anxiety
A look at anxiety in its many forms and manifestations; what is the nature of this specific pattern of extreme fear and worry?
Abnormal
My knuckles are itchy and my chest is tight. I'm walking up stairs behind a line of people—some friends, and some strangers. It's going to be fine I think as I'm noticing my breathing grow shallow and rapid. I focus on my breathing and make sure that I have three deep breaths every once in a while. This time will be different, and I will be OK—I will be normal tonight.
By Francis Grace8 years ago in Psyche
Loving Someone with Anxiety...
Loving someone with anxiety isn't an easy thing. People with anxiety automatically assume that everyone is going to leave no matter what the circumstances. We are fragile people, even the slightest of things put us off, which could result in us being the ones who ruin everything. People like me and many others are fighting with something that inevitably is out of our control. Insecurity is something that comes along with us, whether it is in relationships, friendships, and even being out amongst people we don't even know. We won't tell you what's wrong no matter how many times you ask because we don't want to bother you with our preposterous thoughts and our foolish worrying. Therefore as a substitute, you're being pushed away before you even get the chance to decide if you want to stay or not.
By Taylor Ryan8 years ago in Psyche
Anxiety, the Good, the Bad, and How We Don’t Talk About It Enough
Awareness of the symptoms of anxiety mean that you can control or outright mitigate them if only because you learn how to redirect the way you are thinking to something more positive. But positive thinking isn’t everything. Anxiety causes pain. Extreme pain. On airplanes, I throw up from my anxiety, also other people’s anxiety I’m picking up on and focusing on, and the throwing up happens if I eat. I have since determined I need to eat at the airport, chug meds with that meal, and then get on the plane. My last traveling experience in 2014 made me realize this. There should be no eating on planes, I would have to put away the food in a bag for later consumption. My medication demands I have food with it though. I always isolate two snacks to eat with my meds when I take them at night.
By Iria Vasquez-Paez8 years ago in Psyche
Being an Anxious Introvert
Have you ever felt like your on anchor? Have you ever felt like you are just one of two people inside your body? Like you have this endless, raging fire burning inside of you that wants to concur the world...but then, something as strong as that fire pulls you down.
By Santia Desiree'8 years ago in Psyche
It's Okay, You're Just Acting Crazy!
How do I put this into (appropriate) perspective? You wake up in the morning and you give yourself the 15th self exam of the 24 hours that have passed since you woke up yesterday. You roll out of bed (or maybe you don't) and you spend the next 12 hours checking for lumps, making your friends/family check you and themselves for lumps, wondering when you will be diagnosed with the one kind of cancer that has yet to be discovered (or maybe every single other kind of cancer that has already been discovered), reading WebMD articles to self diagnose your "symptoms," declining all offers to do anything after work because you want to spend however long you have left with your family, not believing your friends/family/DOCTORS when they say that these physical symptoms are all symptoms of your mental illness and not the cancer that you've convinced yourself that you have.
By Maya Passmore8 years ago in Psyche
Living With a Mental Disorder
Living with a mental disorder can hold you back from so much. I was standing in line at the dollar store. It was around 10 PM, so I was literally the only person in the store. I was already having a pretty rough day with my anxiety. Well, I got to the check out. The cashier asked me how I was doing. Out of nowhere, my anxiety just choked me completely and I couldn't even speak. My total came out to around $7 and I needed a few ones. I was so terrified to ask the cashier if I could have five ones and a five dollar bill instead of a ten dollar bill. I made a weird noise and practically ended up running out the store.
By Ashlyn Marie8 years ago in Psyche
Narcissism and You
Have you ever come across that person? You know, the one that you could be screaming at the top of your lungs "PLEASE LISTEN TO ME AND UNDERSTAND WHAT I GO THROUGH!" and they simply just make you feel out of the box. They don't seem to care if they hurt you or make whatever you're going through worse. Well I have, and battling with anxiety and having to deal with this person almost every day of my life has been a real downhill battle for me. Most people diagnosed with anxiety are also diagnosed with depression. I guess it makes sense how they go hand in hand. Sometimes my anxiety is so bad I can't figure out a way to get out of my head and in that I just get depressed because I know I will never be able to truly enjoy life's little pleasures. This narcissistic person in my life fails to come to terms with it and wishes to stay in denial. That just makes life harder for the both of us because as a person with high functioning anxiety I tend to try to and get them to see themselves through my eyes. I forget that narcissists don't think they've done anything wrong and will turn the situation on you and say, "well maybe if you didn't..." or, "maybe if you did..." Let's just say it's a big unnecessary vicious cycle. I want others that have this narcissistic person in their life to understand... nothing will get through to them. Just when you think you have, they come right back with punches. I love this narcissistic person in my life, but for my mental health, I can't just sit and take it anymore. I have found the best way to cope and deal is to ignore. I won't try to fix you if you don't try and fix me. I have gotten into countless arguments trying to explain how my anxiety makes me feel and how I wish they'd at least try and see it from my point of view, but I just always end up getting hurt. I can't speak for narcissistic people but I can speak for people with anxiety, and we tell ourselves daily all of the things we wish we could do or fix or become, but reality is we can't do anything without ourselves. I mean our happy, honest selves and not the picture we try to paint in our heads. I realize that to some anxiety is seen as an "excuse." Well, then this article isn't for you. I won't convince my readers when I have to do that every day after I try over and over again to for just a second forget about my problems. I try to forget about the what ifs, the what could happens, the how do I make this person happy, and the hardest question: How do I make myself happy? It's not a once in a while question, it's a every day get out of bed and make sure everyone else around me is happy. Narcissistic or not, don't give that unnecessary extra battle for someone with anxiety. You might just make them one step closer to happiness.
By Chasity Snow8 years ago in Psyche












