“You are not wrong for feeling anxious or having a panic attack. You are not crazy for having racing thoughts or feeling like your heart is going to explode. It happens to a lot of people.”— Kate Dolan, thoughtcatalog.com
“You feel like your head it going to explode and your heart is going to burst out of your chest, so you abruptly get up from a table, embarrassed and scared, and seek shelter in the bathroom.”— Kate Dolan, thoughtcatalog.com
“Whether anxiety is a frequent or seldom visitor, it has the power to leave you exhausted, scared, and paralyzed.”— Kate Dolan, thoughtcatalog.com
“And I think more often than not, people took my shyness as me thinking that I was too good to be part of the group. And maybe this is just a part of the paranoia aspect of having anxiety, but either way, these reactions made me want to crawl even deeper into my shell and never come out.”— Krystal Naval, thoughtcatalog.com
“Social settings are so overwhelmingly nerve wrecking that I used to make every excuse to stay away from events (while simultaneously talking myself through anxiety attacks about being disliked when I wasn’t invited to an event).”— Krystal Naval, thoughtcatalog.com
“For as long as I can remember, I have always felt anxious in social settings. Whether that be in class or at parties, or even in just groups of more than three people, I just always feel uncomfortable, paranoid, and painfully awkward.”— Krystal Naval, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is waking up with a pit in your stomach for no understandable reason. Anxiety is hiding and burying parts of yourself for fear someone, someone like you, won’t get it.”— Kris Miller, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety feels like walking around while wearing a weighted vest. All senses are heightened, but not in some cool Superhero way. Just chaotic. Nervous. Hearts palpitate and palms profusely sweat. Minds race and replay worst case scenarios on a nauseating loop.”— Kris Miller, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is drowning. It can look and feel different in everyone, but there’s one shared commonality. It sucks.”— Kris Miller, thoughtcatalog.com
“People will judge you. Even the sincerest and most meaningful people will judge you at different times – even if they’re incredibly supportive and try their hardest. It’s a harsh fact but people judge what they don’t understand.”— Carla Robinson, thoughtcatalog.com
“Simple, every-day tasks, can be so much harder to perform than you think.”— Carla Robinson, thoughtcatalog.com
“I’m often scared to speak out. What if I’m judged the way I was before? Will people view me differently?”— Carla Robinson, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is being disconnected from the present moment, other people, or yourself.”— Brianna Wiest, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is the voice in your head that tells you that you’re acting like an asshole even though you really aren’t and that everyone else thinks you’re an asshole even though they probably don’t.”— Adam Benedict Tan, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is not shyness. Shyness is choosing to be silent because it feels uncomfortable to state what’s on your mind. Anxiety is wanting to express your thoughts but being forced to always second guess whether you should because of a traumatizing fear of being embarrassed or ignored.”— Adam Benedict Tan, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is feeling completely at fault when prioritizing yourself. It is the undeserving feeling of guilt you get when you treat yourself.”— Adam Benedict Tan, thoughtcatalog.com
“I am not being emotional for no reason. My anxiety likes to trick me into worrying about many problems, mainly the illogical ones. At times it will feel as if I am drowning in my emotions, but at other times it will feel as if I am sitting in a desert, void of any feelings at all.”— Stefanie Manzi, thoughtcatalog.com
“I need you to understand that I am not being dramatic, but I make myself believe I am offending you or bothering you.”— Stefanie Manzi, thoughtcatalog.com
“I am a human being with a future and with dreams and this was the night I realized I can have anxiety and both those things.”— Ailish Gannon, thoughtcatalog.com
“I am a woman, a daughter, a classmate and a friend. I have a generalized anxiety disorder but I also have enduring resilience and strength.”— Ailish Gannon, thoughtcatalog.com