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Did you know that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting about 40 million adults every year? If you’ve ever been one of them, you know how bad it can be. It feels like you can’t get out of bed, drowning in your thoughts with no one who can really understand you. Like you’ve got your back against the wall, and there’s no room to move. Like standing in front of a crowd, terrified that you’ll say something stupid and look like a fool. Like having someone constantly breathing down your neck, telling you what to do and how to do it. Like being trapped inside your own head with no way out. Like you’ve never actually rested, even after a long night of sleep.
The feeling of vulnerability can get overwhelming at times, and what other people say can make a huge difference. Some may say things like, “You need to get over it,” or “Just relax,” but these reactions only make struggling people feel even worse about themselves and their mental health. It can be hard to know what to say when a friend has anxiety or is feeling particularly stressed out. But the truth is, most people just want support and a listening ear because, most of the time, they don’t exactly know how to react either, and they’re on their way toward understanding how to heal. They want someone who will listen without judgment, someone who can help them feel safe enough to open up and be comfortable in their own skin again.
If you’re one of those who stumble in finding the right thing to say, let us give you a hand. Sharing some comforting words can be a huge help. It’s another way to say, “I’m here for you,” “You’re not alone,” or “It’s okay if you don’t feel ready.” Some of these are calming messages, others are notorious and sometimes brutal quotes about anxiety, and they won’t ever replace professional help. Still, they may be a little soothing support for your dear ones to keep going through the day, even when it gets tough.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott
#2
“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” — Lao Tzu
#3
“Just because I can’t explain the feelings causing my anxiety doesn’t make them less valid.” – Lauren Elizabeth
#4
“Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry.” — Anonymous
#5
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” — Confucius
Kenny Kulbiski 2 years ago
B******t Cofucius. You can move small stones the rest of your life and the mountain will just laugh at you.
#6
“Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” — Theodore Roosevelt
WarpedThoughts 2 years ago
This has helped me so much through life. Especially when depressed, doin just small things. Do what I can, when I can😁
#7
“The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” — Sydney J. Harris
#8
“If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got.” – Steven Hayes
#9
“People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
#10
“It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.” — Hans Selye
#14
“It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.” – Mandy Hale
#16
“We must be willing to get rid of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” — Joseph Campbell
#17
“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” – Steve Maraboli
#18
“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.” – Grenville Kleiser
#19
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” – Amit Ray
#20
“Actually spending ten minutes clearing off one shelf is better than fantasizing about spending a weekend cleaning out the basement.” — Gretchen Rubin
#21
“Of all your troubles, great and small, the greatest are the ones that don't happen at all.” – Thomas Carlyle
#22
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths.” – Etty Hillesum
#23
“Slow breathing is like an anchor in the midst of an emotional storm: The anchor won't make the storm go away, but it will hold you steady until it passes.” – Russ Harris
#25
“Chronic anxiety is a state more undesirable than any other, and we will try almost any maneuver to eliminate it. Modern man is living in anxious anticipation of destruction. Such anxiety can be easily eliminated by self-destruction. As a German saying puts it: ‘Better an end with terror than a terror without end.” — Robert E. Neale, “The Art of Dying”
#26
“I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stunned by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, “Hi.” They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word.”— Augusten Burroughs
#27
“I just give myself permission to suck. I find this hugely liberating.” —John Green
#29
“If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
#30
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” — Maya Angelou
#32
“Some days, doing ‘the best we can’ may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn’t perfect—on any front—and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.” — Fred Rogers
#34
“Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.” — Madeleine L’Engle
#35
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” — Henry Ford
#36
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I want to be.” – Lao Tzu
WarpedThoughts 2 years ago
Me walking across something flimsy thinking 'light thoughts, I am Light!'
#37
“If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” – The Dalai Lama
#38
“To live by worry is to live against reality.” – E. Stanley Jones
WarpedThoughts 2 years ago
🤨 nope pretty sure at this point to Not live by worry about our reality is to live in virtual reality...
