I live with anxiety and depression. It’s not all consuming but it’s there, and it’s something I’m forever refining my coping strategies for. I deliberately say ‘live with‘ rather than ‘suffer from‘ because some how using the term ‘suffer‘ in reference to my own life… feels like a frightening self full-filling prophecy. Anxiety vs Nervousness or Stress It’s hard to explain anxiety to someone who doesn’t live with it. People often believe it’s the same as being nervous, or stressed and don’t understand the crippling, strangling feeling that unexplainable panic can bring. Yes, in some situations feeling a little anxious is totally normal, things like public speaking or sitting an exam tend to make most people feel nervous. However, what separates my anxiety from stress or bog-standard worry, is that the intensity is considerably out of whack to the actual likelihood or even possible impact of the event or events. Yes, a certain amount of anxiety is normal or even helpful… it helps you get shit done, and to react accordingly to external stresses or potential threats (think bears, bullies and boogie monsters), but where normal worry or nervousness usually calms once the moment has passed, anxiety tends  to fester […]
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