16 Things People With Anxiety Issues Hate Hearing From Others
Hope this helps the person with anxiety share with their friends and family for better understanding of what us with anxiety go through.
Anxiety affects about 40 million Americans each year, and can cause ceaseless feelings of fear and uncertainty. With that suffering can come comments that are more hurtful than helpful to people with anxiety issues. While they usually come with the best intentions, a lack of understanding from the commenter can make panic attacks more challenging.
To help someone with anxiety issues cope, here are some specific phrases to avoid.
1) “Oh, I’ve been anxious before.”
Feeling Anxious
Being anxious about a big test or an interview is very different from an anxiety attack. While one is expected (or it should be, at least), the other can bowl a person over without warning.
Author Brandie Wagers explained in an article that, for her, a sudden burst of anxiety is “comparable to what you would feel if a herd of stampeding buffalo was headed right toward you” out of nowhere.
For those with no control over their anxiety, saying you’ve been anxious before is not a good comparison.
2) “Calm down.”
Just Calm Down
The problem with anxiety and panic disorders is that you can’t simply calm down. There’s no switch to turn off the feelings automatically, and finding the ability to relax on command isn’t easy for most people. For those with a disorder it’s even more difficult.
Even though you might have good intentions in telling someone to keep calm, it can put them under more stress and pressure – the last thing they need at the time.
3) “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”
Dont Sweat The Small Stuff
The truth is, something you view as trivial or small may not be so small in a person with an anxiety disorder’s world. This comment is often meant to be positive and upbeat, but by saying it you may diminish something that’s a much bigger problem to another person.
For someone with anxiety issues, there is no “small stuff.”
4) “Just do it.”
Give Empathy For People With Anxiety Disorders
When someone with anxiety is facing a fear, so-called tough love may be the last thing they need. Depending on the type of phobia or disorder, panic can strike someone at any time.
Try practicing empathy rather than telling someone to “suck it up.”
5) “Everything is going to be fine.”
Everything is going to be fine
While this comment is overall supportive, those with anxiety issues don’t react to comforting words in the same way others might. Telling someone with anxiety that “everything will be fine” doesn’t do much, because while it may be logical, anxiety on the level of a disorder is anything but logical.
Reassurance like this can be a bad method, because the person may believe it for a moment, but then doubt can creep in, creating a vicious cycle.
Most of these comments are said with good intent and the hope that they will be uplifting. However, many of them show a lack of understanding for what the person is going through. Rather than trying to cheer them up or telling them to get over it, help those with anxiety issues through their problem by being empathetic and listening.
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