Designated Doodler

I felt inspired to write this post today to help anyone out there who knows/is friends with/is a parent of someone with anxiety. I realized today that these things I know aren't just common sense. They've come from years of dealing with anxiety myself and knowing others who have as well. So here it goes. Things to keep in mind about anxiety: Anxiety isn't as easy to control as you might think I've had people ask me in the past "well, why don't you just stop being anxious." To me, that's like asking someone who has chronic migraines to stop having migraines. What's important is to realize that anxiety is very much a physical thing. It is a response that your body has, when once started, is difficult to control or stop. An anxious person may have a racing heartbeat, sweaty hands, dry mouth, or even shake. Once the body begins this descent into anxiety it's hard to turn around. And even if the anxiety isn't yet to that point or severi...

Anxiety is more common than you may think. It is a nuisance that can alter how you live your life; it's annoying. And I've learned a few things about it that I thought I'd share with you. Survival of the Anxious A lot of people have a natural disposition towards anxiety. And guess what...it's what helped us survive! Back in the caveman days your carefree buddy would lay outside looking at the stars while you worried about lions. He'd get eaten, and you'd carry on your family line. A lot of times, we are hyper-observant of not only ourselves but our environment as well. So stop thinking of anxiety as a plague and start thinking of it as an advantage.  Is That all You've Got? Many times, people get caught in a loop of anxiety because they are afraid of anxiety itself! It is such an uncomfortable thing (sweaty palms, obsessive thoughts, racing heart, imagining the worst) so we naturally want to avoid it at all costs! But then we can become worried abo...