I’ve spoken openly over the years about my battles with anxiety, and this year has been an absolute shit sandwich which honestly hasn’t made my anxiety battle any easier. I feel like I’m forever in a battle with my own emotions and fighting that niggling voice in my head saying that I can’t do something or that I am not enough. So what is the realities of living with anxiety?
01. Your mind can go into overdrive
I’ve literally lost sleep because my mind can go into overdrive. It’s literally like I cannot find the off switch and then something that is so small can then end up becoming something that is all consuming and draining. By speaking out about mental health, you worry that people may think you’re attention seeking, when in reality you’re not attention seeking, and attention is the last you want.
02. You can sometimes feel like your heart is in your stomach
When I start to panic, I automatically feel like this surge of adrenaline, and I feel like my heart hits my stomach, and no matter what you say to yourself, you can’t get yourself off this hamster wheel.
03. It’s overwhelming
Anxiety touches every part of my daily life, whether it is at work, at home, my relationships, my friends, my family well, everything to be honest. It can make every situation harder, and even the smallest tasks can feel like you are climbing Mount Everest. Even for example making a phone call, it isn’t as simple as “just a phone call” it is a whole process in my head that is overwhelming.
04. The stigma and judgement attached to mental health
Even though there have been so many people talking out about their mental health struggles, the difficulties people face of a daily basis, there is still a stigma that is attached to mental health. Not only that, the way people look at you once you’re open about it, you feel like something is going to change, they will look at you differently and everything will just be different. That isn’t what I want.
05. It’s more than being sensitive
The amount of times I’ve been told, oh I’m just being too sensitive, but I’m not. My anxiety causes me to overanalyse everything, and I end up believing the worst in situations, but not only that it makes me look back at other memories in my life, question so many of the good things that have happened and be incredibly emotional about the bad.
06. Being afraid to be happy
I’m the kind of person that is always waiting for the shoe to drop when I’m happy. Not because I don’t want to be happy, but because I worry that by enjoying all the happy moments in my life, I’m forever waiting for the bad situations to happen.
Anxiety is a battle that is a never ending fight, but it is important to remember that you’re never alone. Here are 4 things you need to remember.
01. You are not lazy or a waste of space if you cancel plans.
02. You are worthy, regardless what your anxiety is telling you.
03. You are needed in this world.
04. Bad days will happen, but you are strong enough to get through it with the people you love.
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These are very important things to remember when it comes to anxiety. As someone who suffers anxiety herself, I wish people would be more empathetic and understanding about anxiety and how it can affect us, a great post Amie! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
There’s so much about anxiety that many people need to learn, just to be there and to be supportive in the right way to their loved ones and friends.
This is so well written hun!!
Nadia xox
http://www.mielandmint.com
This post definitely talks to me! Anxiety is such a nasty condition to have especially when you suffer with it severely! You do such an incredible job, lovely! So proud of you.
Daisy xoxo | AccordingToDaisy
Beautifully written 💕 Sending you lots of love and good vibes ✨✨✨
This is such an important message to share. Hopefully, the more times mental health is spoken about the stigma will reduce (it shouldn’t be there at all!) Anxiety affects people in all different ways, I know when I am more stressed I tend to overthink everything and it really affects my appetite.
Thanks for sharing Amie. Hope you are okay!
Aimsy xoxo
Aimsy’s Antics
Love this! There are so many things to remember when living with anxiety, and just the smallest reminders as well as acceptance over some of the feelings make the biggest difference. 🙂
Thanks for sharing this and breaking down the stigma. Xx
These are all such important things to remember. I don’t struggle with anxiety but I do feel all of those things every now and then and this list is a great boost if you’re having a bad day x
Sophie
These points are amazing and super helpful. Living with anxiety can be really difficult but finding ways to help it really helps! Thanks for ur post!
xoxo Olivia | http://www.oliviaandbeauty.com/
As someone who struggles with severe anxiety, I can definitely relate to these. Another thing I wish you would’ve added the physical symptoms of anxiety. I’ve gotten stomach aches, heart palpitations, hair loss, lost periods, etc. I’ve gone to a few doctors because of these symptoms thinking there was something more serious happening in my body but found nothing and said it’s due to stress. ♥
http://www.mooeyandfriends.com
This really resonated with me, especially the part about cancelling plans, it’s so easy to feel guilty. It really is overwhelming, I tend to write notes before a phone call to give me a bit of a focus point, but it still isn’t easy. Thanks for sharing!
