Living day in and day out with anxiety can be tough. Sometimes you feel great and it seems like you haven't been affected by anxiety for a while -- and other times it can be rough and every single aspect of your life becomes affected. Sometimes, showing up and being present is the hardest part of your day. It feels like there's never a moment of peace and you would do anything to make it go away. At the end of the day, you need to know that it will get better and you need to focus on that hope and always keep that thought in the back of your mind. Anxiety doesn't define you. You will become a better person for pushing through each challenge and each day. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger.
Here are a few of the things people with anxiety deal with on a daily basis:
1. Overthinking every single decision you make.
Every single time you make a decision or someone says something to you, you can't stop thinking about it and overanalyzing it. This really, really sucks. It doesn't matter if the decision you made was over something simple like making plans with friends or deciding to go out on a new date. Everything you do, you think it through 100 times and then you do it and continue to think about the outcome over and over and over again.
2. Always thinking of the worst case scenario.
No matter what you're doing whether its working at a new job, starting school with a new class, taking a test, going to a doctors appointment or whatever else it might be; you always think of the worst case scenario. Even though you know that these ideas are extremely unrealistic, you still get it in your mind that this terrible thing might somehow be the outcome.
3. Your mind is constantly running on overdrive.
When you have any level of anxiety, you often feel like your mind is constantly working in overdrive. This comes from overthinking everything you do, and always thinking of the worst possible scenario with every situation in your life. On top of thinking about your personal, school, social, family and work life.
4. Feeling like you don't have anyone to talk to about it.
Sometimes it feels like even friends and family don't really understand. Even though they try so hard to listen and be there for you, it's hard to fully comprehend something someone is going through when you haven't experienced it first hand.
5. And feeling bad when you talk to your friends or family too much about your anxiety.
And when your friends and family are always there to talk you still find yourself feeling bad for talking about your issues, so much. It gets to a point where you become anxious about talking about your anxiety with the people you're close with. Or you think about all the people in this world who are suffering from diseases, hunger, war and far other greater issues and you can't help but think that what you're feeling isn't valid. It's a never ending loop of anxiety.
6. You experience a million different emotions throughout your day.
Depending on the hour, you can either be feeling really relaxed and calm or extremely anxious. You can wake up feeling relaxed and at ease, but halfway through your day you can feel the anxiety creeping up on you. It feels like a rollercoaster of emotions and thoughts throughout the entire day. Some days are better than others.
7. Feeling exhausted all the time.
Even when you got plenty of sleep, or maybe didn't do a whole lot that day you still find yourself feeling completely drained by the end of it. Or you end up taking a nap every single day just to keep up your energy. Sometimes staying in bed and reading a good book makes more sense, than going out and facing the world.
8. Easy things for others end up being extremely complicated or impossible for you.
Simple things that the average person does every single day can give you extreme anxiety and have you feeling nervous. Things like going out to eat at a busy restaurant, going on first dates, hanging out with a group of friends, starting at a new job. It's frustrating to see friends and family excel at the simple everyday activities when you feel like you can't even get them done or attempt to.
9. Never wanting to leave your comfort zone.
When you're an anxious person you cling to the things that keep you comfortable, like hanging out at home, being around family, or hanging with your closest friends. Trying new things and putting yourself out there seems impossible and sometimes it's just hard to physically show up.
10. So you close yourself off from new things and new people.
Even though you want to try new things and get out there, sometimes you just can't get yourself to do it. A lot of times it seems like people with anxiety are quiet and introverted. This can definitely be true, but it can also be a response or reaction to the actual anxiety itself. If you know something is going to give you anxiety why would you want to put yourself out there and go do it, right?
11. Being extremely indecisive. Always.
Never ever being able to make up your mind about anything. No matter what situation you're in, you find yourself asking other people what they would do or what they want instead of focusing on yourself. And you are extremely indecisive when it comes to making plans with people and being social. A lot of times, you end up making plans and later use a lame excuse so that you can bail and stay home instead. It sucks, I know.
12. Being extremely critical of every aspect of yourself.
When your mind is constantly going and thinking you find yourself thinking a lot about your personal life and yourself. For some reason, you have it in your mind that everyone is judging you, always. You think about how your personality, behaviors and physical appearance compare to others and a lot of times this leads to low self-esteem. You find one flaw within yourself and you constantly pick at it and think about it, making yourself feel worse and worse.
13. Bottling up every emotion, thought or feeling.
When you feel like you don't have a lot of people you can go to talk things through, you tend to bottle up your emotions. By pushing your emotions down and not dealing with them, you'll find yourself bubbling up and one day just letting it all out. Sometimes we think not dealing with our thoughts and our feelings is better than sitting around and talking it out, which leads to some pretty rough days.
14. Some days, sometimes a lot of days, you just feel like you aren't lovable or normal.
Sometimes you find yourself thinking about your entire existence. You question why you are the way you are, and what has shaped you so far to produce this version of yourself. You wonder why you can't just be "normal" like all of your friends and the people you see in your life every single day. When you feel like you aren't normal and are excessively flawed you tend to feel un-loveable or unworthy of others time and effort. This leads to pushing people away and becoming extremely independent.
15. You always wonder what life would be like if anxiety wasn't a part of it.
A lot of days, you always think about how different your life would be if anxiety wasn't such a big part of it. You wonder what it must be like to wake up every single morning excited to take on the day and the challenges ahead. To be fully present in every aspect of your life. You dream about the carefree days, where you get to enjoy every second of every day and live the life you've always imagined.
