Anxiety while you are in college is quite inevitable; it’s something that most students deal with during their everyday life. What if you came into college, though, with Generalized Anxiety Disorder? I have had this since I was eight years old and it has been something I have been trying to manage for as long as I can remember. I’m not saying that when you get anxiety in college it’s nothing like having it your whole life because I definitely don’t believe that.
Most people believe that all panic attacks are the same and they deal with people not being able to breathe and having to use a paper bag or just needing some time to be by themselves. But that is far from the truth. People experience anxiety attacks in many different ways.
My anxiety attacks are silent and more than half the time I need to be around people in order to get through it. I hate feeling like I’m so dependent on other people because I want to show people that I can be independent. I have never had a problem with not being able to breathe; my problem is that I can’t stop crying and it’s completely uncontrollable. Like most people, I hate feeling like I am not in control of my own actions and like I can’t do anything right in that moment.
What I have learned from my anxiety attacks, however, is that I have so many people in my corner that are willing to help me no matter what. I may seem out of control and crazy sometimes but my friends know that I don’t try to do it and anxiety is not something I want to have.
I may not like them, and they may not be how other people have anxiety attacks, but I have learned to love myself despite them. I know anxiety attacks are awful and most people wish they didn’t exist, but remember that you have people who will help you get through them no matter what.