4 illustrations of what anxiety really feels like

For people living with chronic anxiety, it can be difficult to describe to others what it actually feels like. Many think that it's a feeling of worry with a direct root cause and if you fix the root cause, you won't feel anxious anymore. This isn't what it feels like. Chronic anxiety is messy and unpredictable, overpowering and insidious, physical and mental, and at times so debilitating I’m unable to speak or think clearly or even move.

Anxiety feels like:

• A knife stabbing you in the chest with each breath you take

• Like a rain cloud of negative speak following your every move

• Like an imposter hijacked your normal self

• Like an explosion in your brain, sending your thoughts spiralling out of control

Click on the link to view these illustrations to get an insight into what life with chronic anxiety feels like. It's different than being a little worried about something.

My hope is that with more understanding of what’s really going on, people might begin to have a little more empathy for others living with chronic anxiety. Remember that people who live with chronic anxiety don’t necessarily have some fatal flaw they’re ignoring. They can be normal people like you and me who are going through something they don’t understand.

A little empathy and support can go a long way.