Some people think that clinical anxiety is something we have by choice—that we can just push it aside when we feel like it and it'll move—but it's not some tiny rock that we settle on our shoulders at will; it's a boulder on our backs that we're too weak to dislodge. We're forced to carry it, walk with it, work around it. We don't have a choice in the matter.
So let me explain what clinical anxiety really is.
1. Clinical Anxiety Is Illogical
When your anxiety is a medical rather than a situational issue, oftentimes we'll know that it's illogical. Despite that knowledge, however, we can't always control how our body mentally and physically responds. So we'll start getting really anxious and on-edge, and while we might try to "talk ourselves off a ledge," we often can't get off the ledge. If that makes any sense at all.
2. Clinical Anxiety is Not By Choice
This isn't saying that anyone chooses to be anxious, but I am trying to say that it's certainly not by choice. Why would anyone choose to have such a weight on their shoulders? Anxiety does many things to you physically and mentally and no person enjoys that. If you do enjoy it... well, that may be another issue entirely.
3. Clinical Anxiety Wasn't Always Clinical
Maybe this one confuses you, but the truth is exactly as I just said. Clinical anxiety wasn't always clinical. Sometimes it's situational, but the situation happens so much that it becomes an anxiety disorder because "what if it happens again?" "what if I can't control it this time?" What if, what if, what if.
4. Clinical Anxiety is (Usually) Out of Control
Once your anxiety becomes clinical rather than situational, it's not just every once and a while. It can spike every day, multiple times a day, and sometimes, it's just always with you. Clinical anxiety isn't necessarily something that always blows over. Sometimes it's perpetual. Though, at times, each anxiety may spike due to it's own triggers, it might be with you forever. Each anxiety surfaces—and spikes—under certain circumstances. Though these circumstances may be different, they're still detrimental at times to the person suffering from anxiety.
A Conclusion
So, you see, anxiety isn't something that one would choose. And perhaps you knew this, perhaps you didn't, but most importantly, your mind has been refreshed by the knowledge that you learned (or remembered) in reading this. One of the things I'd like to mention before closing is that everyone's relationship with their anxiety is going to be different. Some people have learned to embrace it, and to function around it, while some still haven't learned either and are struggling with it. Please be open-minded and compassionate about that. It's really hard to get by in any of those mentalities, but in the last one more so than the first two.
I hope that you enjoyed this blog post and if you'd like to read more about anxiety, be sure to click the "anxiety" tag and feel free to scroll through my anxiety posts!! God bless! <3