My Anxiety Disorder

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) has a wide range of signs and symptoms that often go unnoticed by the general public

I was shocked when I was initially diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder in my early 20s (I’m in my mid-late twenties now). Whenever I had learned about anxiety and panic type disorders, I had always pictured someone rocking back and forth in a corner, completely immobilized by their uncomfortable and negative feelings. I think, looking back, some of this was me desperately clinging onto a fantasy world of having some semblance of control over what was going on in my own head.

Generalized anxiety disorder has many faces, symptoms, signs, and severity levels. For some people, yes, it is that severe where it is a feeling of complete and utter paralysis due to the intense anxiety feelings. For others on the milder side of the anxiety spectrum, it is often just a general feeling of being on edge, never quite feeling comfortable (no matter what you are doing and/or where you are).

However, anxiety when portrayed in the mass media through means of TV shows, movies, comic books, etc. is often only the most severe showing (like many mental health problems) OR it is treated as “oh, everyone has anxiety”. This would be like telling someone with clinical depression…