#39
“You’re worried about what-ifs. Well, what if you stopped worrying?” – Shannon Celebi
#40
“If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person.” – Fred Rogers
#41
“Please forgive me if I don’t talk much at times. It sometimes gets loud in my head.” – Unknown
#42
“It is mental slavery to cling to things that have stopped serving its purpose in your life.” – Chinoye J. Chidolue
#43
“Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important.” —Natalie Goldberg
WarpedThoughts 2 years ago
🤨🤨🤨🤨 F. U. To the person clearly in a permanent ignorant state to think this is any sort of inspiration.
#44
“Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.” — William S. Burroughs
#46
“You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.” — Dan Millman
#47
“When you feel overwhelmed, remember: A little at a time is how it gets done. One thing, one task, one moment at a time.” — Anonymous
#48
“Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the most wonderful things that will ever happen to us.” — Nicole Reed
#49
“Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” — A.A. Milne
#51
“Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” — Norman Vincent Peale
#54
“Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.” – Robert Eliot
#57
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” – Marcus Aurelius
#58
“Trust yourself. You’ve survived a lot, and you’ll survive whatever is coming.” – Robert Tew
#59
“Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.” – Roy T. Bennett
#61
“Keep yourself busy if you want to avoid depression. For me, inactivity is the enemy.” – Matt Lucas
#62
“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
#63
“I wondered how many people there were in the world who suffered, and continued to suffer, because they could not break out from their own web of shyness and reserve, and in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them that hid the truth.”— Daphne du Maurier
#64
“Social anxiety results from being around people who are resolutely opposed to who you are.” – Stefan Molyneux
#65
“Anxiety happens when you think you have to figure it all at once. Breathe. You’re strong. You got this. Take it day by day.” – Karen Salmansohn
#66
“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” —Epictetus
#67
“Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.” — Jodi Picoult
#68
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
#69
“My anxiety doesn’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.” — Hugh Prather
#71
“The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.” — William James
#73
“Everyone remembers the remark of the old man at the point of death, that his life had been full of troubles—most of which had never happened.” — Winston Churchill
#75
“We live only a few conscious decades, and we fret ourselves enough for several lifetimes.” — Christopher Hitchens
#77
“Anxiety is a lot like a toddler. It never stops talking, tells you you’re wrong about everything, and wakes you up at 3 am.” — Anonymous
#78
“You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.” — Pearl S. Buck
#79
“Don’t believe every worried thought you have. Worried thoughts are notoriously inaccurate.” — Renee Jain
#80
“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” — Frank A. Clark
#82
“When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” – Winston Churchill
#83
“You have a treasure within you that is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.” – Eckhart Tolle
#85
“Stop your whining. If you are frightened, be silent. Whining is for prey. It attracts predators. And you are not prey.” – Robin Hobb
alwaysMispelled 2 years ago
Whining is for prey? Prey animals are typically super f*****g quiet because they're trying to NOT attract attention to themselves
#86
“Don’t settle: Don’t finish crappy books. If you don’t like the menu, leave the restaurant. If you’re not on the right path, get off it.” – Chris Brogan
#87
“The largest part of what we call ‘personality’ is determined by how we’ve opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness.” – Alain de Botton
#88
“Worrying is carrying tomorrow's load with today's strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn't empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” ― Corrie Ten Boom
#89
“It did what all ads are supposed to do: create an anxiety relievable by purchase.” ― David Foster Wallace, "Infinite Jest"
#90
“If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.” ― Brené Brown
#91
“Stop beating yourself up for not being perfect. You were never designed to be anyway.” – Unknown
#95
“Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it.” — Anonymous
#96
“A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you.” — Joyce Meyer
#98
“Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.” — Dalai Lama
#99
“You have dug your soul out of the dark, you have fought to be here; do not go back to what buried you.” — Bianca Sparacino
#100
“Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you because it will.” — Cheryl Strayed
#101
“Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on.” — Eckhart Tolle
#102
“There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.” — Henry David Thoreau
#103
“When you walk through a storm hold your head up high, and don’t be afraid of the dark. At the end of the storm is a golden sky, and the sweet silver song of a lark.” — Oscar Hammerstein II
