Skip To Content
  • Bullseye badge

24 Things People With Generalized Anxiety Disorder Want You To Know

WHERE DID THIS EXISTENTIAL DREAD COME FROM?

1. Generalized anxiety disorder is more complicated than just worrying a lot.

2. It's not the same thing as social anxiety.

3. We get anxious over the ~normal~ things like tests, big presentations, first dates, whatever.

4. But then, we also do over stupid, small, irrational things.

5. We even get anxious about being anxious.

6. But tbh, usually there's not even a tangible thing to be anxious about. The anxiety is just there.

Imagine constantly hearing the boss music in a video game but never seeing the threat.

7. A big part of GAD is the frustration that comes with it.

8. It comes with a lot of physical symptoms.

Stomach problems, dizziness, headaches, insomnia, sweatiness, muscle tension... Just to name a few.

9. And there is constant questioning of whether symptoms are anxiety-related or something else entirely.

10. We have a complicated relationship with "calming" activities, to say the least.

11. You might think we're perfectionists.

12. We might come across as a little uptight when it comes to making solid plans.

13. And open-endedness = torture.

14. You might think we're prone to canceling plans thanks to anxiety, but we don't do it lightly.

15. Keeping busy is super important for keeping sane.

16. And when anxiety paralyzes us and we can't do anything, that's even worse.

17. We might come across as clingy when we use hanging out as a way to keep anxiety at bay.

18. Little things add up really quickly, so sometimes, we might freak out over something that seems tiny.

19. And we're pros at overanalyzing everyday interactions.

20. We can keep ourselves awake at night for hours on end just by thinking too much.

21. Our minds are brilliant at coming up with worst-case scenarios.

22. We don’t want to hear that we have ~nothing to worry about~.

23. It's important to us that you know that we know our worries aren't rational.

24. Other than that, we don't expect you to know the right thing to do or say. We just appreciate you being there.