Evan, I congratulate you on having achieved a means of coping with your issues and the courage to share your thoughts with others. I’m sure that it will help many, at the very least by seeding some postive thought and offering some reassurance that anxiety need not be a “killer”.

At the same time, as one who has endured similar conditions to your own, and, accepting the fact that Medium doesn’t offer the space for detailed discussion, I feel that the methods you mention are effective for only a small minority of us.

Certainly, and meaning no disrespect, for me they have proved of little benefit and I know that many others need far greater help than these simple steps. I don’t say that to, in any way, disparage your content but rather to say to those who don’t find it useful, uplifting or providing of advanced hope, that it *is* advice necessarily limited by the format and that it does not work for some of us does not mean that hope is lost but simply that one has to develop other means.

I also think that it is important for those with such conditions to realise that, as you said, “it is a part of who I am” and that accepting *your* self is one of the key aspects of beginning to deal with such a conditon. It is also important to realise that change doesn’t happen instantly but takes place over time and that there will still be slips and stumbles. However that is all that those events are — they don’t indicate failure of you or the technique but rather just a glitch on the way.

It is difficult to trust others in a world where even those whom we would expect to model such virtues, e.g. priests, presidents, politicians and professionals, so often model exactly the opposite. However, I agree that it is important to practice trusting others but not blame yourself when they let you down. Believe in yourself and practice integrity, honesty, and compassion and, as they say, “what goes around will [often] come around”, and, if it doesn’t, at least you have a clear conscience and be confident in your own part of the transaction.

Thank you for the article. There is still much stigma attached to any form of mental difference and articles such as yours go some way towards breaking down that prejudice and ignorance.