Phrases Kids Said That Were Code Words for “I’m Anxious”

We asked our Mighty mental health community to share things they said as a kid that were code for: “I’m anxious.”

What’s wrong with me?

• “My parents just thought I was being dramatic when I would burst into tears crying, ‘What is wrong with me?’”

I have a headache.

• “It was easier to explain that something physical was going on as opposed to something that was invisible.”

I’m sorry.

• “I constantly apologized for things that weren’t really an issue.”

Can’t we stay home?

• “I hated going out places because the noise bothered me.”

You do it.

• “I had such a hard time placing an order for food, I would tell whoever I was with what I wanted and have them place the order.”

Don’t leave me.

• “I was very anxious about being abandoned. I believed people would leave me if I wasn’t good enough, and it would be my fault.”

Can you turn on the hallway light for me at night?

• “I lived in fear for a few years that someone was going to come into my room and kidnap me. The light didn’t help.”

Don’t make me.

• “I’d tell my parents this when I didn’t want to go to school in the morning.”

My body is uncomfortable.

• “I used to say, ‘My body is uncomfortable, my body is uncomfortable!’ I didn’t know what it was at the time.”

As children, it can be difficult to communicate what we’re feeling.

A kid might not say the words, “I’m anxious” – but listen.

They might be communicating in other ways.