Procrastination Can Lead To Meaningfulness

Instead of doing my POLS1201 assignment, I began to listen to music and read, and then one of my favourite songs came on, which lead me to write this post.

The song is called "Anxiety" by Stilrize. Here is the video clip. Please watch it before you read on....it's kind of the point of the blog entry....

As I have said, this is one of my favourite songs. When a very close friend of mine was diagnosed with anxiety disorder (and a few other things), I wanted to know MORE. So I read studies, books, watched TV specials. They were informative, but they all described the how and why of panic attacks. Nothing described what it felt like to experience what my friend was experiencing daily, sometimes hourly. I wanted to know what made her cry and shake with fear. How could I? I didn't have what she was suffering with, and wouldn't know what it's like to have an anxiety attack unless I was diagnosed with the disorder myself.

My search for answers was becoming increasingly hard. Where do I look for something to tell me about the feelings experienced during a panic attack? Or just generally living with anxiety? Then I had a thought. Musicians have been talking about heartbreak for decades in there songs. Some artist, somewhere, MUST have written a song on anxiety....and I was right. It took a while, but I found a song. Now I have a clearer idea of what a living with anxiety is like, I may not know the full affects of Anxiety, but at least now I have some semblance of understanding.
Some of the lyrics of the song are very brutal in their honesty about what's it's like to live with this disorder.

"I wanna be somebody else for awhile to maybe get a little relief....I can feel it coming soon, scared to even leave this room"

People feel like they don't have to worry about anxiety because "it won't effect them". Well it can, and it could. My friend never thought her life would take the course it now does, I guess nobody every really does think their life will be so affected by something they can't see. But it was, and we've learnt to deal with it. It still amazes us our ignorant some people can be about Anxiety. Here are some facts for you, just because it "could never happen" to you....could it?

• About 10 % of Australians will be affected by anxiety disorders at some point in their life
• Women are more likely than men to report anxiety disorders (12% compared with 7.1%)
• The greatest numbers of people with a mental illness are in the 18-24 year age group.
• 14% of Australian children and adolescents aged 4-17 years have mental health problems. This rate of mental health problems is found in all age and gender groups, although boys are slightly more likely to experience mental health problems than girls.

(http://www.mindframe-media.info/site/index.cfm?display=85541)

The singer of Stilrize wrote this on his personal blog in relation to the song "Anxiety":

Trust me, I know this! Seeing therapists, and taking prescriptions just isn't enough sometimes. And sometimes you just don't know where to turn. I have struggled with severe Panic Disorder/High Anxiety/Depression for the past few years of my life, and it has been extremely hard to cope with at times. This is my way of expressing everything I have felt and endured.

I don't really have an idea of where this post was going till I sat here typing away about Anxiety. I think I finally figured out what I want to say.

People don't choose to be affected by certain things, they don't ask for things to happen to them. Yet they still happen and the person has to figure out a way to deal with it all. It can be hard, painful and at times a little too much. There can also be happiness and laughter too. Sometimes it takes a while for people to rise to the challenges that face them, but with support and personal courage they can achieve great things. Sometimes people surprise you; sometimes they surprise themselves.