Feeling Anxious and Having Diagnosed Anxiety is Not the Same
Louder for the people in the back!
Every human, at some point or another, will experience anxious thoughts or feelings. Worry, stress, dread, fear and panic are natural human responses to certain circumstances or experiences. But there’s been something I’ve heard more often lately that unsettles me…
I suffer from medically diagnosed High-Functioning Anxiety. The difference between this and Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is absolutely nothing in terms of symptoms, but rather, response to symptoms. Rather than spending most of my time in ‘fight or flight’ mode as those with GAD often do, my time is mostly spent in ‘fight’. When things get really heavy, I’ll revert to the more “typical” response of flight. As a result, unless I tell people, no one knows that I have anxiety.
It’s no secret. In fact, I’m so passionate about removing the stigma that surrounds mental health, and I’m more open about it than ever. Unfortunately, the excessive amount of explaining I find myself doing doesn’t seem to help those who have never experienced an anxiety disorder understand it any better.
Here’s the part that unsettles me:
When I tell someone, “I have anxiety”, and their immediate response is to try and “fix…
