condition and using it as a crutch or an excuse for bad behaviour can be awful. I used to know a person with BPD, who absolutely loved being able to let herself off the hook for terrible behaviour. She would easily make friends, and sometimes would keep them for a few years. But eventually, one by one and sometimes in groups, they would cut her out of their lives because she was utterly toxic and selfish. So naming your problem can be positive or negative, but I think that depends on the nature of the problem.
- leoedin 5y ago
  I found putting a name to anxiety helped a great deal. I spent most of my childhood not really sure why some situations filled me with crippling fear - and felt like a failure because of it. As an adult I've realised it's a form of anxiety - and also that anxiety definitely runs in my mother's family. I think my teenage years would have been easier if my family had been willing to talk about our anxiety rather than just pretend it didn't exist. There is of course a danger that the diagnosis becomes an excuse - which is a particular problem with something like social anxiety where (at least in my experience) the only path to improvement is to face your fear and do whatever you're anxious about.

raffraffraff 5y ago

Someone I know has social anxiety. They told me that when they read about it and could finally give it a name, it really helped. Up to that point, they just felt like they were an oddball. They couldn't really explain to anyone, which made it feel like they couldn't get help or do anything constructive about it. Being able to name it lets you know that other people also have it. It can help you feel more "normal". It can help you research ways to work with it. Of course, falling back on a diagnosed condition and using it as a crutch or an excuse for bad behaviour can be awful. I used to know a person with BPD, who absolutely loved being able to let herself off the hook for terrible behaviour. She would easily make friends, and sometimes would keep them for a few years. But eventually, one by one and sometimes in groups, they would cut her out of their lives because she was utterly toxic and selfish. So naming your problem can be positive or negative, but I think that depends on the nature of the problem.

leoedin 5y ago
I found putting a name to anxiety helped a great deal. I spent most of my childhood not really sure why some situations filled me with crippling fear - and felt like a failure because of it. As an adult I've realised it's a form of anxiety - and also that anxiety definitely runs in my mother's family. I think my teenage years would have been easier if my family had been willing to talk about our anxiety rather than just pretend it didn't exist. There is of course a danger that the diagnosis becomes an excuse - which is a particular problem with something like social anxiety where (at least in my experience) the only path to improvement is to face your fear and do whatever you're anxious about.