ghostheart:

Seven Things Anxiety Sufferers Would Like Their Loved Ones to Know

sourache:

Many people with anxiety suffer in silence. They worry that friends and relatives will not understand, will judge or ridicule them. Instead of trying to explain, they shy away, withdrawal or avoid situations where they don’t feel support and understanding. 

The following are 7 things anxiety sufferers would like their family and friends to know:

• Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Mental illness is often called the “hidden” disability because you can’t see it and for those who have never had to deal with the debilitating effects, it is hard to understand. Family and friends may understand getting nervous before giving a speech but can’t understand that ordering in a restaurant brings so much fear you would rather never go out to eat. But anxiety, although in our thoughts, is also considered to be caused, at least in part, by a chemical imbalance in our brains. It is a “real” disorder and the symptoms can be debilitating.
• I am embarrassed and ashamed that I cannot do the things you can do. When you tell me to “go and talk to that person” or “just get over it and do it” I feel guilty, ashamed and embarrassed that I cannot do it. Please don’t make it worse by humiliating me by insisting that my fears are baseless.
• I don’t like feeling this way. I would like to be able to enjoy life, have a conversation with my friends, eat in a restaurant, take an elevator or go out of the house without feeling anxious. Be consumed with anxiety is not a pleasant experience and I don’t feel this way because I want to, I feel this way because sometimes my anxiety is hard to control.
• I don’t use anxiety as an excuse. I am not lazy and say that I am anxious to get out of doing any work, contributing to conversations or missing the party you want me to attend. I would really like to do these things but sometimes my anxiety makes me feel paralyzed and unable to do things you take for granted. Anxiety is not an excuse - believe me I would rather be able to attend a party and enjoy myself than sit home feeling like a failure. 
• Stress can make my anxiety much worse. Please don’t put me on the spot, call attention to me or ask for my opinion. When I am under a lot of stress or feeling overwhelmed, my anxiety level increases. Sometimes I have to remove myself from the situation, even if that seems rude or uncaring. Taking a few minutes to be by myself, take some deep breaths and calm down sometimes helps. At other times, I may need to leave because I am having trouble controlling my feelings of anxiety. I am not trying to be rude but my fears are often overwhelming.
• I know many of my fears are irrational. You don’t need to remind me that it is silly to be scared to get on an elevator or spout statistics about how safe air travel is. I know all this. I know that I shouldn’t worry about ordering in a restaurant or talking to a store clerk. Even so, I do, and often my anxiety begins long before a situation occurs and doesn’t go away until long after. Please don’t belittle me for these fears, instead, be supportive.
• It’s okay if you don’t know what to do. Sometimes, when anxiety hits, I don’t remember what to do so I understand that you aren’t sure how to be supportive. When that happens, ask me how you can help. Often, a supportive statement, such as “I am here,” “Let’s do this together,” or “I will stay right here with you in case you need anything,” helps to calm me down.

hey everyone

i just wanted to make a sort of announcement

i do want to talk to you guys, and if you want someone to listen to you, you know you can drop me a line in my askbox and i will listen!!

my askbox is always open to your queries and jokes and stories and stuff!!

however.

if i dont know you very well, if i don’t follow you, or if we have barely or never spoken, chances are i will not give you my skype.

i prefer to communicate with you guys over ask and replies and stuff, and theres a chance that if we’ve been talking and we really hit it off, then yeah i might want to IM you sometime!!

but please refrain from asking for my skype if i dont know you.

im just saying this because there have been a few people that have repeatedly asked me for my skype even after i have told them no, i do not know them well enough to be comfortable with that, i’m sorry.

and recently, once such person has gone out of their way to find my skype and message me, completely disregarding all of the times i told them that i was uncomfortable with giving them that information.

it made me feel very uncomfortable, and also it creeped me out!!!!

so i just wanted to tell everyone that i find this sort of thing to be very not ok, and im sorry if it hurts your feelings, but it makes me feel unsafe when a person does not respect my boundaries

thanks for reading!!!!!