15 Things Everyone With An Anxiety Disorder Wants Everyone Else To Understand

YES, anxiety is an actual illness. You can Google it if you don't believe us.

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1. YES, anxiety is an actual illness. You can Google it if you don’t believe us.

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2. No, it’s not just us being dramatic. Like what?

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3. No, panic attacks aren’t just an excuse for us to get off from work.

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4. Don’t ever tell us to ‘calm down’ when we are having a panic attack.

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5. No, stress is not the same thing as having a chemical imbalance in your brain.

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6. Sometimes, we need time alone. Please don’t take offense to that.

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7. We tend to overthink EVERYTHING, so don’t be alarmed.

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8. We don’t really sleep. Ever.

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9. We have plenty of reasons as to why we worry. Those reasons don’t have to make sense to you.

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10. Please don’t tell us that ‘we will be ok’ because in our heads, we are fucked.

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11. Lavender candles and stress relieving bath salts are always a good gift idea if you can’t think of anything to get us for Christmas.

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12. When we say we’re ‘fine’, we probably aren’t.

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13. We adore our friends who stick by us no matter what we put them through.

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14. Please know that we aren’t unstable just because we take medicine or go to counseling.

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15. We know it isn’t always easy being around us, and we appreciate you.

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Thank you. Thought Catalog Logo Mark