30 Women Get Real About What It's Like to Live With Anxiety—And How They Cope

Health

Anxiety took the spotlight in 2016 with celebs like Selena Gomez, Ellie Goulding, Amanda Seyfried, Hayden Panettiere and others opening up about their struggles with mental illness. And it's not just famous people that are suffering. Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in America, affecting one in five people, with women being twice as likely to be afflicted as men, according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America. Yet even though it's so common, there are still a lot of misconceptions about what anxiety is really like. To help dispel the myths about anxiety—it doesn't equal "crazy"!—30 women opened about what it feels like to them and how they deal.

1."My anxiety gives me a lot of sleep issues. I wake up early to exercise because exercise helps me calm down, but at night it's hard to fall asleep because my brain won't shut off. So I do awesome in the morning, but crash early in the afternoon because my brain rarely shuts off. Oh anxiety, you're an asshole."—Kelsey T., 28, Grand Haven, MI

2."Anxiety feels paralyzing to me. Most of the time all I want to do is take a huge step back and out of sight, but being a full-time working mom, girlfriend, and entrepreneur, I can't just disappear. Instead I give myself five minutes to breathe in a quiet room."—Summer L., 21, Eagan, MN

...[ Continue to next page ]