For many of us who struggle with anxiety, at some point or another, we may feel guilty. Many people do not seem to consider anxiety a real issue and many times, they tend to blame those who struggle. However, anxiety is real and it is very real to those of us who have to go through it every day.
Some of us may have had a family member or friend (or possibly even seen or heard about a stranger) that was going through something physical or mental that may seem or be more serious and more dangerous than anxiety. For example, if you are afraid to drive you may feel bad because some people physically can’t drive for whatever reason and meanwhile, you just feel as if you can’t due to your fears. This may make you feel guilty because you have the power and capability to do things but because of anxiety, feel otherwise while others literally cannot do these things.
However, as long as you are not feigning your anxiety, you should not feel guilty. We all go through different things and just because we may not have something as “serious” as others may have, that doesn’t mean that our issue is any less real or frightening.
We can, however, sometimes look at this idea and say to ourselves, “I’m afraid to do this but some people really can’t. Instead of being afraid because I don’t feel I can do this, I’m going to prove to myself that I can.” So in a way, sometimes a little bit of guilt or self-awareness at least is a good thing, but we should not make ourselves feel bad that we struggle with anxiety.
We may also feel guilty because our anxiety may affect others whether it be because we ask for help, because we feel that our anxiety is causing rifts in our relationships, or because we are causing others anxiety . It is true that we need to try to be selfless and try to give the ones that are helpful a break, but also know that if someone truly loves us, they should be willing to help; to care. While we should not take advantage of the ones we love, we should also keep in mind that loving one another means being there for each other and that this goes both ways.
However, again, some people (even the ones who love us) will not understand and may not even try to help. We need to understand that this is a possibility and that while they still may love us and we still may love them, we cannot always expect everyone to be helpful.