Dear Editor,
I noticed a ‘Dear Minerva’ letter in Sunday Stabroek February 17 last captioned ‘How can I end this nervousness?’ written by an 18-year-old.
The details provided suggest the young woman is suffering from an anxiety disorder and a possible reason for the condition, not surprisingly, may be due to the fact of her having experienced her father’s death when she was only six years old and growing up witnessing her mother’s sickly condition as she stated.
I am not a medical doctor or psychologist but I read some medical literature and I know at least two persons who experience anxiety syndrome.
I quote the following from the American Medical Association’s Encyclopedia of Medicine, Random House 1989:
“Anxiety: An unpleasant emotional state ranging from mild unease to intense fear. The anxious person usually feels a sense of impending doom although there is no obvious threat, and has certain physical and psychological symptoms. A certain amount of anxiety is normal and serves to improve our performance. However, anxiety becomes a symptom when it starts to inhibit thought and disrupt normal activities of daily life… people with anxiety usually have a constant feeling something bad is going to happen… or that the health or safety or family or friends is in danger.”
I will send a copy of the relevant page of the Encyclopedia with a copy of this email to SN and hereby request that you kindly send it on to the young woman who wrote the letter.
After reading the information provided she would advise herself whether she should consult a psychologist or psychiatrist.
Yours faithfully,
(Name and address provided)
