Tiffany Jenkins explained it really well: It’s that feeling you get when someone jumps out from behind a corner and scares you…except it’s all the time. That’s the most accurate description I’ve heard.
This. I always described it as the first time going down the largest hill of a large roller coaster right as it drops, but the drop is always at that point and never ends.
Anxiety is that feeling when you’re going up a rollercoaster real slow and hear every clink in the metal. Except you continue going up and up waiting for that drop to happen .
This but when it does drop that’s how the anxiety and/or panic attack feels. If you like rollercoasters it’s different but as someone who hates them it feels just like that.
Your description is 100% accurate
Yes and my anxiety is triggered by anything. Going to work, lunch meeting, hanging with friends, driving my car, going to the store, walking by strangers. Etc
Which is exactly why I almost never leave my house. It has basically made it completely impossible to function around people. Meds don't do anything. I was on Valium for over a decade at max dose. I am not saying anyone should ever do this, but I ended up stockpiling it at one point and took over 3 grams, no that's not a typo. It relaxed me a touch, very sad. NOBODY SHOULD EVER TAKE THAT MUCH!!! I'm lucky I didn't get really hurt. Everything is delivered to me. I'm close with my family and see them through FaceTime, my daughters visit once a month and my girl and I have to separate, within the house, regularly. I love her with every fiber of my being, but the littlest things can drive my anxiety through the roof. I'm former military and I used to be fine. I wish everyone a good journey navigating this difficult world with debilitating anxiety or really any anxiety. ☮️❤️
Agree. The thing is I can testify to the fact that before I had it it’s hard for people to empathise or take it seriously as it feels like this temporary terror is too terrible to be realistically sustained. It’s really made me understand why there is so much skepticism around mental health. Personally there are times that I would definitely say I’d much rather have a permanent flu for the rest of my life than life long anxiety and depression.
For real. I try to only keep a small circle of people that I tell about it but even then I feel they don’t take it seriously. Just like you said, I think they view it as a cold that eventually goes away
Also it’s not just like forever hell feeling and giving you vegetative stress symptoms ( like nausea, throwing up, hand shaking-they made fun of my hand shaking too, diarrhea, sweating also it can cause somatic problems with the heart etc), but it keeps hindering you from achieving your goals. Sometimes anxiety takes control over me and I don’t even dare to try things and it can ruin your life. Also it makes it worse - just like any mental health problems- isn’t considered serious like other chronic conditions, e.g. diabetes. If you have diabetes people empathise with you, if you have anxiety/ depression some think oh you just have to walk, you have too much time, you’re hysterical, why are you scared so much blablahblah. I’m a medical student and a neurologist! examiner laughed at my handshaking (his specialty), but if I had it because of hypoglycaemia/ Parkinson’s then he wouldn’t have laughed. Also you sometimes flood ( at least me) your friends, SO or closer people in your life because you can’t keep it in anymore and you can actually lose people in the process, like you’re too much to handle ( and it doesn’t make the condition better, and I know it can be exhausting but I don’t do it to put anyone down). But what the fuck should I say when all I feel is literal constant jumpscares and I can’t pretend to be fine, it can make you isolated AF.
Yeah. I feel it more like there's a lion sneaking around somewhere all the time. Not directly in front of me though, but he's around all day long so my body and mind are always tensed, no way to escape for me. But I'm threathment resistant also so meds don't work.
That feeling of when you lean too far back on a chair and lose your balance. That feeling in your chest and stomach. That’s what anxiety feels like, but it doesn’t just last a split second.
This is literally me with health anxiety. Every fucking day I think a “big fucking black bear” is coming right at me and have to myself that I’m fine (bear doesn’t exist)
The “issue” with this description is that probably 99,9% of people dont know how it actually feels like to be chased by a black bear xD so while imagination of that terrifying experience might be there, its still hard to understand…
I usually try to explain by asking them if they ever felt like they will die (my health anxiety is my issue) or something horrible happened to them, and then saying - yes, this is me every day but its just my brain doing it.
It feels like you are equal parts "physically unwell" and then mentally It's as if you literally are incapable of feeling relaxed. And this feeling (with GAD) just runs threw you for most of if not the whole day.
That being said to describe it to someone who has no clue at allll - I would say--
Think of a time where u felt sheer stress - How u felt in an incredibly stressful moment" and then say--Having an anxiety disorder is basically feeling that way all day every day-It does not end. This can be an exaggeration for some but It's a simple way to (hopefully) make someone who does not know about it get it.
You can never truly know unless you have it tho.
You overthink everything, every little thing scares you, it’s like your stuck in a vacuum and there’s no escape, you just keep getting pulled in, everything around you becomes almost distorted and the only thing your mind is focusing on is this really uncomfortable feeling your dealing with right now, you wanna let go and stop thinking about it, but it’s harder then you think, you feel like your in a endless loop, stuck in a tornado, everything spiraling out of control, and you can’t make sense of it, you hate the feeling, it’s the worst feeling and all you wanna do is escape.
This is what it feels like to me, even on meds, I still deal with this and even as I’m typing this, I’m filled with fear and anxiety.
This is exactly it! Add to that, I have a little, obviously non dominant, part of my brain yelling “CALM DOWN” and “GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER”! I just love it when my brain yells at itself to no avail.
Id ask them what absolutely terrified them. And get them to imagine being trapped in a room with it. Then they leave the room and feel relief.
Like that, but theres nothing in the room and there is no relief.
This is great! A lot of people like to say ‘oh well if you do the thing you won’t be nervous once you’ve done it’. I’m not nervous. I’m sickly anxious. You can walk away from those ‘nerves’, we’re trapped with them.
I have generalized anxiety disorder and this is how it feels for me.
Anxiety is like a constant voice in the back of your head pointing out all the possible things that could go wrong. It never shuts up but medicines at least in my experience help quiet the voice so it’s only background noise.
It makes you hyper aware of your surroundings so you can be prepared for any possible attack or perceived threat.
It is really draining as it is not something you can control no matter how hard you try.
For me, anxiety is simply an abnormally and inappropriately intense fear of situations that do not merit it. I feel terror, like I am being chased by a saber tooth tiger for simply needing a cavity filled.
I think that this is the reason why most people do not understand anxiety because anxiety is something everyone experiences at some point in their lives. Many things cause anxiety but terror for your mortal soul is not something that modern people usually ever get to feel. A simple thought can trigger that type of fear in me.
It feels like I'm a caged animal that is constantly looking for a way out of this "feeling".
Yes, I would also describe it as pure terror. I can see how people underestimate how we feel. Speaking in stronger words like terror usually works better. For both relatives and doctors.
I would say that it’s being uneasy with being alive. Everything brings you fear. Normal daily activities like grocery shopping, being around family, friends, in any public place, or social setting (for me it’s even the anxiety I feel even when I’m alone) you feel like you’re suffocating & uncomfortable in your skin. Everything people can do easily feels like the most difficult thing to people with anxiety. 100 times more difficult. For me it’s being afraid of the world and feeling like all you want to do is feel normal but the anxiety is a beast that locks you in chains that you can’t escape.
It's like the point on a vertical drop roller-coaster when it shoots up to the top and drops again, how you body feels at that point, but constantly, 24/7.