#106
“In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it.” — Mitch Albom
#107
“Comedy is defiance. It’s a snort of contempt in the face of fear and anxiety. And it’s the laughter that allows hope to creep back on the inhale.” — Will Durst
#108
“There are two ways to get rid of an anxiety monster, my friend—you either have a bath or a nap.” — Andrew Kaufman
#109
“The best thing one can do when it is raining, is to let it rain.” — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
#110
“Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.” — Mary Tyler Moore
#111
“The greatest mistake we make is living in constant fear that we will make one.” — John C. Maxwell
#112
“You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.” — James R. Sherman
#113
“Those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind.” — Anonymous
#114
“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” – Dan Millman
#115
“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” – Olin Miller
#116
“Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety; after all it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly.” – Ali Ibn Abi Talib
#117
“I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.” – Steve Maraboli
#118
“He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.” – Shannon L. Alder
#119
“You have dug your soul out of the dark, you have fought to be here; do not go back to what buried you.” – Bianca Sparacino
#120
“Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.” – Mary Hemingway
#122
"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
#123
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou
#124
“By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.” – Edwin Elliot
#125
“Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin
#126
“Don’t assume I’m weak because I have panic attacks. You’ll never know the amount of strength it takes to face the world every day.” – Unknown
#127
“Worrying about outcomes over which I have no control is punishing myself before the universe has decided whether I ought to be punished.” – Sherry Thomas
#128
“Never let life’s hardships disturb you… No one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.” – Nichiren Daishonen
#129
“Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.” – Astrid Alauda
#130
“Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.” – Pema Chodron
#131
“Today’s a perfect day for a whole new start. Let go of fear and free your mind. It’s time to open your heart.” – Chris Butler
#133
“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James
#134
“No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” – Virginia Woolf
#135
“Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby.” – Ruth E. Renkel
#136
“To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one's self.... And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one's self.” ― Søren Kierkegaard
#137
“The punishment of every disordered mind is its own disorder.” ― St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
#138
“The past could always be annihilated. Regret, denial, or forgetfulness could do that. But the future was inevitable.” ― Oscar Wilde, "The Picture of Dorian Gray"
#140
“In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining where we are.” — Max De Pree
#142
“I don’t think people understand how stressful it is to explain what’s going on in your head when you don’t even understand it yourself.” – Unknown
#143
“You can’t calm the storm. So stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” – Timber Hawkeye
#144
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” — Charles Spurgeon
#146
“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” — Arthur Somers Roche
#148
“People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” — George Bernard Shaw
#149
“If we wanted to change the situation, we first had to change ourselves. And to change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions.” — Stephen Covey
#150
“We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.” — Mother Teresa
#151
“What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?” — Thomas á Kempis
#153
“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression… It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.” — Grenville Kleiser
#154
“Our stresses, anxieties, pains and problems arise because we do not see the world, others or even ourselves as worthy of love.” — Prem Prakash
#155
“We all have anxiety about things. We all have little insecurities, but eventually you have to face your fears if you want to be successful, and everybody has some fear of failure.” — Nick Saban
#156
“Happiness is not a brilliant climax to years of grim struggle and anxiety. It is a long succession of little decisions simply to be happy in the moment.” — J. Donald Walters
#157
“Become a worry-slapper. Treat frets like mosquitoes. Do you procrastinate when a bloodsucking bug lights on your skin? ‘I’ll take care of it in a moment.’ Of course, you don’t! You give the critter the slap it deserves. Be equally decisive with anxiety.” — Max Lucado
#158
“In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived. How well we have loved. How well we have learned to let go.” — Jack Kornfield
#159
“I tell you the past is a bucket of ashes, so live not in your yesterdays, not just for tomorrow, but in the here and now.” — Carl Sandburg
#160
