Your heart is racing. Your palms are sweaty. You begin to get dizzy and feel nauseous. Your body trembles with fear. You feel like you can’t quite catch your breath, and your chest has a stabbing pain inside of it. You feel like you may die.
You may think that these are symptoms of a heart attack, but they may also be symptoms of an anxiety attack. Karen Franklin, director of outpatient services at ServiceNet in Greenfield, wants people in the community to be more aware of anxiety.
“So many people walk around suffering with symptoms that they don’t need, and that they don’t get treatment for,” Franklin said. “There’s fear, like ‘what does this really mean?’”
In reality, anxiety is common for many people. But, what happens for some is that it becomes overwhelming and begins to manifest itself physically, as well as mentally. Even if you don’t have the symptoms above, others, such as rushing thoughts, uneasiness, poor sleep and agitation may all be signs. And Franklin wants people to be aware of these symptoms and to not be afraid to seek help, even if they feel that those around them may not be accepting of it.
“Our society isn’t the best about getting help for mental health events,” she said. “You have a cardiac event, you go to a cardiologist, but when you have symptoms related to mental health, people are less likely to get help.”
If someone seeks help, they may not only find that they feel much better once the symptoms subside, but that it may not have been that hard to relieve themselves of symptoms in the first place.
Franklin said the most common route of treatment is therapy and medication. The medications, which she said are mostly non-addictive, help to regulate chemicals in the brain, while therapy will help someone cope with stress or help them to relax.
Franklin also said that there are other options. Lifestyle choices, such as exercising regularly, reducing intake of stimulating substances like coffee, tea or energy drinks and regular and sufficient sleep may all help those afflicted. Also, activities like acupuncture and massage may be useful.
But Franklin wants those who are suffering from possible anxiety to talk to their doctors first.
“It’s very important that people get checked by their doctor to rule out any medical issues that could cause the symptoms, but then if they say that there is no medical cause, then they can seek out mental health practitioners,” she said.
“Everyone experiences anxiety in their lives. To be human is to experience anxiety,” Franklin said. “It’s when it becomes more than that, then there’s a problem — when it interferes with living with your life.”
For those who are interested in seeking help or finding out more about axiety and its disorders, talk to your doctor about the treatment options available. If your feelings of anxiety are overwhelming, or if you or anyone has thoughts of self-harm or other severe mood conditions, call Franklin County crisis services at (413)774-5411, or 1-800-562-0112. You may also call ServiceNet in Greenfield at (413)772-2935.