One of the requirements of being a HealthyPlace blogger is personal experience. In other words, having an anxiety disorder qualifies me to be one of the authors of the anxiety blog. More specifically I have panic attacks, crippling self-doubt, paranoia, and general anxiety. My blog application was one of the only times this was a plus. Weekly blogging isn't an easy thing to do, despite the number of them out there. Topics need to be chosen, research done, comments read and responded to, titles selected, keywords considered, pictures picked, then it needs to be written, formatted, and scheduled all before it goes live for all the world to (hopefully) see. As a writer, I know other writers, and the general consensus is that publishing anything, even a blog, is stressful. It invokes a sense of anxiety in the most grounded of people. A part of the writer – his work – is out there, waiting to be judged by strangers.

If worry and anxiety were the keys to success, I’d be ruler of the world. Success - it means different things to different people. Someone might want to be a multi-bajillionaire by the age of 30. Someone else might want to be able to eat a meal that day. We all have goals around finances or relationships or academics or fitness or health or anything else that people need and desire. With goals inevitably comes anxiety.

Anxiety causes are complex, and living with anxiety can be agonizing. Case in point: three people are walking together down a hallway in an office. A coworker passes by and says absolutely nothing. Person A thinks, “Hmmm. He seems in a hurry. Must be busy today.” Person B thinks nothing at all about this but continues to mull over whatever she is mulling over. Person C thinks, “Oh no. He didn’t say anything to me. He must be upset. I must have offended him somehow. What do I do about this? How can I face him? Should I approach him or let him approach me? What if he doesn’t want me to work here anymore?” One situation, three different reactions. Why? What causes the anxious reaction of person C?

If you are anything like me, you’ll find the news media to be a virtual minefield of anxiety and panic attack triggers. Television, radio, newspapers, magazines, and the Internet are constantly bombarding us with headlines about various happenings in the world. Whether local, national, or world news, the one thing that is certain is that media will find, create, or report on anything that will draw our attention. More often than not, the news is negative. Anything tragic or controversial crowds the front pages and runs at the top of the hour. The phrase, “if it bleeds, it leads,” appears to be the measure of newsworthiness for any story. Constantly being bombarded with stories of danger, crisis, and violence is enough to leave even the most level-headed among us feeling anxious about our own safety and that of our loved ones.

When people know my diagnosis of bipolar and anxiety disorders — and given my line of work, most do — they tend to assign all of my actions to said diagnosis. Confrontation and disagreement, as an example, turn into signs that I am escalating to a manic state state or having an anxiety or panic attack. But anxiety disorder and confrontation don’t exactly go hand in and hand.

Perfectionism. It’s a common term in our society. We accuse people of (or, depending on one’s opinion of perfectionism, applaud people for) being perfectionists. Is perfectionism a desire to succeed and excel in one’s field? I’d call that ambition, but not necessarily perfectionism. Perfectionism includes this desire for success, yes, but it goes beyond a desire to succeed. Perfectionism is not just a desire to do well; it’s a need to do the perfect job or be the perfect person to the detriment of your wellbeing. And perfectionism contributes greatly to anxiety.

Things like depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are insidious. We work hard, sometimes for years, to take away their power so they no longer control our lives. And we do it! We’re going along, innocently living our lives, anxiety and such at a tolerable level, when, bam - these beasts spring up and give chase. When this happened to me recently, it took me a while, but I finally realized what was happening.

When you live with anxiety, it's frustrating to be told that it's "all in your head." Great news: you can begin to let go of this maddening annoyance. Anxiety isn't "in your head." Why? Because it is in your head. Literally. Anxiety is in your brain.

The idea that fear and anxiety are tightly woven together is widely accepted by mental health professionals. I agree, and you might too. But is anxiety only the fear of fear itself?

Excessive worry doesn't feel good. Both our bodies and our minds experience it in often painful ways. Anxiety frequently causes the mind to fret over a problem. When we do that, we’re thinking about the problem itself rather than a solution for it, and the problem can become quite a monster. Our thoughts have run away with it and now blow it out of proportion, turning metaphorical little mole hills into gigantic mountains. Problems seem like catastrophes.