What not to say to someone with an anxiety disorder
While most people experience times of worry and anxiety, there's absolutely no comparison to what people with anxiety disorder experience. Sure, it was most likely uncomfortable. Yet, given enough time, the anxiety subsided, and you were on your way. Anxiety disorder is a different beast. Most of the day, every single day, they are entangled in intense feelings of worry, guilt, and shame. Many will experience panic attacks. And there's an underlying fear something dire will happen. Not to mention the swirling storm of competing thoughts, usually of the "what if" variation. There's an overwhelming sense of being out of control. Thereby pulling you to try to control anything and everything in your path. There are rarely any exceptions. To say that anxiety is challenging is an understatement. While the person with anxiety is experiencing an internal battle for control, the person watching feels helpless and confused. It's mentally and emotionally taxing for everyone involved.
Get Out of Your Way
The unfortunate truth is that it's me getting in my own way. And I can also move my speed bump of a body out of the way.
3 Ways to Calm Your Anxious Mind
So here it is. Your mind will always think. Constantly. All. Of. The. Time. You can’t stop your mind from thinking. That’s what minds do. It means you’re alive. Oh, and those thoughts you’ve labeled as negative…you can’t stop those either.
Anxiety Sucks
Amid high anxiety, it’s hard to hear that “you hold all the answers” and other flowery BS. Intellectually, we get that. But right now, when our mind is jumbled, and we’re unable to make sense of life in general…we need help. We don’t know what we need and, therefore, don’t know how to ask.
Uncovering Anxiety's Inherent Strengths
I think we can all agree on that statement. Anxiety's unhelpful symptoms are present, relentless, and in our faces. It can feel all-encompassing. The strengths that anxiety lends itself to are often overlooked because we're so focused on moving away from what feels uncomfortable.
Stretching the Body and Mind
Do I work through the discomfort? Do I welcome the negative voices, knowing they only want to keep me from harm, not from accomplishment? Or do I buy into the moment’s uncomfortableness and believe the negative chatter or stop moving forward? What about you? Do you work through the discomfort?