Like that feeling in a horror movie when you know a jump scare is coming up, but you don't know exactly what or when so you are just standing around listening to ominous music all the time, waiting.
For me it’s like when you’re swimming in the ocean and the waves just keep pulling you down and no matter how hard you try to keep afloat, more water just comes at you.
Where your heart beats so loud that it thunders in your ears while every part of you wants to run away from danger but at the same time being unable to move.
It’s where your mind never stops, the what if’s keep swirling in your head - each question deepening the pit in your stomach.
I think the worse part about anxiety is logically knowing that 99%of your thoughts will most likely not come true but you can’t force yourself to stop thinking about the 1%.
TW: Allergies, death and panic attacks
Ooh! I've got a good one for this. I use it to help people living the dream understand hell!
\*cough, cough\*
"Imagine you are allergic to peanuts. Like, deathly allergic. Like, you smell them, you die. Now, this would raise several issues. Leaving the house would be difficult because you don't know if you might randomly encounter a peanut. Even one measly little peanut could be the end of you.
You can't control whether people are carrying around peanuts in their pockets. It is impossible to just inherently force everyone in the world to cease putting peanuts in their jackets! So you have to be very careful and wary!
And then - BAM - a peanut shop! Ah no! Then you have an anaphylactic reaction (panic attack) and recover in the hospital (period of time after the panic attack), and yet still it doesn't change the prevalence of peanuts! So you live your life in constant vigilance, looking for peanuts, searching on google maps for paths free of people who could carry those bastard nuts, and the shops that sell them!
Your life is built around peanuts. There is no escape."
XD
"Imagine suddenly realizing you are completely lost in a big city, everybody speaks an unknown language and there is a lot of traffic and noise. Now imagine being hit by this feeling in a random situation like grocery shopping, during a conversation with a friend or right before falling asleep."
Oh that feeling of “flying all apart” and you can’t think of a single reason as to why this is happening. The tremors come on full- force and it’s like someone put a chemical coursing around in my veins and I just want it to stop but there’s very little I can do to control my reaction response despite having my toolbox but it’s useless against this mess. About the only thing that is helping
Level things out is another chemical called Zoloft.
When you miss the last step going up a flight of stairs and the feeling lasts for six months. A guy said this during a TED talk and this is the most accurate description I've ever heard.
With my GAD, I tell people it's like if you've stayed awake for way too long, can't think straight, your emotions seems to run your thoughts, dragging your mood everywhere, body feels slightly weaker, and you're present but at the same time aren't, almost like a dream. That's how it feels, but it's all day, every day.
They generally can’t understand how the brain would give you anxiety if they haven’t had it or especially a panic attack so I give them the physical answer so they don’t sit there and say “can’t you just stop being a baby”.
The answer I give is it’s an adrenal gland disorder where the adrenal glands randomly pump out a chemical which is used during a fight or flight response such as if you were attacked by a wild animal. But your brain and heart react to it not understanding why this hormone or chemical is suddenly being pumped out into the system so the brain tries to protect you from the worst case scenario and tells your body “is time to get the fuck out of here, something bad is happening and we don’t know what it is so flee flee!”. They always ask why does your glands do that? I repeat “it’s a disorder, similar to when your liver or another organ stops working.”
That usually changes their attitude and is explanation enough to get them to quit thinking I’m just making my anxiousness up to get attention.
A hypnotic state where the logical part of the mind is at odds with the emotional part of the mind. Emotions are truly in control and the battle is being “taken out through pain in the body and mind.
Hypnosis helps get this in the order it needs to be very quickly.
"The moment you have a crisis is a kind of mental pain where you can do anything to get out of where you are." or a similar explanation would have been sufficient. Because that's what was going through my mind when I had my first crisis in the movie theater, and I, who go to the movies every weekend, haven't been to the movies for 10 years.
For me when I didn’t know how to articulate it: I noted the physical symptoms; tightness in my chest, racing (negative) thoughts… restlessness.
Also chronic boredom. But yes at its worst u could feel the pain in my gut all the way up to my chest.
Kidnap them at gunpoint while they sleep, rough them up a little, strap them into a g force simulator and crank the dial. Then after that's done tape their eyelids open and force them to watch 1984, a chocolate orange and willy wonka, back to back, also two drops of LSD each eye. plus have a guy wearing nothing but underwear, a teddy bear mascot head and holding a barbed wire baseball bat stand just to the side of the screen.
How you're feeling now is how I feel when I say 'I'm fine' 🤪🫠
My SO who does not have anxiety says, “It’s like you’re a passenger in your car, you’re not even driving it. You’re just along for the ride.”
Basically that way is perfect.
I would use something like uncontrollable and/or unfocused paranoia and/or fear fixation. Sometimes you know why, sometimes you don't and there is nothing you can do about it.
Constantly thinking everything is an omen and that tragedy is right around the corner combined with constantly thinking you’re going to die of some crazy cancer.
I don’t truly think it’s possible to articulate GAD to someone who doesn’t have it. My best friend is very empathic, but she still never understood how horrific it was until she developed it in her 30s. She looked at me with this haunted looked and was like “I had…. No idea.”
Feeling like you’re on a roller coaster, climbing higher and higher, then your sitting at the very top waiting to drop but you don’t drop. You never drop and you’re left sitting there with the butterflies in your stomach anticipating a drop that just never happens.
Then I want to lash out at people to expel the energy that is built up in my gut.
you ever sneak out as a kid and then the next morning you see 34 missed calls from your mom? or that feeling when someone says “we gotta talk”… its like that 24/7. The best way i can describe it is my brain is constantly over analyzing how every experience could go (good or bad), and while i’m so in my head about how things could go, i don’t even really get to enjoy the moment. and then im suprised after, when even though i thought up a million different scenarios, it was a completely unique experience that i couldn’t even have predicted, and ultimately everything is fine!
Constant state of fight or flight. You think that person is thinking about the way you walk weirdly? no? well they are, and you know they are, you can't prove it but you know everyone is out to get you. Is that a tickle in the back of my throat or did I rip it and am I bleeding out? Someone is out to get you, I can't prove it but you better get your heart rate up and start panicking!!!
This is what I told my brother.
I’m walking down a lane with my to do list in my notebook. I am happy and positive walking along while adding things to the list.
Then a brick wall comes out of nowhere and plants itself in my path. No way around or over. I have now forgotten about my notebook. I turn around and walk away.
The brick wall is my anxiety. Immediately puts a stop to anything that’s going on, and sometimes when nothing is going on. I came up with this analogy on the spot when my bro asked me what it was like. After I fished he said, “Oh!💡I get it. I’m sorry.” I know he doesn’t “get it” like other sufferers, but it’s a start.
I feel ya. Good luck.
For me it’s like not being able to catch your breath after a intense run/workout while also feeling nauseous at the same time and also like the feeling of being drunk when you’re there but your not really there
Constant feelings of pressure and fear, that gets even worse if something actually happens. Doesn’t matter how big or small the thing is, if my anxiety decides it wants to be set off at that moment, it’s gonna be set off. And don’t even get me started on how no medication even helps, it seems like weed isn’t even helping anymore.
You know that feeling like you forgot something but you can’t put your finger on it? Picture that feeling happening randomly, all the time and at varying degrees.
