Understanding Anxiety

One difficult thing about having anxiety is having to explain it to someone who has never experienced it before. As the emotions and actions you experience are often irrational, it can be hard to describe in a tangible way.

 Today, while driving (a huge trigger for anxiety and panic for me), I tried to picture myself without the fears or worries that often plague much of my day. I imagine tasks and events for someone without anxiety is much like a math problem. Item X (my car) takes me from point A to point B. I get in my car and I drive, then I drive home. For me, my ongoings are more like a complex math problem. I get in item X (my car), of which scenario 1 could happen (my tires explode) or scenario 2 (my car catches on fire). I pull over and scenario 3 could happen (someone knocks on my window and has a gun to my head), or scenario 4 (a truck blows a red light and slams into me, obviously causing something to break, or taking my life).

Now, I know these situations are all extreme and count as worst possible case scenarios, but as someone with anxiety can tell you, every day feels like today will be the day that you will encounter that worst case scenario. Another example I can give would be giving a speech. Maybe you have to give a presentation in a class of 15 people. To many, this is a daunting task, or even rather unpleasant. For someone with anxiety, specifically social anxiety, you may as well have asked them to read a book entirely in Spanish to an audience of 500, completely in the nude. 

Anxiety does not discriminate. It does not see age, color, gender, sexual orientation, any factor. And it can affect people in many different forms. For someone who has anxiety, the smallest tasks can seem like the largest, and things that are no big deal to people are often the most intimidating. For us, every situation that troubles us feels like a worse case scenario. My advice if you know someone with anxiety is to not tell them not to worry, or that what they feel is irrational. The best thing you can do is to ask them what you can do when they are feeling anxious, as many people have discovered their own coping strategies over time. Then either give them space or try to just be there for them as much as you can.