Saturday, May 5, 2012

National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week


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By Diane Forrest, RN

Seventeen years ago this July I married my husband.  Five months later he was injured on the job.  Since that time we had been dealing with Worker's Compensation to get care for him.  Eighteen months ago my husband passed away at the age of 52, still waiting for help from Worker's compensation.  Tomorrow I will be driving to Jackson to attend a hearing at the Worker's Compensation office to hopefully put an end to the nightmare that has gone on for over a third of my life.  As I have been preparing for this day I have gone through several emotions.  I have been Angry, Depressed, and Anxious and even relieved as this horrible part of my life may finally be coming to a close.

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I am particularly anxious about having to first make the ninety mile trip by myself, and the thought of driving in that traffic is already making me nervous.  Then the thought of facing the people who could have prevented my husband's death, but didn't is also causing me a great deal of anxiety.  I have been preparing what I am going to say, since I only have a limited time to speak, and they will be timing me.  It is hard to relive all the events that have happened, and I have spent many hours crying over things that never should have been, and the things that will never be.

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This week is National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week.  Mental health is defined as the way your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors affect your life. Having good mental health helps you make better decisions and deal with daily stressors at home, at work, and in your family. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, “anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults age 18 years and older (about 18 percent) in a given year, causing them to be filled with fearfulness and uncertainty.” Anxiety often causes people to become so stressed that they turn to alcohol and drugs as a coping mechanism. Without treatment these people continue to elevate their fears and they are unable to lead productive lives.

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AllAboutDepression.com “reports that depression affects approximately 19 million Americans, or 9.5 percent of the population in any given one-year period. At some point in their lives, 10 to 25 percent of women and 5 to 12 percent of men will likely become clinically depressed.” Whereas anxiety causes people to become frantic and stressed, depression weakens an individual’s state of mind and causes feelings of sadness.
Since 1994, the first week of May has been designated as National Anxiety and Depression Awareness Week to bring awareness and create venues for public education about anxiety and depressive illnesses.  To learn more about this week, and ways you can help, click on this site: http://www.freedomfromfear.org/NationalAnxietyandDepressionAwarenessWeek.en.html

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5 comments:




  1. Irrational and anxiety-provoking ideas are described and altered to lessen emotional suffering and the body's physical reaction to the perceived stressor.
    which is good news for those who suffer from both depression and anxiety.
    For more information:
    anxiety awareness

    ReplyDelete


  2. Symptoms are like any other biological symptoms and can be cured not just by letting it take over on the person but by the person taking the initiative to know and improve his or her own reaction.
    To suffer from an anxiety attack is tantamount to a mental disorder is not true in generally most cases.
    For more information: symptoms of anxiety attack

    ReplyDelete

  3. On a more positive note, of those that did hire someone with a mental health problem, more than half said the experience had been "positive".
    Although a number of government initiatives, awareness campaigns and organisations have been set up specifically to tackle mental health stigma and change our attitudes towards mental health in general, there is still a long way to go.
    See more: anxiety mental health awareness

    ReplyDelete
  4. Most positively, the majority say that the experience was "free" for those who hired someone with a psychological problem.

    While different governmental activities, consciousness cruises and associations have been established explicitly for the management of emotional disgrace and for changing our perspectives on psychological well-being, everything remains to be done.
    Read about psychology

    ReplyDelete

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