“As much as I hate all of the things that go on because of my anxiety, I have learned so much about who I am. I am strong. I am capable of overcoming. I am loved. I am confident in those statements because of my anxiety and the toll that it takes on me.”— Kayla Bindus, thoughtcatalog.com
“If I’m not thinking about work, I’m probably thinking about made up scenarios that have no truth.”— Kayla Bindus, thoughtcatalog.com
“My anxiety is a mental disorder. I am not making it up. I am not pretending to be sick to get out of doing things. It is a very real, mental and physical disorder.”— Kayla Bindus, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is controlling and can be life ruining. But she has not given up.”— Isabelle Adler, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety is the constant thought that says, ‘Whatever can go wrong, will go wrong.'”— Carly Riegler, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety makes you freeze and overthink every single thing that happens to you. It creates this crippling feeling that comes over your body while you sit there in silence wondering what went wrong.”— Carly Riegler, thoughtcatalog.com
“Anxiety makes you ask what if questions. What if my friends don’t like me today, what if I look fat in this outfit, what if I get sick, what if I can’t focus.”— Carly Riegler, thoughtcatalog.com
“Nail biting. Foot tapping. Hair twirling. These small signs of nervousness may sound familiar for someone who has social anxiety.”— Sarah Schuster, thoughtcatalog.com
“We may seem shady or wishy washy because we make plans and break them when anxiety hits. We aren’t trying to be a bad friend, we just physically and mentally can’t do it. We want to hang out with you and go on adventures, but our anxiety doesn’t always allow us to do that.”— Myka Shantell, thoughtcatalog.com
“We won’t always be able to tell you what we need or explain how we’re feeling. We may withdraw into our own world or go off the grid for a bit. We may overdo ourselves by going nonstop and hiding behind a smile.”— Myka Shantell, thoughtcatalog.com
“When we’re bombarded with our anxiety, we have no choice but to work through it. Sometimes that means reaching out to others, and other times it means suffering in silence.”— Myka Shantell, thoughtcatalog.com
“All your overthinking and negative thinking naturally causes you to feel self-conscious. You’re a captive of your own mind, and it’s so hard to be confident when you’re tearing apart at the seams. Because of this, maybe you’re a little insecure or always worried.”— Sofia De Jesus, thoughtcatalog.com
“You sometimes act or say things on impulse that you instantly regret the minute you take a step back. Or you shut down and withdraw and say nothing at all. Once the fog clears, you realize that maybe a lot of what happened was due to your negative thinking.”— Sofia De Jesus, thoughtcatalog.com
“You overthink everything. And by everything, I mean everything. From the words your partner says down to the food he orders on dates. Everything is a reason to dissect, overanalyze, and imagine every possible scenario.”— Sofia De Jesus, thoughtcatalog.com
“The future is a huge trigger for you. You hate when people ask you what your plans are for the next five years, and it will cause you to retreat. Graduating from high school and college for most people is very exciting, but for you it can be incredibly daunting and scary. You hate when people talk a…”— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, thoughtcatalog.com
“You constantly strive to do the best that you can do, but when you accidentally send something that you shouldn’t, or when you do something you weren’t supposed to do in the office, you can get really down on yourself. Anxiety can truly be your worst enemy.”— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, thoughtcatalog.com
“Sometimes, anxiety can be so debilitating, that you can’t muster enough energy to go out. No matter how excited you were for the event beforehand, when the day actually comes and your anxiety is in full force, you say no.”— Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, thoughtcatalog.com
“Your anxiety may be a part of you, but it does not in any way define who you are. No matter what, you’re going to be okay and know that it will not defeat you.”— Nicole Vetrano, thoughtcatalog.com
“What’s so important to know is that the anxiety you experience is not your fault. You didn’t cause this. You did nothing so horrible as for the universe to force this on you as a punishment.”— Nicole Vetrano, thoughtcatalog.com
“She probably doesn’t realize it yet, but girls with anxiety are the strongest girls in the world, because they never have a minute of peace. Because they’re always struggling — and they’re always winning.”— Holly Riordan, thoughtcatalog.com