I’ve been co-running an anti-anxiety and self help blog for a couple of years now along with some friends. The blog has gained nearly 30,000 followers in the 3 years that it has been active. We find posts that are positive in its messages and create a safe space for those who struggle with anxiety and other mental illnesses. Our goal is to help people feel relief by people who also struggle with these sort of issues as well. The following image is our "about us" page on our blog which describes the type of work that we do.
One of the most valuable things I have taken from my experience of running this blog was talking to other people who ask for help to deal with their anxiety. It helped put a lot of my personal issues in perspective because I was able to take my own advice that I have encouraged others to follow. Once a month or so I will reach out to people asking for messages either on anonymous to be answered publicly or messages that I will respond to privately, depending on what the asker prefers.
Many of the messages sent to our inbox have to do with short term relief from anxiety struggles like dealing with busy school schedules or how to cope with the aftermath of an anxiety or panic attack. A trend that I have found in these messages are those that question if what people are feeling is normal or not. More times than not, people’s feelings are, of course, valid. What’s so heartbreaking is that people think that they are coping in unconventional ways since there are many people who do not see therapists to take medication. However, this does not make people’s struggles any less real.
This phenomena makes me feel incredibly heartbroken that not everyone has the resources to reach out for help especially when the stigma towards mental health is so rampant in society. However, this is an incentive for me to keep striving to normalize these feelings of anguish and especially make others feel that it is okay to reach out because mental health is incredibly important. The following image is just a sample question and answer that I conduct every month or so in order to keep our followers know that we are on their corner, especially since we are people who also struggle with mental health issues.
This work has really made me appreciate the way that people are able to reach out to a space that encourages and promotes the importance of mental health. Although we are a relatively small blog, I think I speak for the rest of the co-moderators of 'Kill Your Anxiety' that it is so wonderful to be able to help people in a way that can make some sort of a difference. I am eternally grateful for the people who send me messages that can take that first step of receiving help because any advice can make a world of difference for those who struggle with mental health issues.
