RationallyIrrational
27-08-16, 01:58
My girlfriend has an anxiety disorder, and I don't know how to help or even how to empathize. Maybe that's not the right way to say it, I can empathize to an extent. I've had depression and anger problems since I was little, but I've learned over the years to keep them in check. I still get angry over nothing and I still have my bouts with depression, but I don't give in and I don't let it control me. I've learned to be stronger than my condition. She hasn't. Sometimes it seems like she doesn't want to.
The full-blown panic attacks are frequent, a few times a week, and the general anxiety is constant. I try my best to be supportive but I don't understand. I try to approach everything logically. When there is a problem I break it down and find a solution, and once it's resolved I move on. That's the way my mind has to work to deal with my own condition. I know that anxiety doesn't work that way, and neither does she. It's all emotion, blind to reason in the moment and sometimes after. When I try to be there for her she pushes me away. When I try to give her space she gets angry and panics more. Trying to help doesn't actually help and neither does not trying. I don't know what to do. I know I'm going about this the wrong way but I just don't know what the right way is.
I try to understand. I research anxiety and panic disorders, I read those "how to love someone with anxiety" articles that are all over the web, I try to talk to her about what makes her feel and act the way she does. What else can I do? At the end of the day, is there anything more I can do than tell her I love her, and hope she still believes me?
The full-blown panic attacks are frequent, a few times a week, and the general anxiety is constant. I try my best to be supportive but I don't understand. I try to approach everything logically. When there is a problem I break it down and find a solution, and once it's resolved I move on. That's the way my mind has to work to deal with my own condition. I know that anxiety doesn't work that way, and neither does she. It's all emotion, blind to reason in the moment and sometimes after. When I try to be there for her she pushes me away. When I try to give her space she gets angry and panics more. Trying to help doesn't actually help and neither does not trying. I don't know what to do. I know I'm going about this the wrong way but I just don't know what the right way is.
I try to understand. I research anxiety and panic disorders, I read those "how to love someone with anxiety" articles that are all over the web, I try to talk to her about what makes her feel and act the way she does. What else can I do? At the end of the day, is there anything more I can do than tell her I love her, and hope she still believes me?