anxiety

Things as simple as a missed call from an unknown number or someone knocking on your door put me into straight up fight or flight. I really do hide from people who come to my door. Real talk, I have gotten on my hands and knees below a window so they wouldn’t see me. I’ve even hidden in the closet. I know. Whacko.

Kids are puzzles. My son is a 1,000 piece one. This wasn’t the first time my young son, not yet two, had experienced a bizarre, heightened amount of stress when dealing with normal, everyday circumstances.

As soon as I hit puberty, I was fascinated by sex.... As I’ve gotten older (and actually had sex), my relationship with the act has shifted. Most of this has been the result of my not only coming to terms with my body and what it does and doesn’t like, but coming to terms with another part of my existence: my anxiety disorder.

Anxiety isn't something people choose to experience — it's connected with how their brains see the world.

A new study conducted by Offir Laufer, David Israeli and Rony Paz (of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel) has found that individuals with anxiety see the world differently, and this difference is because of a variance in their brains.

Your barista was less friendly than usual…Are you not on good terms anymore? Maybe something has happened in his/her life. You wonder what might’ve happened. Should you have asked them? Maybe they thought you were rude for not caring. Maybe they didn’t want you to ask because they just wanted to deal with it themselves. Maybe they were just really deep in thought and didn’t notice you were there. Maybe you should’ve seemed more upbeat. Your coffee wasn’t as good today either. Is that related?

Having anxiety isn't fun, but it seems like anxiety is continuously making its way into my life. And that means I've got to fight anxiety right back. After having my first panic attack in February and then multiple ones in August, I decided I had had enough.

I’ve been around for 19 whole years now, and while I by no means have all the answers on how to cope with anxiety, I like to think that I have a few pretty useful ones. But I also like to think that Seal and Heidi Klum will get back together one day, so proceed with caution.

"...Mental illness isn’t that exclusive. It doesn’t care how your day is going."