Do the people closest to you know about your anxiety and its symptoms?
Besides my therapist, only my best friend knows the true extent of my anxiety. It's hard to explain to people who don't already have issues of their own. Some of the members of my family are aware that I have anxiety, but I have never discussed the symptoms or triggers with them. I have tried in the past, but after hearing things like "Oh, I feel like that sometimes, but you just have to keep doing it and eventually it will go away" or "you just need to quit being a baby and toughen up", I just decided it was best to keep the details to myself. So have you talked to friends and family about your issues, and do you have any advice for people that may want to?
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The only person who knows anything about my depression and its extent is my fiance.
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My boyfriend of 3 years knows. He's the only person who really has any idea and who wants to help me....
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Anyone who gets close to me will know about it. If I don't tell them, they'll see it for themselves so I'd rather explain it. It actually makes me feel better once I tell them too, especially about my social anxiety. I love being able to have an excuse for my awkwardness.
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Everyone even remotely close to me knows. A lot of people not close to me know. Even some people I've met once know lol. I talk about it whenever it's relevant to conversation, or when I'm having a hard time. I'm not ashamed at all, but it's taken a lot of years to get where my head is at about my disorders.
I appear to be in a very small minority of people with anxiety disorders who aren't shy (I don't just mean about my disorder, I mean in general, too).
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Yes, most everyone in my family knows, including my fiancé and close friends. My anxiety is so bad it's hard not to know I'm a little crazy
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No!... but i want to tell them.They want me to find a job. They think I'm just being lazy.
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No, I didn't told anyone in exact words. I tried to tell this to my parents, but they didn't understood, my mom even freak out when she heard it. Than I felt really bad then. My father suspects something (he saw I was sad all the time) and to my sister I am trying to explain this, but she looks as down as I am. We miss each other a lot. There is also a friend of mine who I told about this website and she was receptive and understanding. Rest of the people suspects that something is not quite ok with me, since I never get out from the house and when I do, I am being a little weird.
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i guess that i am lucky. after 10yrs of panic attacks, i finally told my husband and he is very supportive. he always says when you want to talk we will. he says that of course he can't really understand but he supports me anyway. my grown children know, one child also has anxiety, but they are supportive. i used to pretend i was ok but my husband told me to stop doing that and let them see for themselves how i really feel. he was right, the pretending is over and it feels good.
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My family, and friends do know about my anxiety disorder however, often times they don't understand the extent of the suffering I do because of it. My family downplays it as being "over-dramatic" and my friends sometimes seem to think it's "attention-seeking behavior" ... if only they knew the half of it!
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My husband and best friend know the extent of my anxiety. My husband has seen me at the worst of it, and that's when he realized that it was so severe. My best friend...she's been through all of it too. She's actually the only person who knows everything about how I feel. Some of my coworkers and family know that I have anxiety and other issues, but I get told to just get over it, or don't think about it. I wish I could make people understand just how terrible it can be.
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Accepted Answer
My whole family knows and only some of my friends and I don't try to hide it... I think that if the people around me are going to think of me negatively because I am like this then they are not really my friends and I don't need them in my life...
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My family knows and coworkers, not sure if they know the extent at work as I try not to tell to much, I am afraid they will think I am crazy. It is horrible and nobody understands unless they have been through it. It is very controlling, I can't focus on anything and my insides shake, I don't sleep through the night because it controls me. Really terrible.
