Today is Time to Talk Day 2021. On Time to Talk Day we encourage everyone in Wales to have a conversation about mental health, to #EndStigma. The theme for Time to Talk Day 2021 is The Power of Small. A small conversation about mental health has the power to make a big difference. Let's start talking and together we will end mental health stigma. Start by using the hashtag #TimeToTalk.
We live in a world where online communication is everywhere. Whether it’s when you’re using Zoom in class, sending a message to a friend, or having Alexa remind you to do the laundry for the hundredth time. Online communication plays a vital role in our everyday connection with others, especially during a time where social distancing has drastically limited our face-to-face contact.
For some, online communication has meant that connecting with others has become almost ‘easy’; however, for many of us who suffer with communication anxiety, even the thought of sending a small text message can cause a sudden wave of panic. Don’t get me wrong, in person I’m a grade A chatterbox. Give me a room full of people and a slideshow on the new Ice Age movie and I could talk for hours. But when it comes to any form of online communication- from an email regarding a parcel I ordered to an old friend wanting to catch up over a phone call- my anxiety is immediately screaming at me to abort, shut down and avoid.
Living with communication anxiety during a pandemic can result in weeks or even months of not feeling able to contact friends and family, not because we don’t care, but because our anxiety turns the act of sending the smallest of messages into the most difficult of tasks. Often this anxiety extends to work also causing panic attacks before zoom classes or avoidance of work emails until a point is reached where we’re struggling to stay afloat in a whirlpool of deadlines, anxiety, guilt and overwhelming isolation.
"An action so small, but filled with so much love, so much understanding, so much acceptance and zero expectation of anything in return was the one reassuring constant when everything else felt like it had spiralled out of control."
The Power of the Small is an awesome theme for Time To Talk Day 2021 because amidst all of that suffocating anxiety surrounding online communication, the smallest act of a friend made the biggest difference in keeping me afloat in my personal battle with communication anxiety. Even though they did not fully understand the circumstances surrounding my lack of communication or where I was at with my mental health, every single week my friend would send me a message. Whether it was an inspirational quote, a cute picture of a baby quokka (which is now my new favourite animal), or something as simple as an “I’m here for you”, without fail there would be a new message waiting for me each week.
An action so small, but filled with so much love, so much understanding, so much acceptance and zero expectation of anything in return was the one reassuring constant when everything else felt like it had spiralled out of control. Their small action helped me realise that even when our anxiety makes us feel unable to reach out, in no way are we left to fend for ourselves. We are just as loved, just as worthy of acceptance and just as valued with our anxiety as we are without it and all the guilt and expectation we carry can instead be replaced by patience, self-care and an understanding that we are not a failure for needing to do things at our own pace.
No matter how many Marvel films we may watch, we are simply not superhuman, and if what we need is to break things down into smaller steps and reach out to people in our own time then there is absolutely no shame in that. For those suffering with communication anxiety, or any other mental health mountain, there is so much power in the small. Setting small, achievable goals and celebrating even the smallest of victories is a powerhouse step in overcoming what anxiety makes us feel are monstrous tasks. And for those who know someone going through an anxious time or are concerned and want to reach out, even the smallest gesture or the shortest message can be the thing which helps that person stay afloat when they need it most.
