Breaking the cycle
Society as a whole tends to shun things that are unknown to them. Something different is often perceived as threatening. As a result, we try to minimise that threat by invalidating it, or brushing it off. A person with anxiety, for example, can be coined as a "worry-wart," or someone who "takes stress unnecessarily upon themselves." The implication being that one does not have anxiety, but rather, chooses to be anxious. For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Similarly, a person with depression is often considered self-indulgent, and lazy. What people do not understand, however, is that these conditions are not a choice or an indulgence. People with depression and/or anxiety are often so debilitated by their overwhelming sense of sadness that they have somatic responses: eating and sleeping too much or too little; stomach-aches; chest pains; breathing problems. These somatic symptoms are not imaginary. They are the body's way of t...