Whilst Andy Horner become a boy, his neighbor’s “jokingly” requested his dad and mom in the event that they ought to set their Alsatians on him to force him to attend faculty. The motive for his truancy? Intense anxiety. yet speedy ahead to these days, and Horner is understood online as “Anxious Andy” — his posts approximately dealing with mental health entice thousands of views, whilst his Facebook page has more than one million followers.
thinking about anxiety ranges among the populace are at an excessive — 49.6% of human beings in the united kingdom reported high anxiety throughout the first lockdown — the message people like Andy are spreading is more poignant than ever.
A tough childhood
Andy was adopted at six weeks old and showed symptoms of anxiety from a very young age (even though no person around him knew sufficient approximately mental health to recognize that on the time). Back in the 1980s, everyone who refused or struggled to take part in social activities was regarded as being naughty and disobedient.
As a result, he encountered numerous rejection and resentment, starting with a failure to combine into his primary school. with the exception of another “outsider” known as Julie and the dinner women’s, Andy failed to make friends and spent his playtimes alone — every time his birthday came around, his mom might set the desk for a couple of visitors, only for no one but Julie to show up.
Basically, Andy caught to his imaginary buddy — the only person who could never hurt or reject him.
Struggles with the school system
After a while, Andy’s dad and mom determined it might be better for him and his brother to attend a personal faculty instead. There was just one trouble: the entrance exams made him anxious, and he failed them two times. Not about to be deterred effortlessly, his mother and father organized for him to attend a different private school, where an examination wasn’t important (however charges were better).
The outcome was just like last time. Even though Andy excelled at sports, allowing him to make a few friends, he persevered to warfare with the academic aspect — even though the teacher asked him a question as simple as “2 x 2,” his nerves made it impossible for him to reply. Worse, his classmates would giggle at him.
In reality, Andy’s anxiety was so robust that he sometimes wet himself due to the fact he was too scared to ask to go to the bathroom. He’d desire that nobody observed, then rush off to the toilet as soon as class completed.
While Andy’s brother was accomplishing amazing outcomes in class, Andy was falling further and further in the back of his classmates. He dreaded dad and mom nighttime each year, wherein teachers could inform him that his studying was negative because he couldn’t pay attention. This will have a lasting bad effect on his self-esteem.
ultimately, it were given to the point in which the school asked Andy to go away; he was so at the back of that they felt bad for taking cash from his dad and mom. That meant saying goodbye to the few buddies he’d made and beginning from scratch once more.
New starting, same issues
This time, Andy went again to a public school. Once more, his parents did their excellent to make provisions for him by using discussing his problems making buddies with the teachers, and he was assigned “friends” to look after him. However it didn’t have the desired impact — Andy didn’t get on with his friends or feel specifically supported. Alternatively, he felt like a burden.
Over time, Andy have become increasingly more disappointed. He made no buddies, was not able to study, and lived in steady fear of being picked on through teachers to reply questions.
Andy dreaded faculty so much that he’d barricade his room at night and demand to his mother and father that he wasn’t going; when that stopped working, he’d lock himself in the toilet and get away via the window to the wooded place close by. Even if he did get to school, he’d sometimes escape via the fire exit.
It was at this factor that the neighbor’s with Alsatians made the cruel offer to his parents to allow them to use their dogs as a risk to him.
“I keep in mind one event where I came out of the woods and i was chased through grown guys. Those men have been waiting for me and had been shouting ‘we’re taking you away!’ They didn’t seize me as I actually ran for my life,”
Little did he know that those grown men were social offerings?
Even though Andy ultimately controlled to make some buddies, he left school and not using a GCSEs, an uncertain destiny, and massive yet undiagnosed mental health issues.
Going through similar troubles in adult life
As Andy went from being a child to entering his Twenties, he step by step began to integrate into society and broaden relationships with others — but his intellectual health troubles continued to plague him.
He got his first female friend in his 20s, but sadly, he was an easy target for abuse. The relationship lasted some years, and he was managed the whole time; if Andy ever desired to go out with buddies, he was kicked, punched, or bitten.
Finally, he determined the courage to leave, however ended up leaping into another dating with a similar dynamic. Due to his low self- esteem, he sincerely couldn’t face being alone. The relationship led to a marriage, which brought about having kids.
After years of being mentally and physically abused once more, the couple break up, however Andy ended up losing all contact with his kids after his partner turned them against him. Then, shortly after, his mom died. This was an all time for Andy’s, and tragically, he attempted to take his own life.
But it was also a turning factor. Luckily, Andy controlled find purpose and that means from his experiences by turning to intellectual health activism.
Even though Andy’s story is a severe example of how mental health issues can wreak havoc in our lives, many human beings are dealing with similar troubles nowadays. Society is more aware of those problems now than it was while Andy was developing up — but there’s still a long way to move.
That’s why influencers like Andy are so passionate about assisting human beings to recognize their anxiety-related struggles and stop feeling ashamed. Judging by his social media following of a million and counting, the message is clearly resonating.
