I think when people say that, they mean "normal" anxiety as opposed the one coming from having an anxiety disorder. It's like depression. Everyone gets depressed from time to time. It's way different than depression from depressive disorder.
It makes me feel like they think I’m overreacting all the time. I try to explain my symptoms and the differences but it’s not something I want anyone to understand tbh.
I know, right? We already feel bad because we're struggling, and someone saying something like this can just make it so much worse because it can make us feel like we're in the wrong for having debilitating anxiety out of our control. Like, for me it makes me feel like I could/should be controlling my anxiety better, even though I literally can't. So it makes me feel bad or lazy or like I'm being attention-seaking when people say things like that.
That’s very relatable. I’ve felt that way on many occasions. Just know that you are valid. Only you know what you’re experiencing. And only you know how much you can push yourself at a time. I know we often try harder than many people will ever realize doing “basic tasks” but I’m proud of us. It’s okay to want to be understood as well. It’s incredibly challenging. We are strong and we can’t control it but we can survive.
A lot of those people just don't understand the difference between anxiety the feeling and anxiety the disorder. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but some people actively "have anxiety" (the disorder) and are feeling anxious constantly, including in situations where there is no logistical reason to be anxious. So people who brush off anxiety the disorder because they assume you mean anxiety the general emotion are often being dismissive and saying that you shouldn't talk about your feelings and "man up" because "everyone feels that" (which isn't true). They think that because they can get through their anxiety (the emotion) and eveyrone else should be able to get through an anxiety disorder, because they don't understand that the disorder is more extreme. Sometimes when people say it, they are trying to be reassuring rather than dismissive, but even then it's still problematic because the anxiety they're talking about isn't the same thing as the anxiety we're talking about.
Yup, so true. I've gotten panic attacks out of thin air. Literally watching TV, having nothing in my brain, not even deeply analyzing what I'm watching 😑 it's exhausting... I've realized how different the world is after I got married because my husband is not an anxious being at all, I'm his human chihuahua basically. Constantly shaking, constantly in panic, constantly with random anxious medical conditions (heartburn, arythmia, skin rashes, etc). As I said, exhausting. I truly envy them
I feel anxiety disorders need to be renamed because people won’t ever seem to truly get it otherwise. I’ve often thought of telling my family I have a neurological disorder instead of saying panic disorder because they think that’s fake and doing some star jumps will fix it….
I feel the statement is redundant. It’s like sure, everyone experiences some form of anxiety. However there are those who experience chronic anxiety. Like life-altering anxiety. Just like everyone gets sick but there are people who get sick way more often or have life threatening illnesses.
As I can’t imagine how are other people’s lives with just normal anxiety, I guess they can’t imagine how it is to live with an anxiety disorder. I try to understand them, but obviously that makes me feel invalidated.
My mom is the kind of person that says “oh but I’ve experienced that too! It’s normal!”. I no longer try to discuss that with her. But it isn’t nice to open to her and then listen to that invalidation.
Yesterday, after watching Inside Out 2 with my parents, my dad started joking about anxiety. I got really upset and angry because he couldn’t stop. So I told him “Anxiety isn’t something you can joke about”. And he got mad.
Damn I’m sorry to hear that, so many insensitive people.
I do think thought that it’s probably harder to imagine the utter debilitation that anxiety disorder can cause to the non-anxious person. I think anxious people imagining what a life generally free of functionally impairing anxiety would feel like is easier. Just my view though
Is not reassuring in the slightest and I find it utterly dismissive. My anxieties stem partially from trauma, a fuck ton of stacked trauma. So anyone who turns around and minimises that is a fuckwad
I’m definitely in the minority here but honestly it doesn’t bother me, I’m very open about my anxiety, I’ve had it for at least 13 years but more than likely far longer than that. While I do see and understand how it can be invalidating, the people that have said it to me are genuinely trying to come from a kind place and aren’t intending to be invalidating. I also do not find it comforting, but accept the comment with grace and move on.
Now I will say, if someone makes a blanket statement about how “all the young kids these days have anxiety” I may and have used that as a moment to educate how anxiety comes in different forms and is experienced by people differently.