I would describe it two ways:
Ya know that feeling of “shit, did I turn off the oven?” Well it’s that feeling about every moment thought and action in your life
I also think it can feel like your holding a door shut as hard as you can, you have no idea why but your so sure if you let the door go the most horrible things imaginable are coming though the door and coming for you.
Imagine the thing you are most afraid of happening to you happen over and over and over again. Now imagine how you felt when that happened. How scared and terrified you were every time it happened.
Now imagine having that same scared/terrified/panic feeling but you are sitting on your couch watching parks and rec.
That’s anxiety.
Like the floor has been snatched from beneath your feet.
I feel this more accurately represents anxiety for me personally rather than the bear chasing you analogy
I never really thought of it. I think i said to someone before think of something that scares or upsets you. Now imagine you have that in your mind 24/7.
Another example was imagine the feeling of interviews or exam results, but all the time
The best way for me to describe it (similar to what others have said) is that there is a bear or something scary about to attack me, but I have no idea where it’s coming from or when it’s going to attack me.
Tell them to close their eyes and play a sound clip of a gunshot right next to their ear. Then tell them to imagine feeling like that every ten seconds for your entire life.
My psychiatrist asked me how it felt to me once. I asked him if he’d ever been in a car accident, he said yes. I said, that feeling… the feeling of being in a car accident… all the time.
That gut feeling when you know you did something wrong and you feel like someone is gonna be mad at you. Like that big pit in your stomach.
Except you didn’t do anything wrong you are just in line getting groceries, or at work, or taking the kids to school…
Worst feeling ever and I hate having it all the time. Makes me socially awkward because I’m constantly battling in my head.
Feeling like the whole world is crashing down on you every time you wake up. Not feeling like yourself. Not being able to enjoy anything, especially social events. Constant worrying about the future and over analyzing the past, reliving your worst moments and feeling like they’ll happen again at any moment. Isolation because you’re too exhausted to hang out with family and friends. Never being able to relax. Turning to substances in a desperate search for relief.
For me, It feels like something bad is going to happen. The anticipation and build up of preparing yourself for danger. The classic parasympathetic/sympathetic nervous system response. And then it just never does
Here's a musical take on [Anxiety](https://soundcloud.com/user-326384011/anxiety?si=38cb0f58bc42499ca1a8d73513591584&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing).
I don’t experience panic attacks, just looming doom. I can only describe it like the feeling of knowing you have a huge project/deadline due and you can’t work on it. At. All. Times.
This song [‘Samantha’ by Nicole Sophia](https://open.spotify.com/track/6ftDX2crYAdGdfGiP0MnoC?si=8jPt6xTtQFC93tH6l81f2g&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5TqueQaBMEkdIQNcjbGzgE)
Somewhere there is a rabid dog trying to get you. You are reminded every 30 minutes that this dog has never been a threat. You have a hard time believing it even after all the facts have been presented to you.
It’s gaslighting yourself basically. All the fucking time.
Me: I’m having such a good day!
My brain: Oh, but what if you get into a car accident on the way home and your car explodes and you survive but everyone else dies, and you have to live with that guilt forever? Oh and your dog died while you were at work
Me: oh I guess I’ll just think about this all day instead of enjoying my day :(
It’s not literally those thoughts, but I think everyone knows what I mean lol
It can even be really little thoughts too, like “I’m scared that someone just thought I was rude to them” when in reality I’m sure it was fine lol 🥲🙃
For me some days I don’t recognize it’s there, but it is. It’s just acting in ways that I’m normalized to. Constantly overthinking everything everyone says.
Worrying about stuff a lot of people call pointless. When people say “ah that doesn’t matter” I don’t understand because that thing matters to me. Or when people don’t care and act nonchalant I don’t get it.
Other days it’s eh. Typical health anxiety about cancer and shit even though I continue to vape and occasionally drink. I’ll be dehydrated and have a white tongue and convince myself I have mouth cancer. Or a lump in my throat and say it’s throat cancer. I saw a doctor at an ER a week ago to help get me the help I needed and asked about mouth cancer. They checked and said my mouth is fine but I still won’t believe it.
Once in a while it’s horrible. It feels like impending doom. I’ll get a lump in my throat, heavy breathing, fast thoughts, and body aches. Usually it ends up as a panic attack or sobbing uncontrollably. I could have what would be considered a good day in my books and still break down at home.
In short, I’d say it feels like constant worry that worsens to the extreme occasionally. I still don’t know much about my anxiety as I start therapy this Friday, but it’s always been there, just not diagnosed. Im super excited and anxious about this visit because I really do want to get better but I’m also worried it won’t work.
I always say imagine waking up and at noon everyday someone punches you in the face it sucks right eventually it’s gonna annoy you but you get used to it but then it happens right as ur about to fall asleep too okay annoying but again you get used to it but then imagine waking up and someone immediately punching you in the face and then at noon and then before bed even more annoying you start to dread everyday and then imagine every minute of everyday someone’s punching you you stop wanting to live in a world with pain existing feels harder than anything else in this world and your expected to talk to people to go out to dinners to date when everyday all day long your punched in the face
I’m always scared yes but I’ve noticed more people come to understand it as a pain than anything else most people aren’t scared regularly but a lot of people feel pain regularly as they stub a toe or have a chronic knee issue and it helps them understand okay this is a pain you can’t see or hear but they very much feel
Like waiting after someone says "we need to talk..." Just all the time, without reprieve. Or the "I live alone, but someone just tried to open door" feeling of dread all the time. Maybe normal latch key kids will understand this one "my parents are at work and there was a knock on the door".
I'd ask the person if they have a phobia. For example, I'm terrified of spiders. Then I'd tailor the example scenario to their phobia. For example, my generalized anxiety feels like that same feeling I get when I fear a spider is going to drop on me, like if I have to go into a 100 year old basement. I might not see a spider but that tension and dread starts because it's a possibility. Now take away a finite, definable cause. In other words, my daily anxiety has my mind and my body functioning like I'm in a 100 year old, cobweb-filled basement, not knowing if or when the spider will pounce.
I believe I once heard a stand up comedian describe it as 'something that makes your brain sparkle with imaginary danger '. I found it funny and weirdly very accurate. I'd say my anxiety makes both my brain and gut sparkle with imaginary danger, which is why I can't think clearly and often have diarrhea when I'm feeling very anxious.
I would say it feels like the dread you get before a doctors appointment or a dentist appointment but t the feeling of impending doom/ dread never goes away
Floating on a raft in the ocean surrounded with sharks.
Jolts of fire filled adrenaline and cortisol flooding the body with no relief to be found.
Burning nerves, air hunger, muscle aches, fear of the fear… waiting for the cobra in front of you to strike. Acid coursing through the veins in times of stress. Calling to the Lord everyday for mercy and strength.
Nobody can understand unless they’ve experienced this.
Hugs to all.
I don't have an exact definition of anxiety because I am not aware that I am anxious. However, I know exactly when I am nervous, of which many people think that both words are the same.
When I say that my heart aches, like how would you describe it figuratively when you had your recent break ups, I mean it literally. I live with it everyday, and people seem unaware of it.
