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11 Things Your Friend With an Anxiety Disorder Wishes You Understood
Number three: Anxiety doesn’t care about your plans
It seems like everyone has anxiety these days. Living through political turmoil, economic upheaval, and a global pandemic is enough to put anyone on edge.
However, just like being sad isn’t the same as having clinical depression; being nervous or scared isn’t the same thing as living with an anxiety disorder.
This is the first thing your friend who has an anxiety disorder wants you to know. That doesn’t mean your anxious feelings aren’t valid. It doesn’t mean they are beating you in the Mental Health Crisis Olympics. It does mean that your recent insomnia or being high-strung for a few weeks isn’t the same as fighting anxiety every day for the rest of your life.
Your friend doesn’t want to hear you say, “I get it. I feel anxious too, sometimes.”
When you say this, your friend is thinking, “No, you don’t get it asshole.”
Anxiety Often Manifests as Anger
If you don’t have an anxiety disorder, chances are you don’t know what it looks like. You might think you do. But, the truth is anxiety manifests in many strange and unpredictable ways.
