Make Anxiety Work For You and Shift the Conversation on Mental Health
Writing, Reading, Politics, and Anxiety
Many people have been diagnosed with anxiety, are going to be diagnosed with it, or are living with a steady and slow increase of the feeling. Anxiety is one of the most debilitating feelings and experiences, no matter if it is short term or lifelong. But anxiety can be a superpower once you figure it the f — k out and to overcome it, we need to collectively evolve our discourse on mental health broadly.
As someone diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD, after living undiagnosed for 30 years, I get it. I see you. I also see the potential power of anxiety and the opportunity to leverage it in combating serious injustices. I have written about this previously here: Water, Climate Change, and Anxiety = Action Now! The collective discourse on mental health broadly needs to evolve to look at how anxiety, when coupled with therapy and/or healthy living practices, can be a catalyst for social progress, planning, and emergency preparedness.
A moment of vulnerability before we continue — this article was another difficult topic to write about. Its complex and it includes the overall discussion of harms that many people are experiecing. I hope you can read this piece with an element of compassion and understanding.
