You're just anxious, you dont 'have anxiety' stop it.

[GreenyEye]

Anxiety is a diagnosable medical condition.

Being anxious is normal, everyone gets anxious/worried.

Anxiety is when it takes over your life and affects your ability to function day to day, when it becomes abnormal.

AIBU to tell people to stop saying you 'have anxiety' unless you have actually seen a Dr or someone professionally qualified to diagnose it.

You're making it much harder for those of us with medically recognised Anxiety Disorder to be taken seriously.

I have noticed that twenty years ago, people might be off work with stress. Now that has changed to anxiety. I think some medics maintained that stress is part of life and unavoidable.

Perhaps that's actual problem is people saying they "have anxiety"
instead of "I have Generalised Anxiety Disorder"

The. Not that's. 🙄

@RolytheRhino

Point taken, but as @ GreenyEye says, I think it's important to recognise that not everything requires medical intervention. My depressed state was a normal reaction to the unexpected death of a loved one and it lifted naturally. If it hadn't, I'd need help.

OP I too would like to know how you haven't been taken seriously? And how that is the fault of those that confuse anxiety with feeling anxious?

And on a separate note to this thread, sometimes I feel like disorders are a competition. There's often a sense of "I've/I had/have it worse".

Anxiety:

My mum: is agoraphobic and is not able to leave her home. On bad days she'll have waves of panic attacks and dizzy spells all day.

Me: I have waves of panic attacks when out and feel like I'm looking at myself from another dimension.

My mum is diagnosed. I'm not. I guess I'm just "anxious" then.

Depression:

My friend: attempted suicide and was sectioned.

Me: I have become irrationally emotional. I carry on with the daily grind of life whilst feeling disengaged, empty and I have no get up and go.

But I haven't had therapy and I'm not taking medication so I guess I'm not depressed.

Funnily enough, my mum and my friend are the most supportive and understanding people in my life and yet they're the ones who have it worse than me. Their depression and anxiety haven't made them ignorant to what others are going through.

Some people aren't on medication. Some people aren't diagnosed. Let's not make them feel worthless because of this.

I have anxiety, I worry all day long about things that won't happen or are unlikely to happen- or sometimes are happening. I have trouble sleeping due to anxiety and avoid social spaces, again due to anxiety.

I haven't and won't go to the doctor about this because the thought of it makes me feel anxious. OP I think you should avoid guessing how people feel or how they suffer.

However I still dislike people who're just a bit worried/scared/phobic claiming they have anxiety.

But with all due respect, it's not other people's job to bow to your dislike. People who say they have anxiety may well just mean that they are feeling anxious, because that's what the word 'anxiety' can mean. They are probably well aware that there is a spectrum of anxiety ranging from a bit anxious to very severe diagnosed anxiety disorders. They may be anywhere on that spectrum themselves, whether or not they've been diagnosed with anything. They are not saying it in order to diminish anyone else's problems.

It's all very easy to dismiss somebody else's problems as 'the normal spectrum of human emotions'.

I am currently on anti anxiety medication and when I see someone who is suffering from an episode where they feel anxious I am empathic because even if it's just for 10 minutes, its a horrible feeling.

This post is as constructive as saying "You're not depressed you just need to laugh more!". Lets stop stigmatising mental health shall we? YABU.

can I just say, those of you who have said they're too anxious to see a dr or have described feelings that are affecting them.

Please do get some support, even if its asking a friend to hold your hand while you phone the GP or the local MH team (many accept self referrals now so you dont need to speak to your gp at all)

I've been where you are

I went through most of my PND without seeking help because my anxiety told me things that terrified me and made me hide it.. .it was a nasty, dark, horrible, god awful time that took so much strength to seek help for.. and I will be forever grateful to my best friend at the time being the one who gently but persistently encouraged me to get help.

Dont suffer needlessly.

I know lazylinguist, doesn't stop me feeling that way though.. same as people are free to think my opinion is also wrong.

If it creates a discussion like it has though, then it works out in my book.

it's so hard for anyone needing mental health support to access it - whether because they're telling themselves they should pull themselves together, or they are facing long waits for help, or they've had some help but it wasn't sufficient and have to go back etc.

