6 Concrete Signs You’re Handling Your Anxiety Better Than You Think

Anxiety makes every single day so much harder to navigate because you’re constantly questioning yourself and the people around you. But even though your anxiety has been a thorn in your side, chances are you’ve been handling everything better than you realize. Here are some concrete signs that you’re doing a good job of coping with your anxiety and should be proud of yourself:

You’re scared — but you’re moving forward anyway.

There’s nothing wrong with being scared of the unknown, with getting nervous about what’s in store for you, with your voice or your hands shaking. It doesn’t matter if you’re filled with nerves. What matters is that you’re taking chances anyway. You’re challenging yourself. You’re doing what your heart really wants, even though you know the path isn’t going to be easy.

You aren’t hating on yourself as much as you once did.

You still have nasty thoughts about yourself, but you’ve been trying hard to dismiss them. You’ve been trying to see your strengths instead of focusing mainly on your flaws. Although achieving self-love has been a roller coaster journey for you, you’ve been much kinder to yourself than you have in the past. You’ve stopped treating yourself like a punching bag and are giving yourself more grace.

You follow through on plans ninety-nine percent of the time, but you bow out when you really need that mental health day.

Pushing through your anxiety isn’t always the answer. It isn’t always possible. You don’t want to hurt yourself by forcing yourself to do certain things when you’re in an anxious mental state. Although you might feel bad about canceling plans, it’s actually healthy that you can recognize when you need space. You should be proud of yourself, not ashamed.

You are growing more comfortable openly speaking about your anxious feelings.

Trying to hide your anxiety can make you even more anxious. It requires vulnerability to speak about your experience with anxiety — and although you don’t owe anyone your story, you should be proud of yourself whenever you’re able to speak about what you’re going through with a friend, a family member, or a therapist. It takes strength to voice these words aloud.

You are surrounding yourself with people who treat your anxiety gently.

You’ve stopped entertaining people who make you feel small, people who openly make fun of your mental health, people who act like what you’re going through isn’t that bad and you need to get over it. It’s much healthier to surround yourself with people who are understanding and supportive, who love you and respect you and your mental health.  

You have accepted your anxiety is a part of you.

It’s not the only part of you. And it’s not the most important part of you. But it is a huge part of you. You should be proud of yourself for the fact that you can even say the words I have anxiety without shame. Some people don’t know nearly enough about their own mental health, but you’ve taken at least the initial steps. You are understanding who you are, which means you can work toward understanding what you need moving forward. And you should be proud of that.