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Anxiety Journals: When She Realizes…

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at JCU chapter.

The day starts quiet

The quiet tempts her to stay in bed just a little bit longer

Sleeping the day away has become a solution

As time passes, the feelings of guilt and regret flood her mind and the noise around her feels louder

Any conversation, any phone call screeches or blurs together

Her focus feels lost

Her whole being feels lost

Forcing herself to get out of bed and go to class, work, and to get food

Simple tasks have become so difficult 

So terrifying 

Throughout the day

All of her insecurities scream loud

All at once

And she looks in the mirror

Later trying avoiding any other reflections

Disgusted by her flaws

Crying as she raises food to her mouth

Not able to stop 

Not able to feel during these moments

She can’t seem to calm herself down

When she is under pressure, she is too scared to scream

Too scared to say what she wants to say 

Not wanting to keep feeling disregarded

Everything she does feels wrong, even when she knows it’s okay

Reflecting on every conversation and task over and over again

Analyzing if she did anything wrong and how she can fix it

Mind racing

But keeping her feelings inside with fear that she will bother someone 

The panic can happen anywhere and at any time

The pulsing starts in her heart, rushing up and down her body

Transitioning back and forth from her wrists to throat

Hands and feet tingling

Legs weak, her body shutting down

Eyes feeling faint and heavy

Her warped vision makes her feel faint

Her heart pounding faster

And faster

Rapidly beating that she can almost see the heart beat in her eyes

Shaking a little bit more, trembling, teeth chattering

The sound of her heartbeat overpowers the background noise

Just as she starts to breathe 

Everything stops

The ringing in her ears gets louder as she carries herself back to her room to the best of her ability 

Her body feeling numb and heavy

And the overwhelming noise and the thoughts of her fears

 Tempt her to stay in bed just a 

Little

 Bit 

Longer

Day after day everything seems to repeat 

Constantly in fear of the future

Feeling alone even when she knows she’s not 

Walking from class scared of more panic and of what will happen next 

When finally, suddenly 

Without expectation or warning

Her muscles feel less tense

Her mind and thoughts feel less anxious

Gradually, a smile comes across her face as the wind brushes up against her skin 

The crisp smell of fall is finally apparent to her senses 

And she starts to feel better

After days, weeks, months of wondering what it’s like to feel normal again

Even if the feeling visits for a moment 

She finally admits and believes that “It’s okay”

She can finally say those two words out loud and can finally listen to what’s going on around her

She can scream now, but with joy

She can allow herself to feel confident

She feels…

Good

That one simple word, that one feeling

Something that she hasn’t felt in a while

And though it seemed like forever

And that nothing ever would feel right

She realizes that it happens 

Just

Like

That.

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