Dear Anxiety letter series

Dear Anxiety

 Letter 1:

Dear Anxiety,

Let me start by saying, I do not like you. I never have, and I never will. Do I have to deal with you? No, but some of my favorite people in my life do, and I do not like what you do them and that they have to deal with you every day. I wish I could make you go away, but I can’t and honestly it breaks my heart that so many people struggle with you. There is one thing I do know: you may control certain parts of peoples’ lives and make it hard for them to do what they love or what they need to do, but you cannot take away how awesome people are. With or without you, they are still awesome, and the things they can do in spite of your presence are really amazing!! I do not know the signs of you or how you affect each person that has to deal with you. I may not be able to get rid of you ever–even though I may try my hardest to fix or understand why you do what you do–but I know for a fact, I will do these four things: 1. I will listen to them. 2. I will support them in any way I can. 3. I will respect them. 4. I will love them unconditionally. This letter is dedicated to my friends that have to deal with anxiety. To everyone that has to struggle, this is for you. I may not know you but I just want you to know, someone out there cares for YOU!

Sincerely,

 A girl who cares

_____

Letter 2:

Dear Anxiety,

This is my second letter to you. I am not done with you yet; I am far from it. I have a few questions for you: 1. Why are you not taken as seriously as depression or any other illness? 2. Why do you take over peoples’ lives? 3. Why do you effect so many people in so many different ways? I am sure people that suffer with you ask these questions all the time, and let’s be honest with each other, you have no freaking clue. Truth be told, nobody ever will unless you’re looked at by more professionals. You need be looked at on your own; you can’t always be linked to depression. You need to be treated as a separate diagnosis. So many people suffer from you and wish they had answers. I see so many people deal with  you daily, and they want nothing more than that. So what more can we do as friends, family members, co-workers, anyone really? Maybe we can start with these things: 1. Give them space. 2. Do not put your worries on them; they have enough to worry about. (I learned this recently myself). 3. Speak up about anxiety, and become a voice for those who can’t find the words. If more people speak up, more awareness will be raised.

Sincerely,

A girl who cares

_____

Letter 3:

Dear Anxiety,

I told you I was not done with you! I understand that some people struggle with you so badly that they need to take a cocktail of pills to deal with you. I get that you cause an imbalance in the brain, but instead of giving people pill after pill to deal with you, what if doctors and therapists came up with a healthier pill with less crap in it. What if we had pills with more natural ingredients and more natural treatment methods that help people that suffer with you. Like really, think about it! How much better would people feel about putting a pill in their bodies that is healthy, a pill that is actually something that does what it is supposed to do, or what the doctors say it does. I think there should be a healthier way to manage your symptoms. It could be healthier medicine, or even just educating people on the different types of coping skills and giving them the appropriate tools for dealing with you. I think that could really benefit a lot of people. What can be done to make this happen? Here are 4 things that I think could/should be done: 1. Create healthier medications. 2. Design more/ different types of coping tools 3. Come up with/create therapies that are more effective than what is out there now. 4. Educate people on the kinds of therapies that are already available to them, and make sure they know their options for treatment.

Sincerely,

A girl who cares

_____

Letter 4:

Dear Anxiety,

I am back! Did you miss me?! So, recently in writing these letters to you, I have found out that more of my friends suffer because of you than I previously knew. I heard someone say to me, “but ‘So-and-So’ doesn’t look like he has it.” The thing is, we don’t know who is effected by you and who is not effected by you; at this rate, we will never know. Why would we? It’s not like when you first meet someone, they come up to you and say, “Hi my name is _____ and I have anxiety” or that they have labels that say so on their shirt. No, it does not work like that. My point is, you don’t have a specific type of person that you effect. You can pick anyone, at anytime, anywhere. Some people never realize that they know someone who is taunted by you. My question is why don’t people talk about it? Why keep it a secret? Would it matter to a real friend that someone has anxiety? Would their friends or family love them less because of YOU? No! Would their friends or family not want to spend time with them because of YOU? If so, that just means that people that don’t know what you are, are scared of you. They may judge the people that are effected by you, and that is not right. People should never judge a book by its cover, ever. People need to learn more about you. They need to talk to those that have to deal with you on a daily basis to truly understand what you do, how you act. Only then will they truly understand and not be so judgemental and scared of what you are. Here are 3 things that I think people can (and should) do to better understand you: 1. Educate themselves. 2. Be open minded. 3. Listen.

Sincerely,

A girl who cares

_____

Letter 5:

Dear Anxiety,

This is my final letter to you, so here it goes: So many people I know, and care so deeply about, suffer because of you in one way or another. And you know what? They are some of the most talented, amazing, kind, and loving people I have ever known. They are those things in spite of you! They have careers; they have lives; they are fighting back the best way they can (as I am sure other people are all over the world). You cannot define people who suffer from you; you never, ever will! No matter how hard you may try, I think people that deal with you are stronger then you are. I hope that people start talking about you and stand up to you. Why? Because you are important. Don’t be flattered; you’re important for all the wrong reasons. You’re important like AIDS/HIV is important, like Cancer, global warming, and war are important. You’re so terribly important that I hope people talk about you so people can understand you better. I really do not think we understand you now, and we need to. We need to get a grasp on you and the terrible things you do and bring awareness to your evil ways. If I ever see someone dealing with you, maybe in the middle of an awful panic attack, I ask the person out loud, “what can I do?” and they say, “you really can’t do anything” and unfortunately, in that moment, they are 100% right; I can’t. However, I CAN do something; I can love them. I can try to understand them and be there for them, even if it’s just physically being there with them, not saying a damn word, because that’s what they may need at the time. Most importantly people that are effected by you need awareness. They need someone to stand up for them, but more importantly, they need someone to stand beside them. I am sure they can stand up for themselves, but what they need is a friend on the bad days, they need someone to just not say anything to them at all, someone just be there when they need a friend most. So with that, I say goodbye. So long, farewell. I am never speaking  to you again.

Sincerely,

A girl who cares

P.S. I am not a doctor. But I am a friend, a sister, a best friend,  to people that have to struggle with anxiety. If you’re reading this and you’re dealing with this in the best way that you can, but you want to give up, DON’T! You matter! You’re worth it and someone cares about you. I do! I may not know you or ever get a chance to meet you, but I care. This letter series is dedicated to all my friends who suffer from anxiety. You are cared for, you are loved, and you are not alone.