13 Things Only People With Anxiety Can Relate To

When you're living with anxiety you can't particularly articulate why you're uncomfortable or anxious at any given moment. This is difficult for many people without anxiety to understand. You may notice altering mood with no signs at all. This is the norm for a person living with anxiety. Because being anxious comes with many quirks, here are 13 things only people with anxiety know.

13 We Make Plans But They're Tentative

Don't hold us to social commitments. Yes, it may be that you are just in town for a short visit but we may change our mind. Don't let it take anything from our friendship, we just prefer you pencil us in and not write it in permanent ink.

12 We Don't Like Making Small Talk

Please don't be a stranger and think that because we have a mutual friend at a party that we must start a conversation. We will end up saying something very clumsy and it would have been a waste of time. Do we still try to make it work? Of course. From hello to bye, things will be far more awkward if you make us talk.

11 We Pat Ourselves On The Back If We've Made It To The End Of A Social Gathering

This is something we really hate to do but we do it for the ones we love. Our palms are sweaty so please don't think we're being rude if we give an awkward 2ft apart wave instead. When the night is through and we didn't decide to bail out early, please say thank you because you don't know how hard this was.

10 We're Writers, Not Talkers

Meeting face to face is just very hard for some people with anxiety, and rather than asking us to explain something aloud, please let us type it or write it out. This is not because we're dumb, but we're afraid that we will stumble over our words just to get an idea out. Read our thoughts instead and you won't have to ask what I meant. Don't make us call anyone on the phone, we're happier with a text or email.

9 Please Have Liquor At Your Party

We can function without it, but we've accepted that we're just probably a lot more fun with it at your function. Not only will we be more talkative, we will also be able to laugh at your jokes and actually enjoy being around you for such a long period of time.

8 We Overanalyze

We will take something small and overanalyze it to find some sort of deeper meaning even when there is none. We will probably ask a lot of questions or make assumptions for this reason and we really have no control over this. We will think about doors we didn't lock to unresolved miniscule issues.

7 You Get Nervous About Any Sudden Noise

It terrifies you to think that even though you've locked the door and even locked your bedroom door, there's that chance that someone may have gotten in somehow. If they didn't break in with your knowing, you're convinced they've been there in the house the entire time you were at work, just watching you and plotting the attack.

6 We Are Constantly Exhausted

We may pretend to be able to have the energy for things as simple as going to dinner or going on a walk, but honestly, we'd prefer not to because it's way more energy than you feel like putting out there. Physical and mental energy play a big part in this one. If you catch us in the act, don't think that we're angry or sad, we can't help this feeling.

5 Meeting An Old Friend Still May Feel Like Meeting A Stranger At Times

You may have been a friend for 15 plus years, but please understand that we're just as nervous when meeting. A million of things go through our heads. "What if there's an awkward silence?" "What if they get bored?" "Did I already ask that question?" "Can we just get the bill already?"

4 Elevators Are Designed To Make People Feel Uncomfortable

Without a cell phone or even a friend in the elevator with you, there are only so many places you look. There's always that awkward exchange of eye contact or when the door just won't close or open fast enough. There is just silence and God forbid if someone is giggling. We instantly feel like we're being attacked even if they're laughing at their phone.

3 We May Suddenly Look Somber

We have zero control over our face sometimes. If there is a silence, we constantly depend on the other person to come up with something else to talk about. When you finally come up with something, we may be in a daze and begin to look somber, mortified that we couldn't be the one to come up with something to talk about first.

2 Don't Ask Us If Everything Is Okay

We've probably answered this 3 times today and it's only noon. We will say we're fine and that we are just tired, but the truth is, we have no idea why. Out of frustration, you may even catch us crying, but again, there's no particular reason. It's a quirky imbalance we live with.

1 We Would Love Nothing More Than To Be Able To Operate Normally In Social Settings

For some social butterflies, it's very easy to brush shoulders with a stranger and from there, start a stimulating conversation. People with anxiety want to know what it's like to have spontaneous conversations and spur of the moment things happen, but that's outside of what we feel comfortable dealing with. We assume the worst and think no matter how pleasant a person may be, there may be an awkward exchange far from ordinary.