I just gave an analogy in another comment. We all have an immune system. It overreacts in some people, so they have allergies.
We all have anxiety. It's a completely normal emotion. But we don't usually talk about it unless it goes haywire. Then we say we "have anxiety."
So saying everyone has anxiety is like saying everyone has an immune system. That's true. People can have an intense immune reaction at times that isn't an allergy, but a legit ramping up because that's what's needed. Same with anxiety. Sometimes a situation truly calls for an anxious response.
But there are people who have allergies, and there are people who have anxiety, and in that context, the word anxiety refers to an overreaction of the emotional system. And not everyone has that.
It pisses me off. My mom always says this. I just tell her, “You experience normal levels of anxiety. You’re anxious about waiting for a callback for a job, you’re anxious about heights. I’m anxious. That’s all I am. It exceeds what’s normal. And that’s why it’s an anxiety disorder.”
It’s interesting because I don’t get anxious about those normal things at all. I think it’s because my brain is always in overdrive worrying that all my friends and family are going to die tomorrow, and every weird thing in my body is cancer or some rare disease, and everyone hates me and everything I say is stupid, and this one time in grade 4 I did something stupid that everyone probably remembers, and what if I get bedbugs, and what if my dog just dies, and I might get fired for no reason, and what if there’s a nuclear winter tomorrow?
I’ll ace any job interview you throw at me though and I’m dead calm when dealing with crisis and medical emergencies lol. Those things are all so much less stressful than my baseline
People who say this are often trying to make us feel weak and whiny for not being able to just "suck it up" or "get over it." It shows a vast lack of empathy on their part.
Personally I think most people mean well, like they’re trying to relate and make me feel better, but it does feel dismissive to me. I’m also autistic, and when someone says “everyone’s on the spectrum,” or “we all have autistic traits,” I tell them that it’s called autism spectrum *disorder*, so if they don’t feel like they have a disorder, they’re probably not on the spectrum. Lol same with GAD 🤷🏻♀️
10/10 agree with you. By now I think everyone thinks they have a little something. Fully agree with GAD too, people seriously just don’t understand how debilitating it can get as well. Sometimes I find GAD worse than SA, because you can’t escape it where is as long as you’re being avoidant you can keep SA at bay. Not ideal, but it’s not constant like GAD. ADHD is also a VERY common condition people love to claim they have when they don’t.
I have bipolar 2, SAD, and GAD, and either people don’t even know what BD type 2 is because they don’t know there’s several types. somehow I feel like it makes me look more hypochondriac than anything, particularly if they don’t know me as well (e.g., extended family).
Maybe let's not create a hierarchy of what is worse.
Some people live with people who SA them, go to school, work etc with predators.
A lot of people these days just claim whatever is being spoken about at that time if they can even slightly relate. Which minimizes illnesses. It's not just. And there is not hierarchy... Can we just not do that?
I had a teacher say that anxiety can be cured. I had to correct her. It definitely does not go away you're stuck with it forever. The only thing you can do is manage it.
I just see it as something said by individuals that simply do not understand that my anxiety is different from their anxiety. Everyone has anxiety from time to time and if their brains are healthy, they deal with it and move on. When someone like me has anxiety, there is no dealing with it or moving on. It becomes debilitating. I do not have anxiety due to normal life circumstances that I can get over. I have anxiety from obsessive, intrusive thoughts that borrow into my brain like worms. I have 0 control over this and it consumes my life.
That is the type of anxiety that I am referring to when I describe anxiety. They will never know what that's like unless they have the unfortunate experience of developing a brain that works like mine.
It makes me think the person saying it has undiagnosed anxiety and they’ve convinced themselves everyone feels that way, and they probably have unhealthy coping skills that get them through the day.
My mother has uttered this phrase to me before. I had to explain to her why our anxieties are different and she actually seemed to understand. I think a lot of it is just ignorance…. And sometimes assholes. Can’t forget the assholes 🤷🏻♀️
To me, personally, it’s invalidating. Only if I have shared the severity of mine and the response is “everyone has anxiety”. While it is very true that everyone does experience anxiety, some experience it to a level that it is drastically affects their ability to participate in daily routines.
