Mi ansiedad no me permite acercarme a la gente, pero así es como lo afronto

Cuando aparece la ansiedad, a veces te hace difícil de amar, you know? It’s like the world is a huge hurricane that doesn’t allow you to escape its grasp and your mind just goes with that whole mess, without ever realizing what it’s doing to itself.

So here I am, mistaking everything that’s in my head as reality. Like I have nothing better to do than to be miserable. I can’t say that there is anyone in my life whom my anxiety didn’t affect—including my teachers, parents, siblings, partners, etc. Everyone in my life has made it clear that they don’t know how to handle my emotional distance and my messy mind.

My anxiety didn’t let me get close to people at all. It isolated me to the point where I wasn’t even able to get out of my room, for my head convinced me how bad it must be outside. Other people seemed to be too much work but I have found my ways to deal with all these things that are telling me to stay away, for my brain might hurt them.

Me acuerdo de respirar. My head tends to get cluttered with so many thoughts that simply will not go away on their own and that’s when I forget to breathe. Whenever I would meet someone new I would become so anxious that my breathing would just stop. But now I manage to remember to breathe. With this, I get a moment of peace where I gather my thoughts and become aware of my surroundings. When I remember to breathe it’s so much easier to talk to and interact with others.

Le hablo a la gente de mi ansiedad. It’s not the easiest thing to do to be honest. Telling someone that you se pone ansioso con mucha facilidad and that the whole situation is super uncomfortable for you only makes you vulnerable. But if someone doesn’t appreciate your honesty and they don’t even bother to try and understand you, then they are not even worthy of your time. At least that’s how I see it. It took me quite some time to manage this but I have been doing great!

Cuando la gente sabe lo ansiosa que me ponen, también saben que estoy librando una batalla que nadie puede ver. No busco compasión. Sólo quiero que la gente sepa lo difícil que me resulta interactuar con ellos y por qué es así. Así la gente tiende a ser más comprensible y acaban haciéndome más fácil conocerles.

I try to accept that I can’t control things. My anxiety is mostly turned to the fear that something might go wrong before it even starts, so I end up with my head between my knees, begging the world to do things my way. But it never works out how I planned. So, I have a reminder written on my hand that says that I can’t control things and that I should just let them go.

Because of the fear of getting hurt or being misunderstood I often regret the fact that I don’t get emotionally intimate with someone. So, what I do is I talk. Even though it sounds awkward and even though I break down most of the time, I keep on trying until I tell them something about myself. Of course, I always ask for something in return, a memory perhaps, that I can hold on to.

I try to remember that it’s not my fault. Esto es en lo que más fallo. Intento convencerme de que tener ansiedad isn’t my fault or that people leaving my life also isn’t my fault. But it’s truly hard. Getting close to people means being vulnerable and telling them that you are insecure and that’s what gives them el poder de romperte.

Pero prefiero estar rota a no ser capaz de expresar emociones verdaderas. Uno puede curarse tras un corazón roto y todos podemos aprender una valiosa lección, pero lamentar el hecho de no haber establecido nunca una conexión emocional o de haber tenido demasiado miedo para hablar con alguien permanece.

Así que cada día trabajo para abrirme más a la gente y acercarme a ella, porque me hace feliz mantener una conversación interesante o aferrarme a un amigo increíble. Trabajo mi ansiedad y, al final del día, me siento orgullosa de mí misma por cada pequeño logro.