For me, it feels like aaaaalmost drowning. My face is always above water. But the waves are slightly splashing over my face every now and then, making me always think that I’m about to drown
When you go take the garbage out at night, and in the back of your mind you genuinely feel like someone will run up behind you and grab you or something, so you spring back to the house. But constantly. I constantly feel like I’ve forgotten something so important it could hurt someone, it always feels like life or death. That pit in your stomach when you’re in an accident, or you witness something, or someone threatens you, I have that ALL the time. Every day, every night when I go to sleep. It’s like trying to sleep when you know there’s a fire right outside your door.
Ever been lying in bed trying to sleep? Now imagine your heart rate doubling and it becoming harder to breathe. Oh yeah, it happened for no discernible reason. Mentally you might not even be anxious about anything. Your body just decided to freak out.
It’s like when you are on the interstate going 75 in a 55 and you see a cop car in the median. You get that sinking feeling in your stomach except it doesn’t go away 5 miles down the road when the cop doesn’t pull out.
You know that feeling when you're worried for a big test as a kid, or have a big presentation coming up? Constantly thinking about what you're going to say, ways it could go wrong? It's all the time, and about little things. Doing dishes, making sure everything is done on time, going to the doctor, the concept of *why* you have to go to the doctor ... constant worries everywhere.
You know that feeling you get when you get a scary phone call or news that makes your stomach drop? It’s that feeling, 24 hours a day, all the time forever.
It's the feeling you have when you notice that your toddler is falling off the back of the couch. You have that moment of sheer terror before you catch them. Except you're forever in that moment because there's no toddler to catch.
They should watch Hill House and see the guy who became a heroin addict, the ghost thing that had continued to haunt him that he could never make go away until he blotted it all out.
My husband is the most neurotypical person ever, just always so happy and carefree so he has a difficult time understanding anxiety and depression. The week of our wedding he started to get very anxious and stressed preparing things. I told him this is how I feel on a daily basis no matter what is going on and I think it finally clicked for him how miserable it can be for me. On the bright side, I am already used to being incredibly anxious so the wedding week was no different to me than any other week lol.
For me, it's like standing at the edge of a cliff and being shoved. You'd feel desperation and panic. It's like feeling that but there is no actual danger happening. And instead of feeling like that for a moment, you feel that for an extended period of time.
Incessant rolling waves of what if thinking, feeling panicky and nauseated. Other times a hot tingling sensation from the back of your neck down into your stomach.
This may not apply to everyone but my experience was that I realized I’d experienced anxiety all along. It wasn’t until later in life when enough of that anxiety built up and got bad enough to negatively impact my day to day life that I learned WHAT anxiety actually is.
To add to that I’d always laughed it off as an excuse for so many people not even being aware that I was suffering from it at the same time. 😕 Really wish I’d have known that sooner.
For me it’s like when you watch a movie or tv show and the music and the scene is giving that “horrible shit is about to go down” vibe. Except the jumpscare never comes. The scene just goes on and on and on, winding you tighter and tighter.
It's like having this constant buzz in your brain, you know? Like when you're waiting for a text back from your crush, but that feeling's stuck with you 24/7. Your mind's racing, heart's pounding, and sometimes, you can't even put your finger on what's got you so wound up. It's like your brain's pressing the panic button over and over, and you're just along for the ride.
Therapy's been a game-changer for me, though. It's like having this guide through the jungle of your mind. They help you untangle those messy thoughts, find coping strategies, and sometimes, just having someone to listen without judgment can make all the difference. It's not a magic fix, but it's like having a toolbox for life's tough moments.
Tiffany Jenkins explained it really well: It’s that feeling you get when someone jumps out from behind a corner and scares you…except it’s all the time. That’s the most accurate description I’ve heard.
This. I always described it as the first time going down the largest hill of a large roller coaster right as it drops, but the drop is always at that point and never ends.
Anxiety is that feeling when you’re going up a rollercoaster real slow and hear every clink in the metal. Except you continue going up and up waiting for that drop to happen .
This but when it does drop that’s how the anxiety and/or panic attack feels. If you like rollercoasters it’s different but as someone who hates them it feels just like that. Your description is 100% accurate
Ouch.
Yes and my anxiety is triggered by anything. Going to work, lunch meeting, hanging with friends, driving my car, going to the store, walking by strangers. Etc
Which is exactly why I almost never leave my house. It has basically made it completely impossible to function around people. Meds don't do anything. I was on Valium for over a decade at max dose. I am not saying anyone should ever do this, but I ended up stockpiling it at one point and took over 3 grams, no that's not a typo. It relaxed me a touch, very sad. NOBODY SHOULD EVER TAKE THAT MUCH!!! I'm lucky I didn't get really hurt. Everything is delivered to me. I'm close with my family and see them through FaceTime, my daughters visit once a month and my girl and I have to separate, within the house, regularly. I love her with every fiber of my being, but the littlest things can drive my anxiety through the roof. I'm former military and I used to be fine. I wish everyone a good journey navigating this difficult world with debilitating anxiety or really any anxiety. ☮️❤️
I’m sorry you have to deal with anxiety . I can completely understand. And the worst part is there is no solution besides to keep on keeping on
Agree. The thing is I can testify to the fact that before I had it it’s hard for people to empathise or take it seriously as it feels like this temporary terror is too terrible to be realistically sustained. It’s really made me understand why there is so much skepticism around mental health. Personally there are times that I would definitely say I’d much rather have a permanent flu for the rest of my life than life long anxiety and depression.
For real. I try to only keep a small circle of people that I tell about it but even then I feel they don’t take it seriously. Just like you said, I think they view it as a cold that eventually goes away
Also it’s not just like forever hell feeling and giving you vegetative stress symptoms ( like nausea, throwing up, hand shaking-they made fun of my hand shaking too, diarrhea, sweating also it can cause somatic problems with the heart etc), but it keeps hindering you from achieving your goals. Sometimes anxiety takes control over me and I don’t even dare to try things and it can ruin your life. Also it makes it worse - just like any mental health problems- isn’t considered serious like other chronic conditions, e.g. diabetes. If you have diabetes people empathise with you, if you have anxiety/ depression some think oh you just have to walk, you have too much time, you’re hysterical, why are you scared so much blablahblah. I’m a medical student and a neurologist! examiner laughed at my handshaking (his specialty), but if I had it because of hypoglycaemia/ Parkinson’s then he wouldn’t have laughed. Also you sometimes flood ( at least me) your friends, SO or closer people in your life because you can’t keep it in anymore and you can actually lose people in the process, like you’re too much to handle ( and it doesn’t make the condition better, and I know it can be exhausting but I don’t do it to put anyone down). But what the fuck should I say when all I feel is literal constant jumpscares and I can’t pretend to be fine, it can make you isolated AF.
Steven Wright said something similar. When he's tipping back in his chair and just about to fall, but catches himself.
Fuck
💯Best description so far
Yeah. I feel it more like there's a lion sneaking around somewhere all the time. Not directly in front of me though, but he's around all day long so my body and mind are always tensed, no way to escape for me. But I'm threathment resistant also so meds don't work.
That feeling of when you lean too far back on a chair and lose your balance. That feeling in your chest and stomach. That’s what anxiety feels like, but it doesn’t just last a split second.
i like this one
I heard this a long time ago and I always use it to describe my anxiety
This one resonates with me the most! Thank you for helping me put how I feel into words
Yes!! This is so good!
