Posted , 8 users are following.
How do you explain anxiety to those who don't suffer with it? How do you make people understand how you feel, who just don't understand anxiety, they just don't get it?
Feel like I'm so crazy and weird and stupid. Some people just don't understand. I'm abnormal and a failure, I feel like such a disappointment, feel in a big mess and feel like a massive burden.
Please help anyone, feeling desperate. Thanks
2 likes, 9 replies
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racheld1975 jojoba32070
Posted
Been diagnosed and struggling for over 20 years and still haven't figured this all out. I don't think you can ever really get anyone to understand who hasn't experienced it for themselves. It is very hard for people to "get it". My advice is show them...as much as you can find online...research papers, medical studies, first hand accounts, and anything you can find to express to someone how anxiety affects you. I've gotten to a point in my life where I don't explain most of the time anymore, I just say I don't feel good and leave it at that. I feel like it is easier for people to understand the concept of "not feeling well" vs my anxiety symptoms. All those things you are feeling are NORMAL and very much a lovely part of anxiety. I would come up with a way to express how you are feeling without getting too much into for the most part, sometimes describing our anxiety and its symptoms to someone who just doesn't understand can be exhausting in itself. Good luck and God bless!!!
jojoba32070 racheld1975
Posted
Thank you for your message. You're right, I don't think people can truly understand unless they've gone through it themselves. Hope you can get some relief and at least we know that we aren't alone, there are many of us anxiety sufferers out there. Thanks for the advice. The main problem is getting a job I feel confident and happy with...one I don't feel like I have to run away from and can't cope with...Any ideas please? Thanks
chrisk89 jojoba32070
Posted
The best thing to do is to research online. Just type into Google "anxiety" or whatever you're feeling and look at a few pages until you find something that relates to you. Share this with them.
?A symptom of anxiety is finding it hard knowing what to say, it's difficult to put things into words. Just remember, you're not crazy or stupid. Weird? We're all weird in some way, whether we have anxiety or not. Embrace your weirdness my friend, it's what makes you, you. What's normal? People try so hard to be normal and fit in and people try so hard to be different and stand out. Maybe you were born to stand out? I know I was :P
?Just look at what you have written there. You "feel" crazy, you "feel" like a massive burden. Those statements aren't really true, they're just your feelings. One man's success is another man's failure, one man's failure is another man's success.
?Accept your feelings of anxiety and then focus on, not trying to change them, but what you would like them to be. Whether you think you can, or can't, you're right... as Henry Ford once said.
jojoba32070 chrisk89
Posted
Thanks so much for your kind words, much appreciated. I find them very comforting, so thank you. It's nice to talk to people who encourage and understand. My main problem is my job, I've written some posts before about it, but as there are lots of posts going on here, very quickly posts get lost. Does anyone have advice for getting a job you feel you can do? Thanks
brown45840 jojoba32070
Posted
You can’t . The only ones who will understand are people who suffered with it. Some doctors don’t really understand it. That’s why forums like this and support groups are so important .
jojoba32070 brown45840
Posted
Thanks so much. It's nice to have support and encourage each other.
jen1978 jojoba32070
Posted
I work in a mental health hospital and its still difficult to explain to my colleagues how I am feeling or what I am going through. I feel as though they dont believe me. I have had GAD and panic disorder for over 12 years and am going through a debilitating time at the moment. I am going for counselling tomorrow. At work I feel as though I am ok until about 1pm then my anxiety goes up a notch and I feel as though I need to be home where I feel safe and secure. I feel colleagues talk about me and ridicule my condition although thats probably not the case at all x
caz19600 jojoba32070
Posted
I struggle with this to be honest.
On the one side, i'm always being told to let things go, not worry so much and that 'everyone gets anxious' as if somehow that makes it ok and it makes me feel bad because it makes me feel like they are managing something that i struggle with daily. Particularly at work. Like it's something i've never considered to just not worry or to try not to let things get to me. Like i should just be able to switch off the physical feelings i feel. I once got so overwhelmed at work, i sat sobbing on a call. My panic had set in and my brain was just foggy. I was told after that i had to be mindful of how this made the people around me feel, because they wouldn't feel able to approach me. It's incredibly hard to explain to someone how anxiety affects me and makes me feel, because it just gets brushed off.
And on the other hand, i'm putting that stress on myself too and i know i am but i get caught up in it, worrying that if i do ask for help because my anxiety is getting to me, i'll be seen as not being able to do my job. I then put pressure on myself to take up challenges way above my comfort zone as i don't want to be graded down for not stepping up when my colleagues are and then i panic again when i'm not getting up to speed or understand something quickly or worry that i will come across as being stupid by not knowing the right answers or doubting myself thinking i may have missed something. I worry that my colleagues will feed back how useless i am or how i get upset too easily etc etc.
I feel my job doesn't help my anxiety but i've no clue how to get out of it, as because with my self esteem being attacked my me, as i am my own worst critic, i convince myself i'll fail in a new job before i've even started.
It's exhausting. It really is. x
Alice7092 jojoba32070
Posted
I absolutely understand what you mean, whenever I explain my symptoms to anyone I feel pathetic, like I'm just embarrassing myself, that no one wants to listen to me, or even see me.