The Things People Don't Understand About Living With Depression and Anxiety

Having depression and anxiety is more than just being sad and nervous. It tries to take control of your life and can make the smallest tasks seem impossible. What most people don’t understand is it isn’t something you can just “get over.”

What most people don’t understand about depression and anxiety is:

It’s waking up each day, unable to get out of bed because you don’t see yourself as worthy and wishing you weren’t alive.

It’s making you feel guilty and pathetic because you can’t find the strength or motivation to complete something as simple as showering or brushing your hair.

It’s looking at your room, knowing and realizing that you need to clean it and get things done, but instead you ignore it because it’s easier than finding the strength to get up.

It’s having panic attacks for no known reason.

It’s having a panic attack about going to class because you will feel “stupid” compared to your colleagues, and like a failure if you get something wrong.

It’s looking in the mirror and being able to point out everything you hate about what you see and not finding anything you like about yourself.

It’s being surrounded by people, yet feeling more alone than ever.

It’s isolating yourself from other people because you feel like you are just a burden to society and they are better off without you.

It’s skipping class when unable to function that day and being afraid of telling your professor why — in fear they will think you were just being lazy and unprepared.

It’s being afraid to make any type of mistake because you’re afraid they will think less of you.

It’s staying awake night after night unable to sleep because your mind is racing and telling you everything wrong with you and why you aren’t good enough and are useless.

It’s putting on a smile and pretending things are OK because that’s easier than telling people what is going on.

It’s feeling alone, lost and trapped in your own mind.