For someone that has had anxiety for a long time, you tend to know when you are going to be affected by it or have an anxiety attack right? Well, not all the time. There are many things that people with anxiety wish other people would understand. Like how when you are fully dry and nowhere near water but yet you feel as if you're drowning. It can be hard to explain and hard to comprehend too. Here is a list of things that we need you to understand.

1. Anxiety is not a joke or a crutch...

It's sad for me to say that because we live in a world where people use anxiety as an excuses for not doing things, even if they don't have it! So when someone like me who actually does have it, tries to get help or do something that involves us talking about it, we get judged for "lying" for "attention." Do you really think that we want the attention? No, we don't. especially if you have a form of social anxiety. It's sickening.

2. Anxiety can come out of nowhere...

Without any warning, anytime, anywhere, with no time limit either. It takes control for you and makes everything seem so overwhelming. And most times, there's no stopping or preventing it from happening.

3. Sometimes it can be too much to handle...

Constantly being on edge or tense can/will be mentally, emotionally, socially, and physically exhausting. You don't want to go anywhere, see anyone, or do anything. All you want/can do is shut everyone and thing out till it passes. It can also cause you to do one of two things (or even both depending on how bad it is). One, you can sleep all day and all night. Or two, you can't sleep no matter what you do or take.

4. Anxiety in children is real...

It's not just an adult thing. Most cases of anxiety originate in you as a child. And sadly, sometimes you can't tell if the child has it or not. In cases like this, the child is "labeled" as having ADHD, ADD, etc... So therefore, the help that the child really needs won't come till later in life when it could be too late.

5. We can jump to conclusions really fast, and sometimes, we could be really wrong...

This one pretty much explains itself but, this is just the way our minds work and we really can't trust them in moments like this.

6. Anxiety is an illness, not a disease, and there is no cure you can pick up at the pharmacy.

Sometimes there's really nothing you can do when you're having an anxiety attack. We can't help it, we never asked for this, who would want to deal with this? Yes, it is "all in our heads" but that's the thing, you can't ever turn it off. Trust me I've tried.

The more we talk about anxiety the more other people can understand it, and maybe help us overcome these attacks. Understanding or even just excepting someone who has it can save their life. Maybe not right now but in the long run because they will look back and say "wow, that person looked passed my illness and looked at me as a person, that right there is a true friend and an outstanding human" because after all, we are all humans, right? If you are having troubles trying to understand anxiety, just talk to someone with it. It may be hard to talk about at first, but show interest and show trust, that is one of the most important things out there. And take it day by day, like we do. Slowly, we can try to overcome one of the most horrible mental illnesses.