11 Things People With Anxiety Often Do

1. We see danger in every situation.

No matter what we are doing, we fear the worst in every activity. We definitely see the glass half empty and in our heads we are questioning why we even go outside.

2. We fear even the simplest of tasks.

Going to work, going to a party alone, riding the train, riding a plane, driving, going on a date and the list goes on and on. Every single simple and easy task we do is daunting to us, because we see what could go wrong, even when it’s relatively safe.

3. We either sleep in way too late or wake up insanely early.

For some, they are so exhausted from thinking to much, they literally need more than eight hours of sleep to feel rested. Also, overthinking at night keeps people up, so sleeping in is a must. For others, they need to wake up early in order to get everything done at a greater pace. Anxiety starts the second they get up.

4. We make lists for literally anything and everything.

We don’t just make lists for grocery shopping. We make lists for work, for social dates, and for trips. We don’t see the world as an adventure or game; we see it as a more serious and more rigid place than other people do.

5. We focus on the negatives when receiving constructive criticism.

No matter how much positive reviews, raves, or comments that we get from work, from coworkers and from friends, we don’t even listen to that part. We only focus on the negative, and what we failed at, instead of what we did well on.

6. We see challenges as mountain climbs.

We don’t see challenges as exciting or adventurous or thrilling. We see them as valleys to hike and climb on, only to fall off of them. We see challenges as opportunities to fail instead of succeed or thrive.

7. We always think the worst is bound to happen.

It may seem completely bonkers to other people to understand and it may even seem stupid, but it’s not funny for us. My therapist once told me that when I see stick on the ground, I view them as snakes. That’s how we see every situation.

8. We don’t have faith in ourselves.

We are our own worst enemies. And when we fail or get broken-hearted, we blame it on ourselves and put ourselves down to the extreme. We are our own worst critics and tell ourselves truly terrible things. To say we have low self-esteem would be an understatement.

9. We don’t have faith in other people.

Just like we don’t have much faith in ourselves, we don’t have faith in others. If people do us wrong, we automatically shut them out in fear of getting further hurt. And when it comes to love, if we have been burned in the past, we view every relationship as something that will end instead of something that will bring us joy.

10. If we failed at something, we will likely never try it again.

In elementary school, I got a C in math and then was convinced I was terrible at that subject. Because of this insecurity, I have always said I would do terribly in math no matter what, and that became the truth. If we fail at something or do just “okay,” we convince ourselves that it’s not worth trying again.

11. We take interactions and conversations with people very seriously.

Every conversation we have feels like an interview, especially when we are meeting strangers. We hold onto every second of the interaction and dissect every person’s tone and voice. If it feels like they are judging us or disagreeing with us, we usually feel small and like everyone is laughing at us.

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