I’ll be honest—when my doctor first mentioned SSRIs for anxiety, I had no idea what to think. Part of me felt relief because I finally had a name for what I’d been going through. But the other part? Full of questions. Would they change my personality? Would I be dependent on them forever? Would they…
Not knowing what’s going on inside your own mind can be incredibly unsettling. I remember sitting in a waiting room, my foot tapping nonstop, palms damp, heart pounding—not from fear of a diagnosis, but from the fear of not understanding what I was feeling in the first place. Anxiety wasn’t just some nervous energy. It…
I used to wonder if my constant worrying, racing thoughts, and low-key dread came from something I picked up along the way—or if it had always been there. Growing up, I watched my mom obsessively recheck the stove every night. My older sister would get physically sick before school exams. It wasn’t until I hit…
One morning, I woke up with this dull, tight sensation right in the center of my chest. It wasn’t sharp, not like in the movies when someone grabs their chest and keels over—but it was enough to send me into full-blown panic mode. I thought, “This is it. Something’s wrong with my heart.” I ended…
It wasn’t some big dramatic moment that made me realize I needed help with my anxiety. It was the little things. Sitting in traffic and suddenly feeling like I couldn’t breathe. Lying in bed exhausted but unable to sleep because my brain wouldn’t stop rehashing the same worry. Getting a text and avoiding it because…
There was a time I canceled every social plan for months. I couldn’t explain it—just the thought of being around people made my chest tighten. No one knew because I got good at hiding it. I’d send that “Sorry, not feeling great today” text and hope they didn’t press for details. That’s what anxiety disorders…
There was a time when I thought lavender oil and yoga were just trendy things people posted on Instagram. But during one of my lowest points with anxiety, when my chest felt tight for weeks and my sleep was all over the place, I found myself researching everything outside of conventional meds. That was the…
I never used to think food had anything to do with anxiety. I assumed anxiety was all about stress, trauma, maybe a brain chemistry thing. Nutrition? That sounded like a wellness influencer’s pitch for a smoothie recipe. But after years of navigating anxiety and trying everything from therapy to meditation, I finally started to notice…
I didn’t always realize I had anxiety. For the longest time, I just thought I was “overthinking” or being “too sensitive.” Little did I know, those patterns—racing thoughts at night, avoiding social situations, feeling this low-key dread for no reason—were part of something bigger. It’s strange how normalized anxiety becomes until you stop and really…