How anxiety shapes my life
By: Axel Gunter
Tags: Anxiety Disorder, Mental Health, Anxiety, Millennials, Mindfulness

It is part of who i am.

First of all, a little bit of context about me. I’m a 30 year old millennial (i know, you can be 30 and still be a true millennial), so i have had many years of ups, downs, and aha-moments regarding anxiety and it’s influence on my life. My goal is to make you feel less alienated if you’re suffering from the disorder, or if you want to have a better understanding of what it is like for someone living with it.

I have experienced General Anxiety Disorder for the past 12 years, so i’m pretty familiar with the subject. It’s important to mention that i’m not a psychiatrist, the insights you’re about to read are just my personal experience and knowledge living with this condition.

It’s not just being nervous all the time

What am i?

Being anxious and being nervous are two very different things. The Mayo Clinic states that General Anxiety Disorder includes persistent and excessive anxiety and worry about activities or events— even ordinary, routine issues. The worry is out of proportion to the actual circumstance, is difficult to control and affects how you feel physically.

Being nervous is a natural human response to certain stressing scenarios in your life. Being anxious is a whole different thing. It’s important that you identify your symptoms and talk to a professional to get a proper diagnose of the type of anxiety disorder you may be experiencing.

What i’ve learned over the years is that it’s always better to identify and learn about what you are experiencing. We all know the phrase “knowledge is power”, once you know exactly what’s going on, you’re going to be able to have a better and more complete picture of a plan of action (there is always a way to treat your disorder, and remember the positive result may vary form person to person).

It comes in waves

It’s not a straight line.

One great insight i’ve gained living with anxiety is: there’s no cure and it comes in waves, with peak moments and plateaus, that can last from several days to months. It all depends what you’re going through in life and your treatment course (meditation, therapy, exercise, medication and so on).

The silver lining is, once you know how to deal with your anxiety, you start to identify your triggers, how long does the peak episodes tend to last, and how to cope with the situation. You can have one bad week or two bad months, but knowing how your mind works and which treatments help makes it less scary and it becomes a manageable condition.

It is part of who you are

Change the way you look at it.

Accepting that having an anxiety disorder is part of who you are instead of constantly trying to deny it, or feeling guilty for experiencing it, will make your life much easier.

Don’t get me wrong, it will not be easy, and no one should ever try to invalidate what you are feeling. But changing the negative energy associated with your disorder and just letting it be, working every day to overcome it, will help you live your life more fully.

Try everything: meditation, therapy, exercise, mindful thinking, breathing exercises, in severe cases medication, and so on. Find what works for you and your life, and remember that you have to work at it every single day, it will become easier, and when you have peak anxious moments (there’s no way around it, they will happen) you’ll say to yourself: i know you… but i now have the tools to manage you and get back on a positive mindset.

I hope this helps anyone who’s living with anxiety and make people who don’t understand it more empathetic with the ones who are living with the condition.

Always be true to yourself and work towards having a better understanding of who you are as a human being.