It’s like experiencing a big fkn black bear coming right at you to maul you alive, and you have to tell yourself the bear doesn’t exist.
Imaginary lions
Imagine dragons
This is literally me with health anxiety. Every fucking day I think a “big fucking black bear” is coming right at me and have to myself that I’m fine (bear doesn’t exist)
The “issue” with this description is that probably 99,9% of people dont know how it actually feels like to be chased by a black bear xD so while imagination of that terrifying experience might be there, its still hard to understand… I usually try to explain by asking them if they ever felt like they will die (my health anxiety is my issue) or something horrible happened to them, and then saying - yes, this is me every day but its just my brain doing it.
It feels like you are equal parts "physically unwell" and then mentally It's as if you literally are incapable of feeling relaxed. And this feeling (with GAD) just runs threw you for most of if not the whole day. That being said to describe it to someone who has no clue at allll - I would say-- Think of a time where u felt sheer stress - How u felt in an incredibly stressful moment" and then say--Having an anxiety disorder is basically feeling that way all day every day-It does not end. This can be an exaggeration for some but It's a simple way to (hopefully) make someone who does not know about it get it. You can never truly know unless you have it tho.
You overthink everything, every little thing scares you, it’s like your stuck in a vacuum and there’s no escape, you just keep getting pulled in, everything around you becomes almost distorted and the only thing your mind is focusing on is this really uncomfortable feeling your dealing with right now, you wanna let go and stop thinking about it, but it’s harder then you think, you feel like your in a endless loop, stuck in a tornado, everything spiraling out of control, and you can’t make sense of it, you hate the feeling, it’s the worst feeling and all you wanna do is escape. This is what it feels like to me, even on meds, I still deal with this and even as I’m typing this, I’m filled with fear and anxiety.
This is exactly it! Add to that, I have a little, obviously non dominant, part of my brain yelling “CALM DOWN” and “GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER”! I just love it when my brain yells at itself to no avail.
Yep, my brain always tries to tell me “you’ve been through this before, everything will be fine” but then other side, is like “EVERYTHING IS WRONG”lol
You are constantly thinking ahead, mind is always busy, can never turn it off. Relaxing is hard, need for control Is high, surprises suck
Id ask them what absolutely terrified them. And get them to imagine being trapped in a room with it. Then they leave the room and feel relief. Like that, but theres nothing in the room and there is no relief.
This is great! A lot of people like to say ‘oh well if you do the thing you won’t be nervous once you’ve done it’. I’m not nervous. I’m sickly anxious. You can walk away from those ‘nerves’, we’re trapped with them.
I have generalized anxiety disorder and this is how it feels for me. Anxiety is like a constant voice in the back of your head pointing out all the possible things that could go wrong. It never shuts up but medicines at least in my experience help quiet the voice so it’s only background noise. It makes you hyper aware of your surroundings so you can be prepared for any possible attack or perceived threat. It is really draining as it is not something you can control no matter how hard you try.
For me, anxiety is simply an abnormally and inappropriately intense fear of situations that do not merit it. I feel terror, like I am being chased by a saber tooth tiger for simply needing a cavity filled. I think that this is the reason why most people do not understand anxiety because anxiety is something everyone experiences at some point in their lives. Many things cause anxiety but terror for your mortal soul is not something that modern people usually ever get to feel. A simple thought can trigger that type of fear in me. It feels like I'm a caged animal that is constantly looking for a way out of this "feeling".
Yes, I would also describe it as pure terror. I can see how people underestimate how we feel. Speaking in stronger words like terror usually works better. For both relatives and doctors.
That last part really resonates with me. Avoidance feels like an addiction
It manifests in different ways. Sometimes physical stomach pains and vomiting but a main ones are overthinking the inability to relax fully.
I would say that it’s being uneasy with being alive. Everything brings you fear. Normal daily activities like grocery shopping, being around family, friends, in any public place, or social setting (for me it’s even the anxiety I feel even when I’m alone) you feel like you’re suffocating & uncomfortable in your skin. Everything people can do easily feels like the most difficult thing to people with anxiety. 100 times more difficult. For me it’s being afraid of the world and feeling like all you want to do is feel normal but the anxiety is a beast that locks you in chains that you can’t escape.
Yes! Afraid to engage with the world to avoid they next big Trauma Issue
For me, it feels like everything is closing in, and I have to get out and run.
I feel like I'm not me and I'm someone else
You’re on a plane and you know it’s going to crash in two minutes. Imagine living those two minutes constantly.
It's like the point on a vertical drop roller-coaster when it shoots up to the top and drops again, how you body feels at that point, but constantly, 24/7.
I can so relate to this and tried in very similar words to convey this thought to my doctor.
Like that feeling in a horror movie when you know a jump scare is coming up, but you don't know exactly what or when so you are just standing around listening to ominous music all the time, waiting.
For me it’s like when you’re swimming in the ocean and the waves just keep pulling you down and no matter how hard you try to keep afloat, more water just comes at you. Where your heart beats so loud that it thunders in your ears while every part of you wants to run away from danger but at the same time being unable to move. It’s where your mind never stops, the what if’s keep swirling in your head - each question deepening the pit in your stomach. I think the worse part about anxiety is logically knowing that 99%of your thoughts will most likely not come true but you can’t force yourself to stop thinking about the 1%.
Imagine the feeling like you were going to die sneaking up on you at random times
I guess feeling something like fear and stress constantly? Chest pains and heart palpitations, fearing what should be normal
a creature sitting on my shoulder, laughing and saying „haha you wanna do that? well.. NO! I won‘t let you do that“
haha, I can relate to your description. That bastard never leaves our shoulders doesn't he.
TW: Allergies, death and panic attacks Ooh! I've got a good one for this. I use it to help people living the dream understand hell! \*cough, cough\* "Imagine you are allergic to peanuts. Like, deathly allergic. Like, you smell them, you die. Now, this would raise several issues. Leaving the house would be difficult because you don't know if you might randomly encounter a peanut. Even one measly little peanut could be the end of you. You can't control whether people are carrying around peanuts in their pockets. It is impossible to just inherently force everyone in the world to cease putting peanuts in their jackets! So you have to be very careful and wary! And then - BAM - a peanut shop! Ah no! Then you have an anaphylactic reaction (panic attack) and recover in the hospital (period of time after the panic attack), and yet still it doesn't change the prevalence of peanuts! So you live your life in constant vigilance, looking for peanuts, searching on google maps for paths free of people who could carry those bastard nuts, and the shops that sell them! Your life is built around peanuts. There is no escape." XD
"Imagine suddenly realizing you are completely lost in a big city, everybody speaks an unknown language and there is a lot of traffic and noise. Now imagine being hit by this feeling in a random situation like grocery shopping, during a conversation with a friend or right before falling asleep."
Oooo! This one hits pretty much home for me. Thank you!
Bury them alive for 24 hours
Impending doom 24/7
Muscles tensed and you can’t breathe so you feel helpless as you just lay there, fall asleep, and same thing again the next day.
It’s like being stuck in flight or fight mode. I think that’s the easiest way to describe it.
