Have you ever received well-intentioned advice while facing intense anxiety just to feel judged, misunderstood, or condescending?
Like "Calm down!" Or "Just be positive!" Or "Don't worry so much!"
The people trying to help generally want to do just that, but it's always easier to advise someone when you don't feel what they are feeling because you have the advantage of rational thinking – it goes out the window when combat or flight mode takes over.
And if you've never felt the depth of fear some of us experience – perhaps because you haven't been conditioned that way by trauma or learned to block or resist your emotions – it is hard to really understand what it's like or what it takes to get through.
Because of this, I really appreciated reading stories and advice from people who were there and really understood what it is like. People who are intimately familiar with the bloody, heartbreaking, insane madness of fear and who have both empathy and insight to offer.
When I read about their experiences and what has been helpful to them, I always feel a little less alone and much better equipped to deal with the tornadoes in my head and heart.
With this in mind, I have decided to put together a collection of meaningful quotes from fearful posts over the years. I hope something here offers you the same peace and comfort that these thoughts have given me!
10 Quotes You Must Read When Struggling With Anxiety
1. "Without a doubt, the most important thing to remember is that it's okay to feel overwhelmed and stressed out. It's okay to feel lost and insecure. It it's okay not to have a clue how you're going to hold it together sometimes. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be happy all the time. It's okay to recognize when times are tough. It's okay feeling anxious even when it's uncomfortable. "~ Ilene S. Cohen (from When You Feel Bad, When You Feel Sad and Afraid)
2. "When you watch your thoughts, you can choose what to believe and what to let happen. You can choose not to believe that someone else wanted to hurt you got it wrong, or that you deserve to be judged. You cannot view these thoughts as anything other than jerky responses to a perceived crime and not as reflections of reality or the ideas you need to have your state of mind swayed. “~ Kimberly Diaz-Rosso (from How to Stop Dwelling: A Simple Practice for Letting Go of Anxious Thoughts)
3. "If you want to run or flee, it is time to face your fear with courage. Although our automatic response is often to run away, numb our emotions or distract us in some way, soothes the escape is only temporary fear. The fear will return, possibly in a different form, until you decide to confront it with kindness. "~ Carly Hamilton-Jones (from How to Combat Fear and Fear Cognitively, Behaviorally, and Spiritually)
4. “No matter how close the fear gets to home, there is always a lie hidden somewhere. Maybe it's based on a wrong belief. Perhaps the problem doesn't need to be fixed as immediately as it feels. Perhaps there are options that we didn't consider. But fear always – always – contains a lie. It could be big and direct, or it could be small, tricky, and subtle. Look closely and we will find out … Finding the lie takes the fangs of fear. "~ Jason Large (from 4 life-changing lessons for people struggling with fear)
5. "Instead of suppressing your depression, anxiety, shame, loneliness or other emotions that you want to resist, ask yourself: What message should you send me? What would I do in my life do differently if I listened to this emotion instead of suppressing it? ”~ Kelly Martin (from How Hugging and Loving My“ Negative Feelings ”Helped Me Heal)
6. "" I have to do something now. "This is an incredibly subtle belief that most of us don't even realize we are holding onto. It relies on our obsession with productivity and performance and manifests itself in a constant, itchy dissatisfaction. Although our ego leads us to believe that we need this feeling to get things done, when we can let go of it, we see many of our fears lifted dissolve and our relaxation deepens. It is also much more likely that we enjoy what we have to do without feeling the constant inner pressure that what we are doing right now is never enough. "~ Benjamin Fishel ( from 9 convictions that you have to let go of in order to find inner peace)
7. “If we draw conclusions about a situation without first checking the facts, we can let it escalate into a full blown crisis in our minds. In other words, our negative thinking can get out of hand and increase our fear unnecessarily quickly. This is called globalization. How we think about our circumstances can have a major impact on the level of stress we feel. "~ Paula Jones (from To Relieve Stress, Stop Globalization, and Put Things in perspective)
8. “At some point it will pass. It always does. We feel drained or deaf or depressed or ashamed. I have a tendency to get angry … We do recover, however, and this is exactly why people with panic attacks are warriors. We fight every day. We know the nature of the animal. We don't always know when it will strike, but we do know we will survive whatever it throws at us. We have experienced death in our own way and it has not yet struck us. We survived the last panic attack and we will survive the next. We have no choice. "~ Haley West (out of a panic attack: What it's like when fear strikes)
9. “Our primal brain is geared towards seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. and fear is often caused by worrying about the possible pain we might feel in the future. Sometimes we are so afraid of emotional pain and loss that we forget that they cannot harm us physically. And this is where the saying “make peace with discomfort” will serve you very well, as your ability to feel uncomfortable is directly related to your ability to be a relaxed person. Sometimes we assume that we need to be comfortable in order to be relaxed. But sometimes being relaxed just means feeling uncomfortable and okay with it. The more discomfort you can tolerate, the less you worry about it not happening. "~ Kari Dahlgren (of 3 ways to stop worrying and feel less anxious)
10. “In the midst of uncertain fear, our vision narrows literally and metaphorically. Fight or flight takes over and our vision is literally focused sharply, while our brain diverts resources to survive and leaves no energy for creative problem solving. So relax Know that it is, and remember that there are options that you may not be able to see right now. Just because you don't see them doesn't mean they aren't there. Acknowledge that there are quite a lot that you don't know you don't know – and that some of these unknown, currently unpredictable options will make you very, very happy. "~ Dr. Amy Johnson (from How to Feel Less Stressed About the Uncertain Future)
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Which of these quotations found the greatest response from you? And are there other quotes that you found particularly comforting or helpful?
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