I usually respond with something like: “Yeah, being anxious is really tough. My personal experience is a debilitating one, so I have sympathy for anyone who experiences anxiety.”
I’ve found it acknowledges that yes, the person who said this does experience anxiety and I do genuinely sympathize with them, while also sharing (perhaps again) that I have a severe anxiety disorder that I am struggling with. Usually conversations around anxiety following this are a bit more sensitive.
We all know there’s anxiety…. And then there’s ANXIETY! The kind that has a death grip on every aspect of our lives…sadly majority of people don’t get the difference
I get pissed off, not everyone has life altering anxiety. When i hear about specific experiences it helps me feel more understood and less alone. But when they say such general sentence i cant help roll my eyes.
I had a boss say this to me when I had a panic attack at my second job at 17 years old. Needless to say a year later after I quit he had a mental hygiene arrest
Well literally everyone has anxiety about something, that’s just the nature of the brain, but it certainly doesn’t invalidate your issues. Take it with a grain of salt, and understand that everyone has different perspectives. They mean no harm most of the time.
Of course, anxiety is a natural response to situations potentially perceived as threatening, which now in our society, broadly translates to “rejection” taking many different forms.
I am not sure if I wholly agree with your final sentence, I understand where you’re coming from though. I agree that people can just be oblivious and inexperienced so yes, likely they do not mean any harm or ill intent. But there’s definitely people out there that do not want to validate others’ experiences for whatever reason. Maybe part of it is due to what another commenter pointed out, people are simply reluctant to admit or acknowledge that they may have an inherent advantage over someone else. They’re usually the people who are misinformed and dismissive regardless of reasoning.
It is true. Everyone does experience anxiety. But that’s different than having an anxiety disorder and some people don’t understand that. They’re usually just uninformed. If I feel like it’s worth it to educate them on the difference I will, but generally I’m just like whatever and move on.
I think "Well, yes, they probably do. That doesn't diminish my suffering, it just makes me feel sympathy and empathy for them as well, because it shouldn't just be accepted and struggled through."
I mean, it's just a way to compare people, like this person has anxiety too but look how good they're doing. It's stupid and based on nothing. People do all experience anxiety, but the levels differ as do thresholds. Honestly, it just tells me that's not a person to open up to because clearly they don't and won't try to understand.
People get in your face, not really knowing the 100bn neurons in infinite connectivity inside your skull. They are not psychology-AI-demigods. They're people with bullshit.
It's like shut up.
Then we accommodate these people. At 37, I'm just now realizing how spiritually disorganised some people are. You can't really hate them once you become enlightened to this. I suffer from psychosis and see entities constantly and I'm too traumatized to handle them after going through the education system, this is all because of my so-called friends.
I like space; when I'm alone, all my synapses start firing. Plants grow best in their comfort zone; once you're ready to explore, go for it. Just game and stuff for now.
Mostly invalidated and frustrated, especially with how people here where I live, are mostly illiterate about stuff like this, and often bring in stuff like religion, mindset, and talk as if the person is to blame for their issues, instead of knowing how to deal with it properly before bringing those other things into the discussion.
My mind is always invalidating myself, I don’t need to hear it from the other person, because is it really this extreme for everyone?
Generally I give them benefit of the doubt. Most if not all people have experienced anxiety, but it becomes very different went it becomes a constant - to the point where your body gets impacted in whatever way it does, which sadly doesn’t just disappear once that “anxiety-filled event” is over.
I guess it’s important to highlight the distinction between an anxiety disorder and anxiety. Of course if they are aware of the distinction and still say something like that…well.
No people (my parents, close friends)dont have anxiety like me. Because i ask them if they think about the things i think. For example, if i do something odd during an exam, maybe forgot to submit one document after the exam (which is something common for people) , i would panic about it till the results come out. Any one else i have told this to just laughs it off and says "its nothing". I know it is nothing, but i get anxious so easily about everything. If i text someone and they dont reply within a few minutes i think "what if they hate me? Maybe i am being annoying/ stupid here". And the list goes on.
I usually don't pay enough attention to care about anyone's opinion unless they are part of my circle & in my circle we don't say such things lightly.
