Anxiety Journal Entry

This journal entry is taken from important dates in my life that have formed who I am today. These are all dates after I have been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and are meant to show my progress over time. This story is seen from my point of view, describing a struggle that is a part of who I am, but not defining who I am. I count to three, take a deep breath, and walk through the doors of the Lehighton Mental Health Center. I expected to be diagnosed, treated, and better, all within one day. But after the first day of therapy, I was just as confused as I was before. All my therapist gave me was a name, Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). The main problem with mental health is that treatment varies from therapist to therapist. It isn’t a physical problem, like a
Physical symptoms of GAD vary from person to person; no one person experiences anxiety exactly the same way as another. Anxiety could mean being nervous for one, but for me, it means overthinking and shaking. Unfortunately, the anxiety was too much for me to deal with on my own, so I would put it onto other people. My friends, as much as they care about me, couldn’t help me help myself. Strengthening myself means that I could mend all of my broken friendships; I’ve lost numerous friends from this more than anything. Today was a start and even though it is just a step, I am still moving forward. As someone that has always strived to be perfect, it is tough to accept that having an anxiety disorder does not fix society’s standards of perfection. Everyone has their own struggles, but to me, they seem to have it all figured out. I let my anxiety stop me from being myself by overthinking every single decision I made, but yet, I don’t regret any of it. I don’t regret the decisions I made. I know that I am a healthier person because of it. As much as I detested reaching that low point in my life, I knew that it needed to