Hi Switch (and anyone else who may be struggling with anxiety),

I’ve suffered with anxiety on and off since I was nine years old. I won’t say it’s ever really gone away – it seems to come and go like waves. I’ll go months and months feeling normal – if any anxious thoughts come, I’m able to disregard them easily. But then, at some point or another, my wave crashes and the anxiety comes rushing in again. I can’t explain how or why. I don’t know why I can handle it sometimes and other times I can’t. But you are not alone.

Suffering with anxiety feels so messed up, I know. We think, why me? No one else has this problem. Why can’t I just live my life? It’s hard because you know you’re being dumb. You know there’s nothing actually wrong, you know you aren’t going to die. Yet, we feel anxious and scared anyway, even though there isn’t real danger. It’s easy to get upset at yourself and think you’re just screwed up and will never change. I’ve felt like that too. But I never give up, and neither should you. We’re strong and we can overcome this struggle.

It helps to slowly challenge yourself. Slowly do the things you’re scared of. The more you do them, the more you’ll prove to yourself that you can do them, and you’ll build up your confidence. When we feel anxious we’ll as, is this a reason to be scared? No, because I did it the other day and it was fine. I know that it’s easier said than done. When anxiety is at a peak, many things are scary – I recently got scared to drive to a nearby town 30 minutes away! I never realized how much it had taken over my life. It made me scared of things I used to do without thinking. We don’t have to let it control us, though. We are in control of our own minds. That’s the most important thing to remember. We have the power to choose whether we want to feel anxious or not. We can change our emotions, and in turn, our experiences and our life. It takes patience and time but the truth is, we have the power. That means there is always hope to overcome it.

It’s easy to feel like anxiety is a monster that you can’t control – it just pops up whenever it feels like it, and you have to fight it off or hide from it. I think that’s where we develop our idea of ‘safe places’ and ‘safe people.’ But we need to realize that everywhere is safe. Everywhere is safe, as long as we’re there because all we need is our minds. We are all Dumbledore – we just have no idea how powerful we are (I hope there are Harry Potter fans out there). Anxiety is something we create – that means we can un-create it. Stay strong and believe in yourself. Life can be amazing if only we let go of our fears.