It's okay

 To those of you who have read my little blog before, I have mentioned quite a few times that I'm an advocate for raising awareness of panic attacks and anxiety.

For many years, I've suffered with anxiety and panic attacks. Don't ask me where they came from because I have absolutely no idea. I find it quite difficult to talk about because I think the stigma surrounding the issue is still there and even though I try my best not to feel overpowered by it, I still feel like it's quite a difficult thing to openly discuss. Personally, I've managed to tackle the demon that is anxiety with the help of my family, boyfriend and friends. I wish I could tell you how I did this but honestly, it took me quite a long time to come to terms with it. I find that the more attention I pay to a worry, the worse it becomes. This is completely different from person to person so please, if you are finding something hard, talk to your friends and family about it.  

My anxiety came from worries. Insane worries which seemed ridiculous when I actually said them out loud but to me, they were very real. The more I thought about them, the worse they'd get and in the end, I'd get myself into a bit of state over something that shouldn't have affected me at all. I don't really spend a lot of time thinking about the things I used to worry about because I've learnt how to keep them at bay. 

One of the main things that I think my anxiety affected was my social life. My anxiety stopped me from going places and doing things and I became someone that my friends maybe wouldn't have recognised. What I felt was worse was that the people who were meeting me for the first time in University thought that this was the person I was which kinda made me realise that I had to sort it all out. 

After a tough half a year in 2012, I finally chilled out and started looking after myself in July-ish where I went on holiday with my cousins and left my mobile at home. Just one week away allowed me to have some time to myself where I was able to take those lovely long walks on the beach on my own and gave me the time to feel free of any problems, troubles and worries. Even now, I honestly think that that one week gave me the break I needed to make a change with my anxiety. 

It's not been over 6 months since I last felt a smidge of anxiety. That's 6 months free of panic attacks and honestly, it feels incredible. I'm happy, content and relaxed. 

The reason why I wanted to bring this up is because I think I need to start saying "yes" to more opportunities like Zoe from the blog Zoella does. When you say "yes" you are opening your life to SO many more possibilities and it allows you to try things that you probably wouldn't have tried before. You never know, you may say "yes" to something that turns out to open a huge and important door in your life. 

It's incredibly important and vital that bloggers like Zoe who have a strong following of readers discuss issues like anxiety because it means that the girls and guys who look up to her can see that anxiety and panic attacks can affect anyone and everyone. And, with more magazines like Glamour and their "Hey, It's Okay" campaign encouraging young girls to come out and talk about their struggles, I hope that more people feel confident enough to tackle the issue. 

I know that I do write about this issue quite a lot on my blog, even though I do say that I find it incredibly hard to do so, but I just hope that if I can talk about it then you guys can too and hopefully more people can kick anxiety in the groin like I have. 

I'm not naive, I know that this will be with me for the rest of my life but I know that I'm strong enough to not let it affect my life to the extent that it used to. It's NORMAL to feel a bit of anxiety. It's life's way of allowing us to assess situations and dangers but it's not normal when it affects your life every single day.  With the help of my incredible boyfriend, who has more patience than I could ever have, I know I'll be fine. 

So it's about time you were as well. 


By Mimi  x
If you need some help, visit: http://www.mind.org.uk/


Twitter: @miaholt Instagram: Mia_Holt