Anxiety. One of the most common mental illnesses that there is. However, just because it is common does not mean that it is an easy thing to deal with and not everyone truly gets how hard it is to live with a mental illness. Those who do not have anxiety or do not know a person with anxiety may not understand the severity of the disorder or what people go through daily. And people who live with anxiety can understand these daily struggles.
1. You always feel anxious.
You can't help it, but your anxiety is always there. You try and not feel anxious but your body won't let you. It's like you're stuck in your own head sometimes. Feeling anxious all the time also means forever feeling exhausted and you have to sit there and feel alone and suffer silently for no apparent reason (since there is never any logical reason to being anxious).
2. Your anxiety is at its worse when you have anxiety attacks.
Anxiety attacks are the worse. You feel stuck in your own mind. Your body can even feel physical effects of anxiety like dizziness, sore stomach, and side pains. No matter how often or long anxiety attacks last, they are scary and you wouldn't even put that feeling on your worst enemy.
3. You overthink everything.
From a text to a homework problem, your anxiety makes you think of every different scenario that could ever happen. You realize that some of the scenarios you think of may not be logical but they could actually happen!
4. You second guess yourself quite a bit.
Think you look good in that outfit? Are you sure, though? When you turn to your left you look a bit odd. Second guessing is what people with anxiety do best because that is all we do. We even jump to conclusions quickly without thinking of a logical explanation. And then second guess why we did that.
5. Your brain never switches off.
You try and go to bed and your head decides that it isn't a good idea and it makes you relive everything you did that day and what could happen tomorrow.
7. When you stop feeling super anxious, you get anxious.
Straying from your regular anxiousness is great until you realize you're not anxious and you start to get worried because you have no idea what is going on and do not understand why you do not feel anxious.
8. You can never fully make a decision
You can never make a decision because whatever works for you as long as you can mentally agree to it. Even then that is hard to do sometimes so you just sit and think through each outcome of what you want to do in hope you pick the one with less chance of becoming anxious.
9. You wonder why people can put up with you when you can barely put up with yourself.
This is one of the hardest parts of living with anxiety. You see yourself as a dysfunctional person who gets anxious at the silliest things and hate yourself for it. You can hardly stand your hot mess self at moments, why would anyone else want to?
10. When you find someone else with anxiety and they get you and you can't help but become best friends with them.
Finding someone who has anxiety is such a beautiful feeling because they understand how you think and feel. They know how it feels to want to go out but not be able to. They understand that you may be a huge extrovert but just can't go talk to the cashier. They understand that you are illogical in your thinking sometimes. They know how life changing anxiety is and you can tell them everything you feel in confidence. Because they have been there, done and felt those feelings as well.
