Self

Heartbreaking: Photos Show What Life With Anxiety REALLY Feels Like

Photo: weheartit
What It's Really Like To Have Anxiety

Let's be clear. There's nothing cool about dealing with anxiety. I'm a naturally anxious person, and watching the media paint it as if it's the hip disease-du-jour is incredibly painful.

What all of those rom-coms and sweet viral videos don't tell you is that it's ugly. The reality is that some days are better than most. But when it's bad, it's bad.

Your heart will stop, you'll lose control of your hands, your mouth and your nerves; even after it's passed, you won't be able to see straight. Yet, you'll lie to yourself and pretend that you don't feel your bones shaking.

THAT is what having anxiety feels like. And photographer Katie Crawford nails it perfectly. Appropriately named "My Anxious Heart", her photo series brilliantly captures the heart-wrenching pain and feelings of despair that people with generalized anxiety and depression have.

Crawford told The Huffington Post that she tackled this series because of her own struggle with anxiety. What she had to say really resonated with me:

"I created the project as a way for me to personally express what I feel like in my experience. I know it may not be specific to each person, but I hope that it creates the opportunity to open a dialogue between those who suffer from it and those who have never understood it. I want the photographs and their paired writings to begin to express the constant, overwhelming presence of anxiety. It's not always terrifying, it's not always strong and it's not always intense, but it's always close by."

The photos perfectly capture the uphill battle that is anxiety. You'll have your good and bad days. But how you choose to handle them is what really counts.

H/T: The Huffington Post

Photos: Kate Crawford