Anxiety is one of those issues that hardly anyone knows how to take seriously. Part of this is because everyone experiences a little bit of anxiety, but mainly because it is so easy to brush off.

I have dealt with anxiety for a while now, and I feel like it is my due diligence to tell you what this is like for me.

Last year was a big year for me: I graduated high school, immediately started college and cut my hair in order to begin my natural hair journey. Needless to say I was very excited and thought that everything was coming along just fine--- until I was unable to sleep.

I had a hard time going to sleep that summer. I would be going to sleep way too late at night, or sometimes the next day.

It became difficult for me to understand why this was happening. I went to my doctor about the matter and that was when I was diagnosed with anxiety.

The melatonin did help me go to sleep at night, but it only solved part of the problem. There was another part of the problem that had to be addressed as well.

On top of sleeping, I really loved pizza. While you might love pizza too, a pizza addict would have been qualified to tell me to slow down.

Once the school year started, I quickly recovered from that. Today, I still love pizza but do not consume as much of it.

All of this may sound like it was temporary, but it should be noted that this was the very first time I noticed the issue. As it turns out, I’d been dealing with it forever.

Sometimes when I get in arguments, I would be done arguing with the person in front of me but not done arguing in my mind. Every time someone hugged me or forced me to hug them, I felt violated.

I still feel this way today and it hurts. I am afraid to take a stand because I tried that once and nothing was accomplished.

There were times when I was told the answer to my problems was simply “read your Bible.” To be honest, that is the worst response ever to when someone is genuinely hurting inside.

For the record: I did read my Bible, and I am still dealing with anxiety.

How could that be? Well, no sermon could ever teach you that what you are feeling is real and that you are not alone.

I know what you might be thinking by now: how do you deal with that? Well, I listen to music which diverts my sad mood into a happy one and I continue to write for your pleasure.

Also, I write poetry which has helped me.

Bottom line: anxiety is real and if you ever find yourself in this situation, reading the Bible might not be enough.