Knowing & Doing

When I first started showing symptoms of Panic and GAD, I didn’t know what the hell was going on. One minute I was fine living life the next I thought I was going to die. It took me a number of months before a General Practitioner informed me I need to see a Mental Health Specialist. On his recommendation I start going to the local Mental Health Facility and from there I’ve been getting treatment.

It has taken me many years to get to the point of being open about my condition. On many sides of my life the people I’m surrounded by have very narrow views of the human condition. I’m sure many would disagree with my assessment but one’s opinions are their own.

My point here is, knowing what is going on is the first step in being able to do something about it. I feel that a lot of us choose to ignore things, things that in reality shouldn’t be ignored. A recent example would be my heart attack. For years I’ve known my GAD has put a strain on me physically and that the final two courses of my grad studies were multiplying that by a thousand.

But what I thought was simple upset stomach from the GAD was actually my heart being pushed to the edge. While my Generalized Anxiety Disorder was a big part of it, other bad habits I had acquired were major contributors as well. By choosing to ignore what my body saying like, “Hey! Do you really need that third helping” or “Shouldn’t you put that pipe down now”; I nearly killed myself without GAD.

All I’m suggesting is don’t ignore what your mind and bodies tell you. Don’t just put a Band-Aid on a cut that requires stitches. Discover what the problem is and then do something about it.