Heattsupport ive lived with anxiety since about 5t

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Belongs to: Can you relate to zach s struggles with anxiety sh
@heattsupport I’ve lived with anxiety since about 5th grade when anxiety disorders weren’t acknowledged yet. It got worse after losing my mommy at 24. I still take meds and I’m 41 now. I’ve tried to never let anxiety define who I am but it’s hard at times still

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Hi there. Thanks for sharing your struggles and challenges with anxiety. That sounds so hard to have live with an anxiety disorder since 5th grade. And sorry to hear you lost your mom at 24. That’s too young to lose a parent. You mention not letting your anxiety define you and that’s huge! Such a powerful insight for all of us to embrace. We may all have something to deal with but we are NOT that diagnosis. There’s so much more to each of us. Sure we have to navigate baggage and struggles but I think it’s those things that make us who we are. It is those facets that make us unique when we treat ourselves with respect, and nurture ourselves. It sounds like you’ve learned wisdom about yourself in your 41 years. And you’re right even with insight we all still have bad days where our system is either drained or overwhelmed or just not equipped to handle it. I found for me coming to recognize and “accept” that anxiety is a part of me as is depression but that they are just another aspect that I need to take care of, like eating certain foods, or knowing how I learn best or even what kind of people I click with. It just makes up who I am. No fault, no foul, just different. I say accept because the biggest change that I’ve experienced in dealing with my anxiety is shifting my definition of those responses to be less confrontational or judgmental of it and more allowing and forgiving. During my meditation I even practice saying to myself, it’s okay to have this. You’re doing what you know to do to try and trying to help. And doing this kind of practice daily has definitely created more self acceptance. I love hearing where it sounds like you are in your mental health journey. You have anxiety but you’re learning about yourself and growing. It’s all we can do. You got this!

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@heartsupportwall4 Thank you so much for your kind words, it means alot to me. I try to be a better human everyday and honor my mommy’s legacy with pet rescue and adoption.

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