My name is Karley, and I am a 21-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont. And I have anxiety.
Having anxiety has always been my life. I honestly can’t say I have ever NOT felt a terrible anxiety in the pit of my stomach. Even since being a little kid. To me, this feeling was normal. It is normal. Having anxiety as a child can be devastating. However, I feel that I learned life skills far before my time.
I have never had the kind of parents that coddled or babied me as a child. Even with my conditions. I often remember thinking, “why can’t you just give me some sympathy” although now, I am thankful they did not. I learned how to cope at a young age.
Where as, many did not. Perhaps this is why so many struggle with anxiety.
We speak out about having it, but we don’t speak about how we cope with it. The most important part of anxiety is learning how to cope. Speak out instead about how we get though the pain, the attacks, and the constant worry in our brain.
It’s not just about having it, it’s dealing with it. Which honestly, not many people can do or try to do.
It’s one thing to say you have it, but another to actually help yourself.
For me, learning to cope early saved my adult life. For me this IS normal.
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