If you have never had a full blown anxiety attack before then I don’t blame you for not understanding it. It is a hard feeling to explain, let alone a concept to grasp.
I have always had anxiety but it hasn’t been until recently that it has really impacted my life.
I explain it in two parts.
The first part is that little annoying, doubtful, negative voice in the back of your mind that everyone has that questions your every move and assumes that people around you are judging and paying way more attention to you than they actually are?
Well, anxiety is listening to that voice above all else. It starts small but eventually that negative and judgmental voice is all you can hear and feel.
The second part is once that voice starts, it is next to impossible to stop listening to.
I like to call this part, “entering the black hole”.
Once you are in the black hole it is extremely hard to come out of it. The black hole portion is where the actual anxiety attack takes place.
It’s not that the situation or the reality isn’t what you are experiencing for the most part but that the intensity of how you feel or react doesn’t match the reality of the situation.
For instance, if a friend says the can’t make an activity you planned together for a certain reason they probably just simply can’t make it and didn’t want to cancel.
Not, that they hate you and don’t enjoy spending time with you or any other negative thought that could come as a result of that action.
You’re allowed to be sad about not being able to hang out with your friend but the intensity of that sadness or negative feeling is where the “anxiety” takes place and you end assuming or feeling like they don’t want to be friends with you or don’t like you anymore, which is not the case.
Of course, that is a very simple example. Life is way more complicated and complex than that and so is anxiety.
It’s not an easy thing to explain or any easy concept to grasp, just ask my boyfriend who has been learning all about dealing with anxiety right alongside me.
So a little shout out to everyone who is battling this fun thing called anxiety and a special shout out to everyone who stands next to us and supports us and reminds us that black holes are our choice to jump down and helps us climb back out!
Of course, as I said this is my own personal take and experience with anxiety. I want this to be a place where people can open up and have honest conversations and ask questions about it.
Would love to hear how other people explain their anxiety.
-A
latte-confidential.com 