You may have seen this article on anxiety by now, so here's my take.
When I say I have anxiety, people instantly get awkward like they don’t know what to say. They think one of two things, either I am making this up and it is not a real problem, I just think I have a problem, or they overact and think they are going to catch my Anxiety or something.
Having an Anxiety Disorder is hard enough but having to fight the social feelings about it, is almost worse. I have a real medical problem. If your leg was broken, you would get help. You wouldn’t just tell your friend to suck it up and it will get better. You would help them get help so they can heal and start to feel better.
Telling me to relax, is not helping. I am not overreacting and I am not making this up. I have a real problem; stop trying to blame my Anxiety on me. Stop saying “oh well I guess she just isn’t strong enough,” because that is helping no one. Trust me I already tell myself that, I don’t need you to reiterate the lies I tell myself.
I hate that I have to feel embarrassed about saying I have an Anxiety Disorder, like it is a terrible thing. We don’t silently judge people who say they have Cancer like they brought that on themselves, why do we do it with Mental Illness? We say don’t judge Mental Illness, we need to talk about Mental Illness more, then why is no one talking about it? I feel like people look at me and say “oh good for her for speaking out" but they don't really listen.
I hate that it is easier to say I don’t feel good, then I have Anxiety right now. It is easier to say I am not hungry, or my stomach is upset then to say, my mind is trying to eat me alive. It is easier to fake something else than to be honest about what I am feeling because I am tired of the pitiful looks. I am tired of getting looks of “oh poor thing, she wasn’t strong enough to stand the stress.” Anxiety is not stress! Anxiety is not me overreacting or not being strong enough, Anxiety is not a problem I have created for myself; Anxiety is a real medial condition. Stop acting like it isn’t.
There is no one that is more embarrassed, or disappointed, or frustrated about this than I am. Trust me. But I am constantly working through it, most of the time it feels like I'm doing it alone, but I am, slowly.
Yes I know there are a lot of people who will never understand what I am going through, but I do know that there are a lot of people that might get a little bit of help from what I am going through. As hard as it is to be a young adult going through life with an Anxiety Disorder, I know that I am not alone.