Paris | http://www.thegirlinflat26.wordpress.com
YES. This post needs to be shared and spread widely! I agree with absolutely everything here, and 1, 3, 4, and 5 are especially important to keep in mind. Thank you for bringing attention to this!
This is such a relatable post, I totally agree with all your points. It’s always nice to find posts like this and discover other people feel the same way or experience the same thing. Thanks for sharing!
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
Great post lovely, I can definitely relate. Although I don’t suffer with much anxiety anymore, when I did it was absolutely awful x
These are some really important points you have raised. I love how honest and real this post is.
Such a great post and definitely alot of points that I can relate too. Definitely know the feeling of my brain going in to overdrive, such an important subject and so good to bring awareness too x
This is such an important post and it made me really step back and think wow, I totally relate to all of these. The lying awake with thoughts just tumbling over themselves. That surge when you just get hit with a bout of anxiety out of nowhere and you feel yourself physically react to it… This is a great post and your four things to remember are so important. Thanks for sharing!
Lindsey | https://aramblingreviewer.com/
These are definitely very important things to remember when dealing with anxiety! Thanks so much for sharing this!
I learned a lot from this post! Thank you so much. There are so many things about anxiety that I don’t really know and your post is so important.
It’s like I wrote the post!! I feel exactly the same way with my anxiety; I’m always waiting for something bad to happen when things are going well!! Thank you for adding the list of things to remember 🙂 xx
Thank you so much for sharing this, it’s so important to recognise your anxiety and understand where it is coming from!
Great article Amie – so many important messages in it
Amazing post! Thank you for sharing this! It is so important and it will help so many people!
I relate to so much of what you said, your advice is so helpful. I know so many will be able to benefit from this post & feel less alone when it comes to their anxiety and their mental health as a whole. Thank you so much for sharing this! I hope you’re doing well!
It’s so important to keep talking about mental health! I love posts like this it serves as an important reminder that people are not alone in there battle with anxiety. ❤️
Thank you so much for writing this. I’ve just recently had my last therapy session for anxiety and complicated grief, and while I do know how to cope with it better… I know that it’ll always be something that I have to live with. It’s hard to talk about this stuff sometimes, but it can be therapeutic so I hope that it’s the latter for you my lovely.
Thanks for sharing, it is so important to hear about mental health, your points are so important too 🙂
Nic | Nic’s Adventures & Bakes
Such a lovely post! I don’t suffer that much with anxiety but I definitely feel like this a lot!
Tash – A Girl with a View
I on and off struggle with really bad anxiety, and just YES to everything you said. As of late, my anxiety has been at an all time high, so I have decided to go back to therapy. I had my first session yesterday, and I already know that it’s going to help a lot! I hope you’re dealing with your anxiety okay during this crazy year xxx
Melina | http://www.melinaelisa.com
I can relate to the heart in your stomach, it’s the weirdest feeling I’ve ever experienced.
Thank you for sharing so honestly, the 4 points at the end are so so important to remember.
Brilliant post x x
Anxiety can be such a pain in the ass, but I’m glad to see that you acknowledge the reality of it all. One can’t get better before they acknowledge the situation first, so you’re in a good place to get a grip with this all 🙂 My ex had serious anxiety so I know how badly it can effect your daily life, work life and especially relationships. Being aware of it I tried really hard to support him and give him time when he needed it, but because he wouldn’t acknowledge the problem, he can’t get better. And thus he’s an ex 😉
Hang in there girl!
Teresa Maria | Outlandish Blog
I can definitely relate to this post. Anxiety can be so difficult to deal with but it always helps to know other people are in the same boat as you!
– Stacey | http://www.staceyhubbard.com
This is a really important post! I’m lucky enough to have great people in my life that understand what I’m going through, but I know that not everyone gets so lucky with their mental health disorders, and posts like these really let people feel that they are not alone! Thanks for sharing!
I can relate to this so much! Thank you for raising awareness of anxiety and how it’s more than ‘just worrying’, thanks for sharing! x
Take care,
Sophie | https://www.loveandliterature.co.uk
Hi Amie. Thank you for sharing this post. In doing so you are already helping to draw more attention to the topic – and that will, over time, reduce the stigma attached to mental health. Keep blogging (and talking) about it in the knowledge that you are not only helping yourself but all those that read (or listen to) what you say.
I relate to a lot of this. These are such important tips to share and I’m a firm believer in the more we talk about it, the more we can normalise talking about it and raise awareness for those that need it. Great post x
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. People without anxiety should read your post!