Mental Illness Is Not “All In Your Head”
“ The expression “ I’ve got butterflies in my stomach” sounded cute before I experienced my first panic attack. Those are NOT butterflies. Butterflies are colourful creatures that float lithely in the wind.
Anxiety feels like killer wasps armed with knives have coordinated an airstrike in your guts, and an unwanted companion named Dread has made a home in your chest.”
It was particularly bad week. I could not get to work on time because I couldn’t pull myself away from my bathroom floor. I was violently ill on an empty stomach, throwing up every morning because I feared facing people in the day ahead.
My best friend stayed with me and would clock in late to the office with me. I knew she felt frustrated as she always wore her heart on her sleeve. And I? I felt confused and like the world’s biggest let down. “ I’m sorry. I don’t know why this is happening,” I apologised repeatedly.
When we talk about heartbreak, anxiety, depression or any other negative emotional experience, we focus on how it feels, how it makes us feel, and what it makes us do. Yet for some, like me, a rational and scientific explanation can also help unravel the confusing state at hand.
Mental illnesses have real physical effects. Contrary to what some may (very unhelpfully) advise, it isn’t all in your head. Harvard Health Publishing explains that:
“Anxiety is a reaction to stress that has both psychological and physical features. The feeling is thought to arise in the amygdala, a brain region that governs many intense emotional responses. As neurotransmitters carry the impulse to the sympathetic nervous system, heart and breathing rates increase, muscles tense, and blood flow is diverted from the abdominal organs to the brain. In the short term, anxiety prepares us to confront a crisis by putting the body on alert.”
In short, no it’s not just a feeling of fear that you can instantly suck up and get over. Your body is literally being counter productive because it’s natural defence mechanisms are kicking in.
As someone that looks for rational explanations behind unexpected circumstances, reading scientific papers and informed pieces on how depression and anxiety happens biologically and psychologically to understand what was happening in my body helped enormously. It was comforting for me to be able to say “Ok, all those constant butterflies recking havoc in my stomach is cortisol produced by my adrenal glands as a response to stress. I can reduce it through doing moderate to high intensity exercise to circulate my cortisol levels right now”.
I also underwent cognitive behavioural therapy to learn more about my particular problems, dismiss unfound fears and negative thoughts, and learn new techniques or skills to adopt more constructive behaviours and manage my emotional wellbeing.
Consulting a psychotherapist and/or general practitioner can be extremely useful to understand your exact circumstances, the biological and psychological causes, and find the solutions that works best for you. After all, mental illnesses are very real and can have significant consequences on your physical and mental health. Equip yourself with the best tools and resources for the battle at hand.
