Dating is already hard on its own and when you add mental illness into the mix it only gets harder. Anxiety causes you to build walls up around yourself and overthink every aspect of your life, so much that it could ruin a lot of relationships. What you have to realize is it's not you, it's your anxiety.

Anxiety makes you notice a single change in the way someone speaks and come up with a thousand different ideas of what you could have done wrong. In reality, you did nothing at all. Anxiety makes you think that you are not good enough when you are more than enough but before you realize it you have already lost the person you love, and even worse yourself.

Anxiety causes a person to question themselves. It makes one feel alone when they're really not, which then causes them to judge themselves and never truly know what the problem is.

Dating while coping with anxiety could hurt a relationship. You need constant reassurance that someone is there for you and will always be there for you. Then, even after the reassurance you still don't believe it. Anxiety changes a person. It changes the way they see themselves and their outlook on the world.

If you are dating someone with anxiety please remember to have patience. When things seem unbearable hold on a little bit longer and love a little bit stronger. It gets frustrating for you but it is even more frustrating for your partner.

People with anxiety are different than everyone else they require special attention. Be there for them because they are different from their anxiety whether they realize it or not. If you have anxiety remember that you are not the problem. You are more than your anxiety. Your thoughts, mind and heart are valid. You are not your anxiety.