Member-only story
The Dangerous Side Effects of Fear: Anxiety Overdose
By Devonae Manderson
The dangerous side effects of fear. The often-harsh reality of living with anxiety and how your overall health can be impacted.
We often hear about, or even experience for ourselves, the ghastly chest compressing fear that comes with doing things we aren’t used to doing, meeting new people, or going to new places. It is difficult to not take notice of the looks of bewilderment directed my way when attempting something new and I fold into a stream of tears upon actually going to get that action done.
I’ve lost friendships, and possible job opportunities because of what I was forced to believe was the fear of my own potential. However, I’ve come to understand that anxiety simply isn’t the fear of one’s own goals or dreams, but rather the inexplicably inescapable fear of everything, anything, and nothing at all.
The lack of knowledge about issues such as anxiety in the collective Jamaican consciousness, especially within homes, has forced many young men and women to keep their mouths shut while experiencing mental and emotional challenges while facing the most stressful of situations. Despite putting on an unbothered face for the crowd, many of us scream at ourselves on the inside to become and to portray whatever image of normalcy those around us wish to see…