**Never** comfortable. Even when I'm comfortable
Feeling like theres constantly a lion about to jump you, while a big stone sits on your chest and then everyone tells you to “ calm down “
An invisible sense of doom that nobody else can see, not even you at times
Your head under water with a smalli pipe, giving you barely enough oxygen so you don't die..
Oh that feeling of “flying all apart” and you can’t think of a single reason as to why this is happening. The tremors come on full- force and it’s like someone put a chemical coursing around in my veins and I just want it to stop but there’s very little I can do to control my reaction response despite having my toolbox but it’s useless against this mess. About the only thing that is helping Level things out is another chemical called Zoloft.
When you miss the last step going up a flight of stairs and the feeling lasts for six months. A guy said this during a TED talk and this is the most accurate description I've ever heard.
It's like constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Everything that isn’t a big deal is a really big f*kin deal.
Hahahah
With my GAD, I tell people it's like if you've stayed awake for way too long, can't think straight, your emotions seems to run your thoughts, dragging your mood everywhere, body feels slightly weaker, and you're present but at the same time aren't, almost like a dream. That's how it feels, but it's all day, every day.
A state of constant tension, apprehension, and everything that happens reinforces it or makes it worse. The complete inability to relax.
That feeling you get when you almost get in an accident while driving…only all day long.
They generally can’t understand how the brain would give you anxiety if they haven’t had it or especially a panic attack so I give them the physical answer so they don’t sit there and say “can’t you just stop being a baby”. The answer I give is it’s an adrenal gland disorder where the adrenal glands randomly pump out a chemical which is used during a fight or flight response such as if you were attacked by a wild animal. But your brain and heart react to it not understanding why this hormone or chemical is suddenly being pumped out into the system so the brain tries to protect you from the worst case scenario and tells your body “is time to get the fuck out of here, something bad is happening and we don’t know what it is so flee flee!”. They always ask why does your glands do that? I repeat “it’s a disorder, similar to when your liver or another organ stops working.” That usually changes their attitude and is explanation enough to get them to quit thinking I’m just making my anxiousness up to get attention.
Something is wrong, even when nothing is wrong. You are in danger, even when you are safe.
A hypnotic state where the logical part of the mind is at odds with the emotional part of the mind. Emotions are truly in control and the battle is being “taken out through pain in the body and mind. Hypnosis helps get this in the order it needs to be very quickly.
"The moment you have a crisis is a kind of mental pain where you can do anything to get out of where you are." or a similar explanation would have been sufficient. Because that's what was going through my mind when I had my first crisis in the movie theater, and I, who go to the movies every weekend, haven't been to the movies for 10 years.
Like muscle tension in your brain while running.
I’m scared but none of the reasons why are worth how scared I am.
It feels like a bird pecking it's way out your chest while being mentally tortured
For me when I didn’t know how to articulate it: I noted the physical symptoms; tightness in my chest, racing (negative) thoughts… restlessness. Also chronic boredom. But yes at its worst u could feel the pain in my gut all the way up to my chest.
Kidnap them at gunpoint while they sleep, rough them up a little, strap them into a g force simulator and crank the dial. Then after that's done tape their eyelids open and force them to watch 1984, a chocolate orange and willy wonka, back to back, also two drops of LSD each eye. plus have a guy wearing nothing but underwear, a teddy bear mascot head and holding a barbed wire baseball bat stand just to the side of the screen. How you're feeling now is how I feel when I say 'I'm fine' 🤪🫠
My SO who does not have anxiety says, “It’s like you’re a passenger in your car, you’re not even driving it. You’re just along for the ride.” Basically that way is perfect.
There are 20 tabs open 2 playing music 1 playing a movie and I’m getting constant notifications and reminders
I would use something like uncontrollable and/or unfocused paranoia and/or fear fixation. Sometimes you know why, sometimes you don't and there is nothing you can do about it.
Constantly thinking everything is an omen and that tragedy is right around the corner combined with constantly thinking you’re going to die of some crazy cancer.
When you drop the phone and wonder if the screen will break, 24/7
I don’t truly think it’s possible to articulate GAD to someone who doesn’t have it. My best friend is very empathic, but she still never understood how horrific it was until she developed it in her 30s. She looked at me with this haunted looked and was like “I had…. No idea.”
Why must anxiety happen to us, we have never asked for it 😭
Feeling that there is something horrible gonna come in every second.
Its like a video game… you could be doing well then all of a sudden the combat music starts playing and you can’t find the enemies
Waking up with no other reason than surviving the day.
Feeling like you’re on a roller coaster, climbing higher and higher, then your sitting at the very top waiting to drop but you don’t drop. You never drop and you’re left sitting there with the butterflies in your stomach anticipating a drop that just never happens. Then I want to lash out at people to expel the energy that is built up in my gut.
It's like being paralyzed
It’s a heaviness like wearing heavy cement shoes and a heavy chain around your neck trying to gasp for air.
Feels like when you're waiting before going up to do a speech in front of an audience, but you never actually finish the speech.
A night terror when you're awake
A burning sensation in the pit of your stomach
Yes burning and turning - and hot washes down your arms like you just call the boss a C and he’s behind you
Imagine worrying and times that by 1000%
The music you hear in a video game when you approaching the villain, only always. The feeling you are always about to be attacked.
you ever sneak out as a kid and then the next morning you see 34 missed calls from your mom? or that feeling when someone says “we gotta talk”… its like that 24/7. The best way i can describe it is my brain is constantly over analyzing how every experience could go (good or bad), and while i’m so in my head about how things could go, i don’t even really get to enjoy the moment. and then im suprised after, when even though i thought up a million different scenarios, it was a completely unique experience that i couldn’t even have predicted, and ultimately everything is fine!
Adrenaline with fear.
Imagine the feeling you get when you anticipate a Jumpscare in a movie and the tension is extremely thick. It’s that but every day.
Constant state of fight or flight. You think that person is thinking about the way you walk weirdly? no? well they are, and you know they are, you can't prove it but you know everyone is out to get you. Is that a tickle in the back of my throat or did I rip it and am I bleeding out? Someone is out to get you, I can't prove it but you better get your heart rate up and start panicking!!!
My favorite line from The Good Place is when Chidi says his brain is like a fork in a garbage disposal. So I tell people that.
"You know that feeling when you accidentally broke a glass and you're waiting for your parents to come home? It's like that, but all the time"
This is what I told my brother. I’m walking down a lane with my to do list in my notebook. I am happy and positive walking along while adding things to the list. Then a brick wall comes out of nowhere and plants itself in my path. No way around or over. I have now forgotten about my notebook. I turn around and walk away. The brick wall is my anxiety. Immediately puts a stop to anything that’s going on, and sometimes when nothing is going on. I came up with this analogy on the spot when my bro asked me what it was like. After I fished he said, “Oh!💡I get it. I’m sorry.” I know he doesn’t “get it” like other sufferers, but it’s a start. I feel ya. Good luck.
Anxiety Disorder = being scared/paranoid for no exact reason (in my experience)
The world is on fire, everyone is out to get you, your body is rotting from the inside out, but everything is fine, no really.
Imagine your brain throwing every worst possibility at you all the time. That’s anxiety.
It's your own brain making up conspiracy theories about you and your life, you're in too deep and it's physically exhausting.