YABU Op, we can't see into other people's heads to assess whether they qualify for sympathy or not.

It sounds like you want to be 'special'. A lot of people get anxious. They can say so if they like.

magic, I have never once said they dont qualify for sympathy, please dont put words in my mouth.

My statement was simply about annoyance at people saying they have anxiety when they're just normal, run of the mill, worried/scared about something, because I think it trivialises what can be a horribly debilitating disorder.

I've excepted the stance on medical diagnosis is wrong, and I am genuinely sorry if I upset anyone with that.

No I don't agree with this one, sorry

I think YABU. I have medically diagnosed GAD and PND. I know people who are clearly struggling with their MH, sometimes with symptoms more severe than my own, who have not received a diagnosis. I was comfortable with going to see a doctor to discuss how I was feeling, but it's not that easy for everyone (for any number of reasons)

I see where you're coming from though. The reality is anxiety and depression are common conditions and unfortunately that means there are those (diagnosed or not) who use their MH issues as an excuse to behave selfishly or badly. The more people we encourage to talk about their own MH, the less the selfish people will be able to excuse themselves as 'special' cases.

It sounds like you want to be 'special'. A lot of people get anxious. They can say so if they like.

Yeah, they can, they could say they're anxious. But people often say "I have anxiety" when they really mean they're anxious about something, and they aren't the same thing. A bit like the people who decide they must be autistic because they're socially awkward. It's people who diagnose themselves with conditions and use them to excuse their behaviour online that want to be "special."
Take a look on instagram and see how many people in their teen years and early 20s are self diagnosed with ASD/ADHD/depression/anxiety/OCD. Funny how none of them ever self diagnose or "identify" as having schizophrenia. But I guess with all the stigma around more severe mental illness that wouldn't be "cool enough" would it? 😡

YANBU

It's every bloody thread these days.

'My anxiety...' as an excuse for not doing something that anyone would find uncomfortable but necessary to do. It's just everyday life.

It's used as a crap excuse far too much and, as OP says, it reflects very negatively on people who genuinely suffer from diagnosed anxiety.

people often say "I have anxiety" when they really mean they're anxious about something

But those mean the same. They do have anxiety. What they don't have is GAD.

You sound so stuck up.. having Anxiety is not something you should lord over others like you’re part of some special club.
Fuck that.
I have anxiety and it’s so fucking tiring every single day and having some cockwomble tell others they shouldn’t say they have it unless a doctor has given it to them in writing is just such a bullshit thing to say .
Not everyone has the strength to go to the doctors about it, it’s still very much stigmatised and people like you don’t help

YABU. You aren't experiencing their lives, or their symptoms, and to dictate to someone whether or not they 'have anxiety' based on your snapshot of their life is utterly lacking in empathy.

FWIW, it took me years to see the doctor about my anxiety, because the thought of even stepping into a doctor's surgery was a trigger for it. You have the symptoms of anxiety before you get a diagnosis. You don't magically just suddenly have anxiety the moment someone says you do.

YABU. Read up a bit about how these "disorders" came into being. Difficulties are real. Suffering due to anxiety can be truly awful. But actually... there is very little decent evidence to say anxiety "disorders" should be considered medical at all.

Everybody experiences anxiety but not everybody experiences an anxiety disorder which can be completely debilitating.

I pick at my fingers until they bleed and they are sore. I am constantly applying plasters to try and stop myself. I think I do this when I am anxious but I have never been to a doctor and had this diagnosed. I have looked it up and there is a name for the condition and it is linked to stress and anxiety. If someone asks me why I do it, I say I guess I am stressed or anxious

Having seen your last comment, OP. How do you know that, in that moment, they're "normal, run of the mill, worried/scared."? Some of us mask our anxiety very well.

You don't get to decide when someone else has anxiety, and when it's an expected reaction, because you are not experiencing their full experience, and if you feel you can decide whether or not their feelings deserve the definition of anxiety, then they're also less likely to disclose just how their anxiety is presenting at that moment in time.

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/07/190708131152.htm

Have a read of this.

This is NOT to say that people's suffering isn't real. But labelling with a "disorder" label tells us very little.