NO! Although it really does depend on how one will define a mental illness. I wrote a whole chapter in my book on this topic. Especially living in New Zealand, there is a big misconception that anxiety disorder is a mental illness.
The reality is, anxiety is a Nervous system response that has a mental impact. But many other conditions will also have a mental impact.
I personally struggle to see why anxiety is classified as a mental illness. To me, it is obvious that anxiety actually is a nervous system response, and should be spoken about in this way for a few important reasons.
When my clients understand this new way of looking at anxiety, a new possibility opens up for them that was previously not available. This shift in perspective is so empowering for my clients that I thought I would share it with you.
So many people are labelled with a mental illness and it sticks - even when, on the inside, they know this is not a fit with who they are or with what's going on.
When you look up the definition of a mental illness (and disorder), you will quite quickly see that these definitions are quite varied and not really that consistent at all. There is no universal definition. Here are two:
Merriam Webster Dictionary: Definition of MENTAL DISORDER
"A mental or bodily condition marked primarily by sufficient disorganization of personality, mind, and emotions to seriously impair the normal psychological functioning of the individual — called also mental illness."
The American Heritage Medical Dictionary*: Definition of MENTAL ILLNESS
Any of the various forms of psychosis or severe neurosis. Also called mental disorder, mental disease.
*(From http://dictionary.reference.com/medical/ )
I think neither of these definitions are a great placeholder for anxiety — to me they don’t seem like a great fit, not even close. I invite you to look up a few more dictionaries and see the range.
If the dictionaries can’t agree, it definitely means that it has a very different meaning for every person who thinks about what it is.
If your doctor tells you that you have anxiety and if you think anxiety equals a mental illness, then the way you will then process what it means to have anxiety will depend on how you view a mental illness.
So, what is Anxiety Disorder?
Anxiety is a Nervous system response. Mainly caused by stress, sometimes caused by diseases, and sometimes caused by other conditions that are of mental illness in origin.
But most of anxiety is not a mental illness. Many of my clients have told me that the intensity of their anxiety and lack of control has made them feel like they might be going mad and then worry they have a mental illness. But when we address the Nervous system, the anxiety disappears!
I have helped hundreds and hundreds of people with anxiety disorder, and I have seen amazing results BECAUSE we work on the Nervous system.
Is Anxiety a Chemical Imbalance?
Being in an anxious state causes the system to change the chemistry it creates.
Just the same way that if, right now, I was to jump up and smash a boxing bag, shout and scream and be really aggressive for twenty minutes, I would surely increase different chemistry in my system and brain. My testosterone would go up, probably cortisol too!
Anxiety is not caused by a chemical imbalance, at least not for the massive majority of people.
Is it possible that some people in the world have some genetic mutation or other pathological process that causes a chemical imbalance… sure! But this is very rare when thinking about the people who suffer from anxiety.
If you think that there is something wrong with you, that you're broken, damaged or mentally unwell and have a problem or chemical imbalance or have some genetic deficiency in some area, you will be giving all your power away - without even realising it. You unconsciously become a victim and lose the ability to take control of your life.
The label that you are giving to some experience (body-mind) actually owns you, it becomes a filter of how you see and experience the world. And it’s a filter that I see having negative consequences time and time again for the person who has anxiety and believes or are worried that they might have a mental illness.
How To ‘Reset Your Brain’ From Anxiety
‘Resetting’ your brain needs a few things.
- Strategies to take the Nervous system out of defence (accumulation of too much stress). The best strategy I have ever come across at doing this is NSA. CLICK HERE to learn more about NSA.
- Teach the body how to respond to stresses in new ways. Once again, NSA does this perfectly.
- Mindset retraining to create more control in the mind, so we don’t rethink bad thoughts and get stuck in mental loops.
Our thinking can and often does trigger our stress response. If you think you are in danger, your body begins to create the chemistry that matches this - so you produce more adrenaline, more cortisol, etc.
So often, our anxieties and worries come from our thoughts! We need to help you break out of destructive thought habits that cause so much pain.
Most importantly, you need to have regular sessions of NSA for a few months to reset the Nervous system. Once you do, you will be much happier in life.
Changing The Perspective Is Powerful!
I see how this ‘mental illness’ label, when used for anxiety, has damaging effects. As stated above.
It also just explains the effects (the experience) not the cause. It hooks people into the problem and hides away the solution.
How you look at something changes the way you feel about it, and what you will do about it.
This is also true for both the person who is suffering with anxiety and their chosen helper/therapist/coach. If you go to a therapist who sees you as having a mental illness — the interaction will be very different from when you come to me.
I don’t see you as being broken — I see it as a potential gift that when you go through the process of uncovering what is going on and rewire/reprogram your nervous system, you will transform your life and make it far far better in many, many ways.
The reason why I say this is simply because I see it every day in my clinic. I see people who have been struggling with anxiety for years, holding onto their labels (the labels begin to own and control them), and helped them break free.
I want to make something clear — I am just stating my opinion, which has come about after helping many people who have been told that they have a mental illness; that they need drugs to get by, they have failed to see any lasting results with their psychologist or therapists, they then come to believe that they will be stuck with this thing called anxiety for the rest of their life — I have helped them break free! And not once did I work with anyone to help resolve a mental illness - we just worked with the nervous system!
In fact, when I think someone actually has a mental illness that is causing the anxiety, that is when I will refer them out to someone qualified to work with mental illness’s — this is the domain of psychiatrists and psychologists.
Why do I get such extraordinary results with anxiety?
Let me first explain by sharing with you my definition of anxiety:
A sympathetic nervous system response of high arousal, causing increased awareness to protect oneself from danger, real or imagined.
I see anxiety as a nervous system response. The fight or flight is activated. Sometimes clients are always in this state (Generalised Anxiety Disorder), it’s like this protective, defensive ‘switch’ is always turned on. And sometimes this response is triggered by certain situations (Social anxiety) or with random triggers of sudden intensity (Panic attacks).
Anxiety is often caused by an accumulation of stress over a period of time — this is the majority of cases of anxiety. And sometimes from one big traumatic event or period of intense stress (PTSD).
All of these types of anxiety have one thing in common — the nervous system is in a state of fight or flight. And this is why we work with people at the level of the nervous system, helping them to be able to move out of a state of fight or flight and into a state of safety and ease.
When the nervous system is safe, you feel safe. When you feel safe, you don’t need to worry, you can become excited about the future once again.
I help people everyday — I don’t label them as having a mental illness — because I don’t see anxiety that way. I get fantastic results because I am not placing people into a box with no solutions, but by providing a framework (that I customise to each person) that moves clients quickly towards feeling safe again. Like how they used to live life before this anxiety was in their awareness. I love watching people make these transformations. It almost always surprises people, how quickly they start feeling great.
If you are interested in seeking help feel free to contact us we would love to help you. We offer a 12-Week program that is getting amazing results.
Take a look at our site, watch/read some testimonials and contact us to make a time to chat on the phone and we can work out the best way to help you break free from anxiety.