Living with anxiety disorder: Some days, anxiety in everyday life feels like trying to breathe through a heavy fog. Everything is muffled — thoughts, actions, decisions. You know the world is still turning, but it’s hard to keep up when your body feels like it’s running on survival mode 24/7.
I’ve lived with anxiety for as long as I can remember. As a child, I worried obsessively — about being late, about saying the wrong thing, about everything going wrong. Back then, it didn’t have a name. It was just “nerves”, or being “a bit sensitive”.
But now I understand I’ve been living with an anxiety disorder most of my life. And no — it’s not just about panic attacks. Often, it’s much quieter, more insidious. It’s the way even simple tasks feel monumental. Making a phone call. Going to the shops. Responding to a friend’s message. These things aren’t hard because I’m lazy or forgetful — they’re hard because my brain perceives them as threats.
One of the most misunderstood aspects of anxiety is the fatigue. Imagine your mind is constantly scanning for danger, even when there isn’t any. That mental effort is draining. There are days I’m physically worn out just from managing my thoughts.
I’ve come to rely on a few core anxiety coping mechanisms that keep me grounded. Routine is one. Getting enough sleep, walking regularly, and setting small goals help bring structure when my thoughts feel chaotic. Journaling helps too — not because it fixes things, but because it creates space between me and my fears.
Living with anxiety disorder is hard to explain unless you’ve lived it. It’s not just about “being nervous”. It’s about doubting yourself constantly. It’s about planning and re-planning. It’s about desperately wanting to relax, but not being able to.
There is hope, though. Truly. I’ve had moments of peace. Mornings where I wake up and don’t feel dread. Afternoons where I laugh without immediately wondering if I laughed too loud. These moments might seem small, but they are massive victories.
To anyone else living with anxiety: I see you. You are not alone in the fog. And the fog does lift — even if just for a little while. Sometimes, that’s all we need to believe again.
Why do people get Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD)?
Generalised Anxiety Disorder (GAD) is tied into the biological reactions that go back to prehistoric times when we hunted and were hunted by wild animals. We had to react in a moment to the threat or perceived threat in front of us. Did we stop and fight for our lunch or run in order to protect ourselves? This is the so-called fight or flight mechanism, that sits within us all and has deep-rooted biological reactions at its core. But for those of us that don’t fear for our lives, we can still project this threat onto other situations that we find ourselves in, resulting in the innate anxiety reaction. For example in the case of a phobia, after a road traffic accident, we may fear driving in a car again both as a passenger or as the driver.