7 News Belize

Anxiety, A Manageable Mental Illness
posted (August 1, 2014)
Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting more than 4 million people. But what about Belize? In a country where there is a stigma associated with mental illness, how can we address the issue of anxiety when those who may be suffering from this disorder have good reason to be afraid of being labeled "crazy"? Add to that, the fact that most healthcare professionals may not be trained to handle psychiatric emergencies - and you have a subject ripe for anxious concern. Our intern Robin Schaffer, tried to tackle some of those questions. Here's her report:

Robin Schaffer reporting
Martine King is a counselor who treats anxiety. She discussed how widespread anxiety disorders are in Belize.

Martine King
"I would say from the experience I've had there are a lot of people suffering with it, not only older people, middle-age people, male and female and a lot of young people even children who are in primary school are suffering with it, so definitely I would say its wide spread just like everywhere else in the world."

Robin Schaffer
"Is it trivialized by people because they don't want to treat it as a mental illness?"

Martine King
"I don't like to generalize. I think there are a lot of times there is a lot of stigma that comes on a whole with mental health, so it's like okay what I have somebody there who has a broken leg or I have someone with a physical ailment and they need to be treated first because I think mental illness on whole is seen as something that okay deal with it - you can wait, this person has a physical ailment and they need attention right away. For the most part I think that is what happens, so trivialize to me has a different meaning, but I would just say that it's definitely put on the back burner. It's important, they might know it's important but when it comes to something physical versus mental, the mental takes the back seat and I think that happens a lot unfortunately."

So did the mental take the backseat with Andrea Herbert, the 22 year old woman who walked to her death after suffering what seems to have been, an acute anxiety attack.

DATE: July 4th, 2014
Ismay Williams - Aunt of decased

"On more than one occasion, she told us that she wanted to kill herself because she doesn't understand this life, and why she has to go through so much challenges, like when she wants a job. If she doesn't get one quickly enough, she feels like it's too challenging for her. So, it's something where she always had in her mind."

Lovine Welch - Cousin of Deceased
"She likes to worry about things."

Ismay Williams
"Everything bothers her. If things don't work out fast enough for her, then she gets thrown off."

Sahar Vasquez knows that well enough. She is an 18 year old who was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder. She explained how something as commonplace as anxiety could drive someone off the edge.

Sahar Vasquez- Diagnosed with anxiety disorder
"I use to attend St. Catherine's Academy and when I was in 4th form my anxiety became too great and I had to withdraw and kind of get myself together and I can say it really paralyzed me."

Robin Schaffer
"Generally what triggers your anxiety?"

Sahar Vasquez
"Anything. Its generalize anxiety disorder, so the trigger is very general, so it can be something as simple as let's say I feel a little ache here, that ache becomes an obsession, so that's all I think about. To me that ache means I am going to get a heart attack and that's how anxiety works, it's a very vicious cycle."

Robin Schaffer
"Could you take me back to that moment when you realize that you do have anxiety which in turn is a mental illness?"

Sahar Vasquez
"I mean at first you don't really think it's anything serious, you like okay, its anxiety, I could handle that and then you get into the grid of it and I remember one night just sitting there crying and I just felt this overwhelming feeling of fear and this whole feeling I can't, I can't - you are just so scared. It's like you are in a plane crash and the plane is about to fall down, can you imagine how scared you might feel? That's how you feel with anxiety - you just want to do this and you just want to shake. I use to think I was crazy, like just put me in a mental asylum because I am just a crazy human being and I thought that because of what people portrayed us to be. Just because there is something mentally wrong with you does not mean you are crazy - you are just a little different and there is nothing wrong with being different. And you know what I am as capable of doing things that normal people can do and I don't want people like me to be scared because I understand that fear holds you back, but when it holds you back for too long it starts to well-up in you and then you explode and sometimes you do kill yourself."

And for many Belizeans suffering from mental illness, fear of being stigmatized has resulted in concealment of a disorder that is easily managed.

Martine King
"Aside from stigma which is one of the reasons a lot of people don't ask for help or don't seek help is a lot of times within ourselves we kind of say you know what I can handle this, this is just a headache, or this is just something I need to get use to or we drink or we smoke or we eat or we take prescription medication when we are not following the advice of a doctor, or we take it out on our kids or kids take it out on us. There are so many different ways that we've learnt to cope with these feelings just to not have to face the fact that okay this might be anxiety - this might be depression and I need to seek help."

So, what does one do when faced with a full on anxiety disorder? Well, according to Martine King, exercise, along with counseling and medication can keep anxiety at bay.

Martine King
"A certain amount of anxiety is normal, for example, I am anxious right now and when you leave I will probably be a lot less anxious than I am right now, but when it becomes chronic or when it's something that interrupting your life as you've said, find help, ask someone for help. Talk to somebody and try to find someone who you know will not have the dismissive attitude or the attitude of oh, you will be okay, don't worry about that, toughing it up, stop being so weak - no, that doesn't work. If that work then none of us would have this problem. So, I'd say find someone to talk to."

Well, for Sahar Vasquez, facing up to her illness has greatly improved her life, and she says everyday it gets better.

Sahar Vasquez
"I can say I am improving but it's one of the hardest things I have ever done because the first step that comes to managing mental illness is acceptance and it's very hard to accept something like anxiety because it's such a powerful thing and you don't want to believe it's true. The main technique that is used throughout the world is the breathing technique; you take deep breaths in and out and also mindfulness - being in the present moment and it's difficult to do but is does help."

If you or someone you know is suffering from anxiety or depression, and would like to speak to someone anonymously, you are encouraged to email thehumanconnectionbz@gmail.com which is managed by experienced counselor, Martine King.

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