When I came to college in 2014, I didn’t know I had anxiety until I learned more about what exactly it was, what the symptoms were, and that these weren’t just normal feelings everyone experienced growing up.

I was living with anxiety and I didn’t even know it.

It would manifest itself in the littlest things that I just thought I was experiencing because I was insecure. I couldn’t wear high heels or riding boots because I thought if people heard the click of the heel then they would judge me due to the noise. I couldn’t ask a waiter for a refill of my water because I would start to get flushed at the thought of asking.

To this day, I can’t go back to the counter at the coffee shop and ask the guy if I can buy a cranberry muffin because I don’t want him to judge me since I already came to the counter and bought a cup of green tea.

One day it took me a good 30 minutes to manage the courage to get up and ask the guy at the coffee shop to pour my coffee from a mug into a to go cup because I was in the middle of an anxiety attack and I needed to go home.

To someone who doesn’t live with anxiety, these things sound simple. To someone without anxiety, you're probably wondering why I can't just do what I want.

It’s not that simple. I don’t control my thoughts that easily.

These thoughts, impulses, and actions come to me and I can’t control when I have an anxiety attack or an anxious thought.

To you, it may be dumb that I can’t manage to walk up to the counter at the coffee shop and ask for a muffin, but to me, it’s a big deal.

And that's the issue. People don't understand.

Some people genuinely do not understand what it’s like to live with anxiety. People don’t understand that there are different types of anxiety.

People don’t understand how easy it is to live day to day without knowing someone suffers from anxiety because it's to easy to hide and internalize. People don’t understand that sometimes you can have a day filled with nonstop attacks, or you can go weeks without one.

We can not control it.

We don’t want your sympathy.

We just want your patience.

Whenever I’m in a relationship I have a constant fear that they will leave me. Every single day I think I’m not good enough for them and make up crazy scenarios about them thinking I’m not worth their time or effort anymore. I’ll make up scenarios about all the different ways they can break up with me and leave me. I’ll go through every aspect of my personality or appearance and write out everything about me that they would dump me over. I worry every single day that they will get fed up with trying to deal with my anxiety and depression and decide I’m not worth this roller coaster ride that is my life.

Anxiety can manifest itself in small every day activities, or it can take on a life of it’s own and control every single aspect of your life.

Anxiety can isolate you, break you down, and even bring on other issues like depression.

There’s no limit to what it can do.

When I have an anxiety attack, I start to sweat all over and I get extremely hot like I’m trapped in a sauna. I start to panic and feel the urge to crawl into a ball and sit on the floor with 100 fans pointed at me giving me air because I can’t breathe.

I don’t want anyone around me. I don’t want anyone to touch me. I just want to be alone.

Usually when I have an attack I’ll start to clean rigorously or take an ice cold shower.

But the anxious thoughts never leave.

It’s consuming.

And I hope that by reading this post, you’ll learn to be a little more understanding and patient with the person in your life battling anxiety.

They’re probably already thinking you’re judging them and you’re just waiting for the right time to leave.

So prove them wrong and be that support system they need.

They need it a lot more than you think.