Should I get help for my anxiety? with Nisha - Podcast Shownotes

Across the mental health landscape, there are a variety of different professionals you can seek help from. In this Conversation, we delve deeper into who you might seek help from based on your individual circumstance, differentiating between a natural level of anxiety and clinically diagnosed anxiety, and how you can manage anxiety on a day-to-day basis. 

When it comes to seeking professional help, many people face obstacles that include lacking the support of their loved ones or not acknowledging that they have a problem. Only now are we normalising conversations about mental health and emotions, but it remains alien to older generations, resulting in a problematic gap in awareness. 

Understanding mental health, anxiety included, comes from a process of learning and enaction. By proactively seeking help, you might be able to nip it in the bud. 

Podcast excerpts

The following interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Alyssa: What is the difference between a psychotherapist, psychologist, psychiatrist, and hypnotherapist?

Nisha: There are three broad categories of mental health professionals: psychiatrists, psychologists, and counselors and psychotherapists. Only psychiatrists can prescribe medication for mental health. If you’re in a dire situation or feel like your functioning has been severely impaired, go to a psychiatrist first. Visit a psychologist if you are uncertain and are facing some symptoms for a professional opinion and diagnosis. 

After identifying whatever concern or diagnosis you have with a psychiatrist or psychologist, the work continues: that’s where psychotherapists, mental health counselors, and even some psychologists come in. People go to hypnotherapists for habits, addictions, phobias, and body processes – where you’re working with intrinsic emotions and patterns. 

Alyssa: What is anxiety? And what is the difference between day-to-day anxiety versus clinically diagnosed anxiety?

Nisha: Anxiety in your day-to-day life is that feeling of nervousness before a job interview, a review in front of your boss, or taking a test in school. Anxiety and uncertainty naturally go hand-in-hand, and experiencing such anxiety is normal. In a normal realm of experience for any type of feeling, you experience the feeling before it eventually settles. 

Anxiety becomes a problem when it’s a persistent and intrusive low-grade feeling that doesn’t settle. Simple situations feel excessive and overwhelming, and you find yourself thinking about things that make you anxious, sometimes at random. Panic attacks or anxiety attacks don't necessarily entail a clinical diagnosis of anxiety unless it’s accompanied by low-grade, persistent anxiety. 

But when anxiety affects your day-to-day life (your work, relationships, physical health), seek help. Professionals have a very unique advantage: they know what they're doing. Find someone who can hold that space for you without judgment, so they can journey with you objectively. 

Alyssa: What is something someone can do in the here and now if they’re dealing with a panic attack?

Nisha: If you're by yourself, it comes back to focusing on something. Force yourself to breathe. If you can't, then focus your attention on a spot. When it becomes too overwhelming, make a phone call if you can or let the nearest (and calmest!) person to you know. 

To help someone experiencing a panic attack, the immediate thing is being aware of your own state. If you feel centred and can hold space, then be there with them. Encourage them to breathe; if it's safe, hold them or just pat their shoulder. It’s important to mirror the behaviour you want – show a demeanour of calm so they can absorb that energy. Later, you may bring up the idea of getting support as panic attacks can be debilitating if they happen continuously over time. 

Alyssa: Is anxiety treatable or is it a lifelong condition?

Nisha: Of course it is treatable! But this is where seeking help comes in. If you're going through it alone, you might eventually figure a way out of it, but you lose precious time and connections when you can’t show up to work or socially. Is it worth it if someone could help you find a way out? Because sometimes, we have our own blind spots that drag us down. 

To manage anxiety proactively, you could seek mental health help to find things that work for you. Many people love meditation and mindfulness: some like music-based meditation, others like looking out into nature. Go online to find resources and talk to people; there are programs that might give targeted solutions, strategies and ideas, so I invite you to explore.

Calm Conversations is a podcast series launched and facilitated by Calm Collective Asia. A means of sharing personal experiences, lessons, and advice, we speak to people from all walks of life about topics that are universally relevant yet often still taboo in the hope of normalising conversations about mental health. 

Available on Spotify, Google, and Apple, you can tune in whenever and wherever. We hope that by listening in, you feel less alone, learn something new, and find the courage to continue these conversations with the people around you. Stay calm!