A lot of people nowadays are suffering from anxiety and it must not come as a shock if you also have someone in your circle battling with anxiety. We sometimes may not even realize how our words can trigger someone’s anxiety. Such a situation makes what we say or what we don’t say to a person quite important. Hence, here is a list of a few things you should avoid saying to a person with anxiety.
1. Don’t worry about it and calm down
Instructing someone about not worrying or calming down suggests that their response is in their own control, which is obviously not the case. These words are the most unconstructive words and have never shown any effect on anyone. You should at any cost avoid throwing these words at someone suffering from an anxiety attack or disorder.
2. It’s not that big a deal
You can’t always be sure about how much something is affecting the other person. No matter who you are you just don’t have the right to tell somebody how they should feel. If you are telling someone that they are making quite big a deal of something they are bound to take it as a sign of you telling them that they are overacting, which will surely affect them in a negative sense.
3. Oh god! Here you go again!
This is one of the worst things you can say to a person suffering from a mental disorder, especially anxiety. It can really embarrass the person and trigger them to never express their feelings in the future. You should be compassionate towards anyone with anxiety and always try to be polite to them
4. Let’s get you a drink
Getting a drink can surely make you forget things and relax for a while but drinking is one of those things to which you can easily get addicted. So, instead of motivating your loved ones on taking a self-destructive path try encouraging them to do something good.
5. Why does everything affect you this much?
Do you have any control over the things that affect you? We don’t think you do. So who are you to ask them why is everything affecting them so much? Things affect people in one way or the other and that is the foremost reason they are worried about it or even have anxiety because of it. So, just don’t be that harsh on them.
6. Are you even trying to get better?
Just think about how it feels like when you are so tired of some habit of yours and are trying to get better and people start questioning you even if you are doing something about it. You feel bad, don’t you? Now think about what effect can these words do on somebody having anxiety? Well, this can be really overwhelming for them, so just try and avoid using these words at any cost.
7. Your anxiety doesn’t give you a pass to behave badly
This statement can be really hurting and humiliating to anyone especially people having anxiety. You might be a person who does not like sugar-coating but still, it doesn’t give you any right to say such a thing to someone. They themselves are battling with a lot of issues and you saying this on top of that all is even more hurting.