When you do not have anxiety, it can be hard to imagine how the mind works of somebody who does. It can be difficult to understand if they try to explain it because you cannot wrap your head around the fact that somebody could actually be experiencing that all of the time. In order to not trigger the person or make anything worse, try to avoid saying these things to anyone you know suffering from an anxiety disorder.

1. "You'll get over your fear by just doing it."

Although for some people that is true, the thought alone of having to do a certain dreaded activity is enough to trigger a panic attack for others. If the person decides that they want to follow through with the action, let them, it is their choice. However, if they do not want to, forcing them will make it worse and potentially make them feel bad about the disorder that they cannot control.

2. "Don't worry about all of the little things."

This is easier said than done. When your mind is racing, thinking about every single detail of every single thing ever, the "little things" do not even seem like little things anymore. They just become a part of the daily worries.

3. "Calm down!"

Telling someone to calm down, regardless of their situation, almost never helps. The last thing someone is thinking about mid-panic is to calm down. They are trying to assess their situation and think about every single thing that is happening to them.

4. "Get over it."

Anxiety is not a matter of "getting over it." If one chooses to seek help, they will and it could get better, but they will never get over it. It is stuck with you and you cannot just tell yourself to stop having anxiety, because that does not happen.

5. "Everybody gets like that at times."

You're right, everybody does have moments where their anxiety is very apparent, but that is not something that somebody who is suffering from it every day wants to hear. It could be taken as their issues are not important and make them feel belittled.

6. "There's nothing wrong, it's just in your head."

If it was all just in your head, I do not think that anybody would choose to live like that. It is an actual disorder that is out of people's control, and trying to help someone by justifying that it is just in their head does not actually make it better.

7. "It could be worse."

There are people who have it worse, yes, but this could be this person's personal worst. Regardless, comparing their disorder to anything or anybody else is something that should be stopped.

8. "Did I do something wrong?"

An anxiety disorder is nobody's fault, so try not to blame anyone. The person experiencing the disorder may act strangely toward others at times, but it is not their fault and definitely not your fault. It is just their way of coping.

9. "What do you even have to be anxious about?"

The problem is that a lot of the time the person does not even know. There are things that do trigger it but a generalized anxiety disorder is not specifically targeted at one thing.

10. "Everything will be alright."

This has good intentions, but, the person suffering does not think that everything is going to be okay and it can be hard to wrap their head around that.