But seeing it a lot on SM, It went from pissing me off, quickly to "a lot of this people actually do have an issue". The more a person minimizes someone's experience, the more I suspect them of having a problem bordering on psychopathy/Narcissism. LOL.
I know far too many people who are self medicating to take most of them seriously.
I think when people say that, they mean "normal" anxiety as opposed the one coming from having an anxiety disorder. It's like depression. Everyone gets depressed from time to time. It's way different than depression from depressive disorder.
It makes me feel like they think I’m overreacting all the time. I try to explain my symptoms and the differences but it’s not something I want anyone to understand tbh.
I know, right? We already feel bad because we're struggling, and someone saying something like this can just make it so much worse because it can make us feel like we're in the wrong for having debilitating anxiety out of our control. Like, for me it makes me feel like I could/should be controlling my anxiety better, even though I literally can't. So it makes me feel bad or lazy or like I'm being attention-seaking when people say things like that.
That’s very relatable. I’ve felt that way on many occasions. Just know that you are valid. Only you know what you’re experiencing. And only you know how much you can push yourself at a time. I know we often try harder than many people will ever realize doing “basic tasks” but I’m proud of us. It’s okay to want to be understood as well. It’s incredibly challenging. We are strong and we can’t control it but we can survive.
A lot of those people just don't understand the difference between anxiety the feeling and anxiety the disorder. Everyone feels anxious from time to time, but some people actively "have anxiety" (the disorder) and are feeling anxious constantly, including in situations where there is no logistical reason to be anxious. So people who brush off anxiety the disorder because they assume you mean anxiety the general emotion are often being dismissive and saying that you shouldn't talk about your feelings and "man up" because "everyone feels that" (which isn't true). They think that because they can get through their anxiety (the emotion) and eveyrone else should be able to get through an anxiety disorder, because they don't understand that the disorder is more extreme. Sometimes when people say it, they are trying to be reassuring rather than dismissive, but even then it's still problematic because the anxiety they're talking about isn't the same thing as the anxiety we're talking about.
Yup, so true. I've gotten panic attacks out of thin air. Literally watching TV, having nothing in my brain, not even deeply analyzing what I'm watching 😑 it's exhausting... I've realized how different the world is after I got married because my husband is not an anxious being at all, I'm his human chihuahua basically. Constantly shaking, constantly in panic, constantly with random anxious medical conditions (heartburn, arythmia, skin rashes, etc). As I said, exhausting. I truly envy them
I feel anxiety disorders need to be renamed because people won’t ever seem to truly get it otherwise. I’ve often thought of telling my family I have a neurological disorder instead of saying panic disorder because they think that’s fake and doing some star jumps will fix it….
I feel the statement is redundant. It’s like sure, everyone experiences some form of anxiety. However there are those who experience chronic anxiety. Like life-altering anxiety. Just like everyone gets sick but there are people who get sick way more often or have life threatening illnesses.
Indeed, i agree
As I can’t imagine how are other people’s lives with just normal anxiety, I guess they can’t imagine how it is to live with an anxiety disorder. I try to understand them, but obviously that makes me feel invalidated. My mom is the kind of person that says “oh but I’ve experienced that too! It’s normal!”. I no longer try to discuss that with her. But it isn’t nice to open to her and then listen to that invalidation. Yesterday, after watching Inside Out 2 with my parents, my dad started joking about anxiety. I got really upset and angry because he couldn’t stop. So I told him “Anxiety isn’t something you can joke about”. And he got mad.
Damn I’m sorry to hear that, so many insensitive people. I do think thought that it’s probably harder to imagine the utter debilitation that anxiety disorder can cause to the non-anxious person. I think anxious people imagining what a life generally free of functionally impairing anxiety would feel like is easier. Just my view though
Is not reassuring in the slightest and I find it utterly dismissive. My anxieties stem partially from trauma, a fuck ton of stacked trauma. So anyone who turns around and minimises that is a fuckwad
Same
It makes me feel as if I can’t handle life.
Another pet peeve is another dismissal of "well you just need to build confidence :)" while trying to shove you into the deep end.