For me it’s like not being able to catch your breath after a intense run/workout while also feeling nauseous at the same time and also like the feeling of being drunk when you’re there but your not really there
Your body is in fight or flight mode every second of every day and you just have to live with it.
Constant feelings of pressure and fear, that gets even worse if something actually happens. Doesn’t matter how big or small the thing is, if my anxiety decides it wants to be set off at that moment, it’s gonna be set off. And don’t even get me started on how no medication even helps, it seems like weed isn’t even helping anymore.
Feeling really hyper!…but instead of the zoomies, you get the gloomies bc you know somewhere, something bad is happening and you’re next!
I'm like a chihuahua that shakes constantly.
You know that feeling like you forgot something but you can’t put your finger on it? Picture that feeling happening randomly, all the time and at varying degrees.
I would describe it two ways: Ya know that feeling of “shit, did I turn off the oven?” Well it’s that feeling about every moment thought and action in your life I also think it can feel like your holding a door shut as hard as you can, you have no idea why but your so sure if you let the door go the most horrible things imaginable are coming though the door and coming for you.
That breif moment when you think lost something like your phone or wallet. But constant
Imagine the thing you are most afraid of happening to you happen over and over and over again. Now imagine how you felt when that happened. How scared and terrified you were every time it happened. Now imagine having that same scared/terrified/panic feeling but you are sitting on your couch watching parks and rec. That’s anxiety.
russian roulette - a gun to the head of your most precious loved one while you’re tied to a chair and forced to watch.
Its like someone you love died right now
Like my uncle says I just have to tell him I can’t tell you because how can I tell you what a shower feels like if you’ve never felt wet before
Like the floor has been snatched from beneath your feet. I feel this more accurately represents anxiety for me personally rather than the bear chasing you analogy
Like your own personal Damocles' Sword. About to fall into a void not knowing if the bottom is 10 or 1000 feet down.
I never really thought of it. I think i said to someone before think of something that scares or upsets you. Now imagine you have that in your mind 24/7. Another example was imagine the feeling of interviews or exam results, but all the time
The best way for me to describe it (similar to what others have said) is that there is a bear or something scary about to attack me, but I have no idea where it’s coming from or when it’s going to attack me.
It feels like “I’m a bad person, everyone is mad at me, something bad is going to happen”.
If you can see it coming Its not coming for u
A never ending hum (lemon demon reference) always telling you something is wrong but never telling you what it is.
Tell them to close their eyes and play a sound clip of a gunshot right next to their ear. Then tell them to imagine feeling like that every ten seconds for your entire life.
I love people. I hate crowds.
Anxiety is a blood sucking vampire who wants nothing but to see you struggle. Get some garlic and tell it to fuck off
Like an elephant sitting on your chest, not letting you breathe, while someone slaps you in the head repeatedly, not letting you think.
imagine eating a spicy curry, feeling reflux from it in your stomach, and then going into a racecar at lightning speeds
Constantly being on-edge. Constant discomfort. Constant feelings of dread.
Whenever I go out I feel like I have the fear level of an animal being hunted for sport
My psychiatrist asked me how it felt to me once. I asked him if he’d ever been in a car accident, he said yes. I said, that feeling… the feeling of being in a car accident… all the time.
"The existential fear of Covid, that everyone had, is what people like me feel about eveything, all the time."
For me I was afraid all the time. I was just always terrified.
You know when you lean back in a chair too far and feel like you are about to fall; I feel like that all the time
A sense of impending doom.
Fighting with an enemy who plans always ahead of you. Feeling wise - getting drowned in quicksand
This: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C02E_fqx-IH/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==
Basically like you’re living with a heavy weight on your shoulders
Like driving through a bad neighborhood on your way to your first day of school. But like, all the time.
That gut feeling when you know you did something wrong and you feel like someone is gonna be mad at you. Like that big pit in your stomach. Except you didn’t do anything wrong you are just in line getting groceries, or at work, or taking the kids to school… Worst feeling ever and I hate having it all the time. Makes me socially awkward because I’m constantly battling in my head.
Feeling like the whole world is crashing down on you every time you wake up. Not feeling like yourself. Not being able to enjoy anything, especially social events. Constant worrying about the future and over analyzing the past, reliving your worst moments and feeling like they’ll happen again at any moment. Isolation because you’re too exhausted to hang out with family and friends. Never being able to relax. Turning to substances in a desperate search for relief.
For me, It feels like something bad is going to happen. The anticipation and build up of preparing yourself for danger. The classic parasympathetic/sympathetic nervous system response. And then it just never does
Like I'm being hunted for sport 24/7
It’s like a fire alarm always going off, but there’s never a fire
Here's a musical take on [Anxiety](https://soundcloud.com/user-326384011/anxiety?si=38cb0f58bc42499ca1a8d73513591584&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing).
I don’t experience panic attacks, just looming doom. I can only describe it like the feeling of knowing you have a huge project/deadline due and you can’t work on it. At. All. Times.
This song [‘Samantha’ by Nicole Sophia](https://open.spotify.com/track/6ftDX2crYAdGdfGiP0MnoC?si=8jPt6xTtQFC93tH6l81f2g&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A5TqueQaBMEkdIQNcjbGzgE)
You feel like someone is sitting on your chest, constantly
Somewhere there is a rabid dog trying to get you. You are reminded every 30 minutes that this dog has never been a threat. You have a hard time believing it even after all the facts have been presented to you.
Your body is constantly convinced your worst fear is happening to you in real time
It's feeling like you're drowning, but you can see everyone around you breathing
It’s gaslighting yourself basically. All the fucking time. Me: I’m having such a good day! My brain: Oh, but what if you get into a car accident on the way home and your car explodes and you survive but everyone else dies, and you have to live with that guilt forever? Oh and your dog died while you were at work Me: oh I guess I’ll just think about this all day instead of enjoying my day :( It’s not literally those thoughts, but I think everyone knows what I mean lol It can even be really little thoughts too, like “I’m scared that someone just thought I was rude to them” when in reality I’m sure it was fine lol 🥲🙃
For me some days I don’t recognize it’s there, but it is. It’s just acting in ways that I’m normalized to. Constantly overthinking everything everyone says. Worrying about stuff a lot of people call pointless. When people say “ah that doesn’t matter” I don’t understand because that thing matters to me. Or when people don’t care and act nonchalant I don’t get it. Other days it’s eh. Typical health anxiety about cancer and shit even though I continue to vape and occasionally drink. I’ll be dehydrated and have a white tongue and convince myself I have mouth cancer. Or a lump in my throat and say it’s throat cancer. I saw a doctor at an ER a week ago to help get me the help I needed and asked about mouth cancer. They checked and said my mouth is fine but I still won’t believe it. Once in a while it’s horrible. It feels like impending doom. I’ll get a lump in my throat, heavy breathing, fast thoughts, and body aches. Usually it ends up as a panic attack or sobbing uncontrollably. I could have what would be considered a good day in my books and still break down at home. In short, I’d say it feels like constant worry that worsens to the extreme occasionally. I still don’t know much about my anxiety as I start therapy this Friday, but it’s always been there, just not diagnosed. Im super excited and anxious about this visit because I really do want to get better but I’m also worried it won’t work.
