Anxiety ... Panic ... Fear

I am not a doctor, psychiatrist, or licensed medical professional. This is NOT medical advice.

Have you ever noticed the big billboards when you are driving down a road? Much of the time we drive right past them because they are advertising services we don’t need. Often, we don’t notice the signs at all. However, every now and then one might catch our eye and we think, “Hey, that might be helpful. Maybe I’ll think about that.”

This article is much like a billboard on the road. If it’s not applicable to you or you don’t need the information, then just drive on by. There may be a few people, however, who think, “Hey, that might be helpful. I’m going to think about that.”

Much of my lived experience with fear and anxiety was related to my conscience. There were things I knew that I needed to do, but I wasn’t doing them. And there were other things I shouldn’t have been doing, and I was doing those things.

I believe at birth every person has a conscience to begin to know the difference between what is right and what is wrong. When I do what I understand to be right, I feel better. I am more at peace. Conversely, when I don’t do what I know I should be doing (and/or I am doing wrong things), I get nervous and anxious. Often, I procrastinate and put off doing what I know is right, and during that time I feel anxious and even fearful. But when I finally get the courage to do what is right, I immediately begin feeling better.

Do you know where the very first instance of fear is recorded in the Bible? It’s in Genesis 3:10, right after Adam had done what he knew was not right to do.

God had given Adam LOTS of freedom… You can eat from ANY of the trees in the Garden, just not THESE two trees (the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life). So, along with all of the freedom that God gave Adam, He also set a limit. He told Adam that if he broke this commandment, he was going to suffer a fatally serious consequence. You probably know how the story goes, Adam went against God’s one rule (or limit). Sure enough, when Adam broke the commandment and he heard God’s voice in the Garden, he became afraid. He knew that he was naked and his relationship with God was no longer right. “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.” Gen 3:10, NKJV.

When I find myself in the same condition, the correct thing for me to do is tell God that I sinned and ask Him to forgive me. Then, I need to start doing the things I know are right. As soon as I do that, I immediately begin feeling relief inside. Sometimes I need to ask others to help me do the right thing(s) because I’ve gotten myself into such a deep mess that I don’t know how to get out. At times in the past, I was scared and nervous for so long that my friends or family encouraged me to take medication to help me feel less anxious, panicked, or fearful. Often, I did feel physically better. But then, after a while, because I felt better, I stopped taking the medications.

During the time when I was on medications and feeling calm, I didn’t correct the things I was supposed to. As a result, when I stopped taking medications, I became anxious and fearful again and my supporters would tell me that I needed to return to the medications. This circular spiral of going on and off my meds continued many times and gave the appearance that I would always need to be on medications because I was unstable when I was off them. However, what I eventually learned was that for me, if I did what was right while I was feeling calmed by the medications, I felt calm when I quit taking them. So, for me the anxiety, panic, and fear was not an issue of needing to take medications forever, it was an issue of me asking God for forgiveness and getting back on track in doing the right things so that my relationship with God was correct and I had confidence in His presence. Finally, I was able to understand that when I did something wrong if I asked God to forgive me and started doing what was right, I no longer needed the medications for anxiety. I am not a doctor, psychiatrist, or licensed medical professional, so I can’t and won’t tell you to take or not take medications. What I would offer you is that you just passed by a billboard, and you are free to do whatever is best for you with the information.