21 Ways To Explain Anxiety To Someone Who Has Never Had Anxiety
I started a Facebook group for women who are struggling with anxiety and one thing that’s hard for everyone is getting your partner/loved ones to understand what you are experiencing. Everyone with anxiety has had at least one disappointing conversation in which it’s clear the other person thinks you can “just stop worrying about it”. I asked the group to share how they’d explain having anxiety to someone who finds the concept alien. Enjoy and feel free to join the group!
1. “It is like you’re breathing through a coffee stirrer straw. Never really being able to get a full breath, feeling like you’re not getting enough air, a constant state of panic.”
2. “Anxiety is feeling nervous before an interview or a party days in advance — but it’s also feeling nervous when you have nothing to be nervous about. When you’re sitting in your house and everything is technically fine, when there is technically nothing to worry about, but you still feel uneasy and can’t figure out why.”
3. “It’s like constantly being pushed underwater by wave after wave. Coming up for air only gives you relief for a minute, but just as you find relief, you’re pushed under again. Sometimes the waves are small and you can swim past it, but some waves are so big and powerful, you can’t do anything but wait it out, and…