“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumvent or hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” — Ella Wheeler Wilcox
#161
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” — Reinhold Niebuhr
#162
“Anxiety happens when you think you have to figure out everything all at once. Breathe. You’re strong. You got this. Take it day by day.” — Karen Salmansohn
#163
“Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we’re taking on too much, but because we’re taking on too little of what really strengthens us.” — Marcus Buckingham
#164
“Going through things you never thought you’d go through will only take you places you never thought you’d get to.” — Morgan Harper Nichols
#165
“P.S. You’re not going to die. Here’s the white-hot truth: if you go bankrupt, you’ll still be okay. If you lose the gig, the lover, the house, you’ll still be okay. If you sing off-key, get beat by the competition, have your heart shattered, get fired…it’s not going to kill you. Ask anyone who’s been through it.” – Danielle LaPorte
#166
“If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.” – Dean Smith
#167
“Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” – Henry Ward Beecher
#168
“At the end of the day, tell yourself gently: ‘I love you, you did the best you could today, and even if you didn’t accomplish all you had planned, I love you anyway.” – Anonymous
#169
“How can a person deal with anxiety? You might try what one fellow did. He worried so much that he decided to hire someone to do his worrying for him. He found a man who agreed to be his hired worrier for a salary of $200,000 per year. After the man accepted the job, his first question to his boss was, ‘Where are you going to get $200,000 per year?’ To which the man responded, ‘That's your worry’” – Max Lucado
#171
“More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” – Roy T. Bennett
#172
“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” – Roy Bennett
#173
“The elimination diet: Remove anger, regret, resentment, guilt, blame, and worry. Then watch your health, and life, improve.” – Charles F. Glassman
#174
“Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.” – Anais Nin
#175
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Henry S. Haskins
#176
“Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside of you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson
#177
“I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. ‘Never worry about your heart till it stops beating.’” – E. B. White
#178
“Just when the caterpillar thought the world was ending, she became a butterfly.” – Barbara Haines Howett
#180
“A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear (that results) from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.” – Stephan Hoeller
#181
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.” – Zig Ziglar
#182
“The only thing that could spoil a day was people. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.” – Ernest Hemingway
#183
“The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication.” – Daniel Goleman
#184
“I will breathe. I will think of solutions. I will not let my worry control me. I will not let my stress level break me. I will simply breathe. And it will be okay because I don't quit.” – Shayne McClendon
#185
“There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.” – Bernard-Paul Heroux
#186
“To hear the phrase "our only hope" always makes one anxious, because it means that if the only hope doesn't work, there is nothing left.” ― Lemony Snicket, "The Blank Book"
#187
“Don’t worry if people think you’re crazy. You are crazy. You have that kind of intoxicating insanity that lets other people dream outside of the lines and become who they’re destined to be.” ― Jennifer Elisabeth, "Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl"
#188
“The more you pray, the less you'll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You'll feel more patient and less pressured.” ― Rick Warren, "The Purpose of Christmas"
#189
“Understanding the difference between healthy striving and perfectionism is critical to laying down the shield and picking up your life. Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it's often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction, and life paralysis.” ― Brené Brown, "The Gifts of Imperfection"
#190
“In an era of stress and anxiety, when the present seems unstable and the future unlikely, the natural response is to retreat and withdraw from reality, taking recourse either in fantasies of the future or in modified visions of a half-imagined past.” ― Alan Moore, "Watchmen"
#191
“Maybe the reason why you’re so scared about your relationship is because you finally have something you love but fear losing. Be as kind to people as you can be and you will always be loved.” – "Declutter Your Mind: How to Stop Worrying, Relieve Anxiety, and Eliminate Negative Thinking"
#193
“There are these moments you think you won’t survive. And then you survive.” – David Levithan
#194
“You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside.” — Wayne Dyer
#195
“Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it— just as we have learned to live with storms.” — Paulo Coelho
#196
“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” — Deepak Chopra
#198
“Surrender to what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.” — Sonia Ricotti
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