Whether we want to believe it or not, some people in this world deal with anxiety. Some people won't tell you they deal with anxiety. Your best friend could be dealing with anxiety and you would never know it. Here are five things people with anxiety want you to know.
1. We won't openly admit we are dealing with anxiety.
It's like pulling teeth for us. We never want to admit that something is wrong with us. We want to be strong, confident, beautiful people. We don't want to be viewed as any different than you. Very few people will ever know what we are going through.
2. We are not some crazy freak that always is complaining about worrying. It just happens and we can't help that.
If you're like me, right now it's getting into graduate school. Every day I am anxiously awaiting a call, email, text, something for some step closer to my dream job. So when we complain to you or tell you we are worrying about something or something like that. We will worry and we will talk about it a lot. Don't look at us any differently if we burst out into a long rant and hardly take a breath in between sentences (it will happen I promise). Just hear us out and tell us everything will be okay.
3. We are humans. We have feelings too.
Even though there may be times when our feelings may be a little over exaggerated or a little over the top, we still have normal feelings too. We cry, laugh, smile, and are happy just like any other human being. Just because we may have exaggerated feelings like always doesn't mean we aren't normal human beings.
4. We want to do normal things too, but sometimes we just can't.
We want to hang out with you when you call us up to go eat dinner. We want to go to that party with all our friends. Sometimes our anxiety just won't let us. Sometimes we just want to crawl up in bed and cuddle up and watch tv. If we say no to hanging out, don't take it personally. Ask us about our day. Sometimes we'll tell you more than you think.
5. Some things are just out of our control. Don't be afraid to ask us how we are. We want someone to care and be there.
Some people may not agree with this, but I think it's easier to talk about feelings to make us feel better. We may not tell you everything and we may burst into an emotional wreck but we just want someone to be there for us. We want someone to care and tell us nice things. We want someone to help us through the good and bad times.
Anxiety is not something everyone would be able to pick up on from you right off the bat. There are more things we want you to know but you have to talk to us to get those deeper feelings. So stop one day and ask us how we are. Tell us you care and be there for us.