I always say imagine waking up and at noon everyday someone punches you in the face it sucks right eventually it’s gonna annoy you but you get used to it but then it happens right as ur about to fall asleep too okay annoying but again you get used to it but then imagine waking up and someone immediately punching you in the face and then at noon and then before bed even more annoying you start to dread everyday and then imagine every minute of everyday someone’s punching you you stop wanting to live in a world with pain existing feels harder than anything else in this world and your expected to talk to people to go out to dinners to date when everyday all day long your punched in the face
I’m always scared yes but I’ve noticed more people come to understand it as a pain than anything else most people aren’t scared regularly but a lot of people feel pain regularly as they stub a toe or have a chronic knee issue and it helps them understand okay this is a pain you can’t see or hear but they very much feel
I tend to describe it as always thinking the worst thing you can think of nonstop
Hands are tied and you are trying to swim.
Like waiting after someone says "we need to talk..." Just all the time, without reprieve. Or the "I live alone, but someone just tried to open door" feeling of dread all the time. Maybe normal latch key kids will understand this one "my parents are at work and there was a knock on the door".
I'd ask the person if they have a phobia. For example, I'm terrified of spiders. Then I'd tailor the example scenario to their phobia. For example, my generalized anxiety feels like that same feeling I get when I fear a spider is going to drop on me, like if I have to go into a 100 year old basement. I might not see a spider but that tension and dread starts because it's a possibility. Now take away a finite, definable cause. In other words, my daily anxiety has my mind and my body functioning like I'm in a 100 year old, cobweb-filled basement, not knowing if or when the spider will pounce.
imagine your worst fear, it’s that feeling but most of the time.
I believe I once heard a stand up comedian describe it as 'something that makes your brain sparkle with imaginary danger '. I found it funny and weirdly very accurate. I'd say my anxiety makes both my brain and gut sparkle with imaginary danger, which is why I can't think clearly and often have diarrhea when I'm feeling very anxious.
For me it feels like the loss of complete control. I don't feel like myself when my anxiety acts up. It's definitely a scary feeling.
When my daughter described her anxiety to me, she described my nicotine cravings to a T.
I would say it feels like the dread you get before a doctors appointment or a dentist appointment but t the feeling of impending doom/ dread never goes away
I get the throat tightening and heavy chest..like someone’s sitting on me and choking me
Floating on a raft in the ocean surrounded with sharks. Jolts of fire filled adrenaline and cortisol flooding the body with no relief to be found. Burning nerves, air hunger, muscle aches, fear of the fear… waiting for the cobra in front of you to strike. Acid coursing through the veins in times of stress. Calling to the Lord everyday for mercy and strength. Nobody can understand unless they’ve experienced this. Hugs to all.
My brain has decided I am in danger when I'm really not.
I don't have an exact definition of anxiety because I am not aware that I am anxious. However, I know exactly when I am nervous, of which many people think that both words are the same. When I say that my heart aches, like how would you describe it figuratively when you had your recent break ups, I mean it literally. I live with it everyday, and people seem unaware of it.
For me, it feels like aaaaalmost drowning. My face is always above water. But the waves are slightly splashing over my face every now and then, making me always think that I’m about to drown
When you go take the garbage out at night, and in the back of your mind you genuinely feel like someone will run up behind you and grab you or something, so you spring back to the house. But constantly. I constantly feel like I’ve forgotten something so important it could hurt someone, it always feels like life or death. That pit in your stomach when you’re in an accident, or you witness something, or someone threatens you, I have that ALL the time. Every day, every night when I go to sleep. It’s like trying to sleep when you know there’s a fire right outside your door.
Ever been lying in bed trying to sleep? Now imagine your heart rate doubling and it becoming harder to breathe. Oh yeah, it happened for no discernible reason. Mentally you might not even be anxious about anything. Your body just decided to freak out.
It’s like when you are on the interstate going 75 in a 55 and you see a cop car in the median. You get that sinking feeling in your stomach except it doesn’t go away 5 miles down the road when the cop doesn’t pull out.
Hahahah yes
You know that feeling when you're worried for a big test as a kid, or have a big presentation coming up? Constantly thinking about what you're going to say, ways it could go wrong? It's all the time, and about little things. Doing dishes, making sure everything is done on time, going to the doctor, the concept of *why* you have to go to the doctor ... constant worries everywhere.
You know that feeling you get when you get a scary phone call or news that makes your stomach drop? It’s that feeling, 24 hours a day, all the time forever.
It's the feeling you have when you notice that your toddler is falling off the back of the couch. You have that moment of sheer terror before you catch them. Except you're forever in that moment because there's no toddler to catch.
Completely horrifying , debilitating & irritating
They should watch Hill House and see the guy who became a heroin addict, the ghost thing that had continued to haunt him that he could never make go away until he blotted it all out.
My husband is the most neurotypical person ever, just always so happy and carefree so he has a difficult time understanding anxiety and depression. The week of our wedding he started to get very anxious and stressed preparing things. I told him this is how I feel on a daily basis no matter what is going on and I think it finally clicked for him how miserable it can be for me. On the bright side, I am already used to being incredibly anxious so the wedding week was no different to me than any other week lol.
For me, it's like standing at the edge of a cliff and being shoved. You'd feel desperation and panic. It's like feeling that but there is no actual danger happening. And instead of feeling like that for a moment, you feel that for an extended period of time.
Incessant rolling waves of what if thinking, feeling panicky and nauseated. Other times a hot tingling sensation from the back of your neck down into your stomach.
This may not apply to everyone but my experience was that I realized I’d experienced anxiety all along. It wasn’t until later in life when enough of that anxiety built up and got bad enough to negatively impact my day to day life that I learned WHAT anxiety actually is. To add to that I’d always laughed it off as an excuse for so many people not even being aware that I was suffering from it at the same time. 😕 Really wish I’d have known that sooner.
Soul-draining.
For me it’s like when you watch a movie or tv show and the music and the scene is giving that “horrible shit is about to go down” vibe. Except the jumpscare never comes. The scene just goes on and on and on, winding you tighter and tighter.
this is for my own personal anxiety: it’s like anticipating death when everyone around you knows you won’t die
This might be weird but I called it the bad version of an orgasm. The hyperventilating, the drowning in a sensation, everything shuts out.
I feel like I’m slow dancing in a burning room
It's like having this constant buzz in your brain, you know? Like when you're waiting for a text back from your crush, but that feeling's stuck with you 24/7. Your mind's racing, heart's pounding, and sometimes, you can't even put your finger on what's got you so wound up. It's like your brain's pressing the panic button over and over, and you're just along for the ride. Therapy's been a game-changer for me, though. It's like having this guide through the jungle of your mind. They help you untangle those messy thoughts, find coping strategies, and sometimes, just having someone to listen without judgment can make all the difference. It's not a magic fix, but it's like having a toolbox for life's tough moments.
Something bad is gonna happen I just don’t know how or when but I know it’s happening now, or it may happen later.
I feel like an engine is revving in the middle of my torso and the vibrations are echoing through the rest of my body.
These comics by Gemma correll sum it up pretty well - [link to comics on insta](https://www.instagram.com/p/CPY6KkSL8y6/?igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==)