I've always been a high-stress person, ever since I can remember.

As a kid, even the simplest of tasks would trip me up: learning how to unlock a door, using a computer for the first time and especially socializing with the other kids.

Thankfully, I've grown out of that phase.

However, to this day, stressful situations, where I'm unsure of the outcome or there's even a possibility of something going horribly wrong, will cause me to go into a frenzy.

Nobody understood why I was like this. They thought I was just being over dramatic or emotional. But how do you explain what's going through your head when you know they won't understand?

I'm not asking for those around me to put themselves in my shoes and see everything the way I do. I just wish people like me were understood more.

So, here are some things that I wish people understood about people like me (AKA high-stress individuals):

If we're freaking out, telling us "not to freak out" does more harm than good.

Though you may think you're helping by trying to calm us down, we see it as being invalidated. You're not able to understand our current situation and how it affects, so telling us not to react in the only way we know how is a form of belittlement.

A better approach would be to ask, "Is there anything I can do to ease your mind?" Even if the answer is no, just to know that someone cares is extremely helpful.

Little things to you are big things to us.

No matter what situation we're put in, whether it's work, school, etc., our brains will automatically think of anything that could possibly go wrong, and we will act accordingly.

For example, if a student is working on an assignment, and the Wifi suddenly goes down, they might think, "OK, I'll just wait until the Wifi reconnects, or I'll just borrow my friend's laptop. If that fails, I can just go to the library."

Now, if I was in this exact same situation, this would be my thought process: "Oh no, the Wifi is out! My assignment probably didn't save automatically, so I'm gonna have to do it over again! What if I'm not able to get my assignment in on time, and I get a zero? I'll fail, my overall grade will drop a letter, maybe TWO! I'll never be able to graduate with grades like that! I won't graduate college, I'll be working minimum wage jobs until I die and I won't be able to have a happy, fulfilled life!" All because the Wifi went down for 5 minutes.

The paragraph you just read may sound completely and totally absurd to a 'norma' person, but freaking out is the only thing that I know how to do. Basically, my brain says to me, "If you freak out about a situation, then everything will turn out OK. But if you choose to remain calm, everything will go horribly wrong."

Words like "just calm down" or "relax" are an absolute no-no with us.

Even the word "just" implies that your request to calm down is easy, even if it's virtually impossible. It would be like if someone punched you in the arm and then told you to "just stop bruising." I wish it worked that way, but sadly, it doesn't.

We're doing the best we can. We're not perfect; we have our struggles and insecurities, just like everyone else. We are working on it. Trust me, we are working on it.