Written by Raymond Gunter

Hello, I’m Raymond a graduate of Computer Science, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, India and the only son of my parents. I want to share a story with you on how I finally overcame anxiety after suffering from it for over 2 years.

First off, let me share the story of how I started having issues. I love sharing this story because it motivates people to move on with their life no matter what they have gone through.

I never had the opportunity to experience what living in a complete home was like; my father left my mum when I was very young, probably 4 years old. I grew up not knowing that something was missing because what I knew about my life was what my mother told me.

After my graduation from primary school, my mother came home one day sad and after talking with me, I came to understand that my dad was involved in a car accident and he was critically ill. About 48 hours later, my mum’s best friend, Aunty Rita, came to our house and took me. From the look on her face, I noticed that she wasn’t happy but she was trying to put on a fake smile and even took me out for the day.

After hiding it from me, I found out that my father had died and my mum being strong, moved on with her life immediately after the funeral ceremonies.

In secondary school, it seemed things turned for the worst. I came back from school to see my mum was sick. The only thing I never liked about my mum was the fact that she always hid when she was sick. However, from the look of things, I knew she was seriously ill and I had to call Aunty Rita again, knowing she was the only person that understood our little family well.

My mum was taken to the hospital and admitted for endometrial cancer. After a few days, the doctor announced she had been living with it for a long time and it has become beyond medical ability to treat.

We lost her a month and two days after the incidence.

After that, I moved in with Aunty Rita and her two kids plus her husband. They were very kind to me. However, I became so angry with life and started drinking alcohol in order to become happy and free from anxiety. As I finished up with my secondary school, I received admission to study Computer Science at Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute. The anxiety continued but then something happened that brought a change to my life. It helped me to overcome my anxiety and gave my life meaning again.

How I Conquered Anxiety

I made a friend in my 200 level and he had experienced so much in life, far worse than me, that had left him angry. But now he was happy with his life and busy with activities, and I came to understand later that he was a vlogger.

He had a YouTube channel with more than 10,000 subscribers and it all started because he found meaning in his life. He told me different things like I was always angry with my life because I was idle. He advised me to find something worth doing and I’d become happier and more fulfilled with my life.

I knew my passion was in Computer Science so I opted to create and publish content on WordPress for free and then share it on Facebook with no intention of monetizing.

I was teaching people the same thing as what I was learning in my lecturers in school and to my greatest surprise, I started getting emails and calls from my readers in appreciation of my posts. Because of that, it became mandatory that I wrote articles for them on a daily basis and my readers started requesting a way to subscribe to my blog posts.

Someone introduced me to feedburner and that was how I got my first 10 subscribers.

I gradually began to notice my life was changing and now had meaning.

My Advice to People Suffering From Similar Conditions

I’ll drop a few tips that helped me overcome anxiety which I hope are helpful.

• Always take your rest when necessary; don’t spend the night thinking of things you might never be able to change.
• Think of the present situation and how to make it better. Thinking of your past, especially the mistakes and negative things that have happened, have negative effects on your lifestyle. I once came upon a quote by Igbo Stanford Onyemaizuchi, a Nigerian twin blogger in which he said, “…don’t ruin a good today by thinking about a bad yesterday, each day comes with many amazing opportunities.”
• Reduce your intake of alcohol and other similar substances; I must tell you the truth, they don’t help much. They only make you momentarily forget your sorrow and don’t provide a solution.
• Eat good food; it makes your brain feel relaxed and fulfilled.
• Conduct personal studies in order to discover the cause of your anxiety. It can be your school, work, or even family. Write it all in a journal.
• Do you know that a good laugh can help overcome anxiety? Yes it can. Listen to humorous programs, they help a lot.
• You can also make use of mood supplements; they have many benefits.
• Finally, get involved in some voluntary work like helping people. It also helped me and gave my life meaning.

Image credit: pixelcreatures

Raymond Gunter is a counselor and blogger. He is a graduate of Computer Science, Veermata Jijabai Technological Institute, India and passionate about helping people suffering from anxiety and other mental illnesses regain freedom.