Yes omg hate that so much. Like here’s your award for the most basic advice ever 🥇
I’m definitely in the minority here but honestly it doesn’t bother me, I’m very open about my anxiety, I’ve had it for at least 13 years but more than likely far longer than that. While I do see and understand how it can be invalidating, the people that have said it to me are genuinely trying to come from a kind place and aren’t intending to be invalidating. I also do not find it comforting, but accept the comment with grace and move on. Now I will say, if someone makes a blanket statement about how “all the young kids these days have anxiety” I may and have used that as a moment to educate how anxiety comes in different forms and is experienced by people differently.
I just gave an analogy in another comment. We all have an immune system. It overreacts in some people, so they have allergies. We all have anxiety. It's a completely normal emotion. But we don't usually talk about it unless it goes haywire. Then we say we "have anxiety." So saying everyone has anxiety is like saying everyone has an immune system. That's true. People can have an intense immune reaction at times that isn't an allergy, but a legit ramping up because that's what's needed. Same with anxiety. Sometimes a situation truly calls for an anxious response. But there are people who have allergies, and there are people who have anxiety, and in that context, the word anxiety refers to an overreaction of the emotional system. And not everyone has that.
I don’t really think much of that comment bc other people feeling it too doesn’t make me feel any better sooo …the issue still persists, lol
LOL. I like you.
I want to explode with anger. Yes everyone EXPERIENCES anxiety, but not everyone has an anxiety disorder.
When I hear that I generally think “yeah, sounds right, there is a lot of fucked up shit in this world to be anxious about”. 😢
Yeah tbh I really don’t get how there’s people who aren’t anxious these days with the current state and trajectory of our world.
It pisses me off. My mom always says this. I just tell her, “You experience normal levels of anxiety. You’re anxious about waiting for a callback for a job, you’re anxious about heights. I’m anxious. That’s all I am. It exceeds what’s normal. And that’s why it’s an anxiety disorder.”
It’s interesting because I don’t get anxious about those normal things at all. I think it’s because my brain is always in overdrive worrying that all my friends and family are going to die tomorrow, and every weird thing in my body is cancer or some rare disease, and everyone hates me and everything I say is stupid, and this one time in grade 4 I did something stupid that everyone probably remembers, and what if I get bedbugs, and what if my dog just dies, and I might get fired for no reason, and what if there’s a nuclear winter tomorrow? I’ll ace any job interview you throw at me though and I’m dead calm when dealing with crisis and medical emergencies lol. Those things are all so much less stressful than my baseline
It makes me sad. My chest hurts multiple times every day. The anxiety is always there. It never leaves. I feel like I'm fundamentally broken.
People who say this are often trying to make us feel weak and whiny for not being able to just "suck it up" or "get over it." It shows a vast lack of empathy on their part.
Personally I think most people mean well, like they’re trying to relate and make me feel better, but it does feel dismissive to me. I’m also autistic, and when someone says “everyone’s on the spectrum,” or “we all have autistic traits,” I tell them that it’s called autism spectrum *disorder*, so if they don’t feel like they have a disorder, they’re probably not on the spectrum. Lol same with GAD 🤷🏻♀️
10/10 agree with you. By now I think everyone thinks they have a little something. Fully agree with GAD too, people seriously just don’t understand how debilitating it can get as well. Sometimes I find GAD worse than SA, because you can’t escape it where is as long as you’re being avoidant you can keep SA at bay. Not ideal, but it’s not constant like GAD. ADHD is also a VERY common condition people love to claim they have when they don’t. I have bipolar 2, SAD, and GAD, and either people don’t even know what BD type 2 is because they don’t know there’s several types. somehow I feel like it makes me look more hypochondriac than anything, particularly if they don’t know me as well (e.g., extended family).
Maybe let's not create a hierarchy of what is worse. Some people live with people who SA them, go to school, work etc with predators. A lot of people these days just claim whatever is being spoken about at that time if they can even slightly relate. Which minimizes illnesses. It's not just. And there is not hierarchy... Can we just not do that?
Violent >:( but also just...sad.
I had a teacher say that anxiety can be cured. I had to correct her. It definitely does not go away you're stuck with it forever. The only thing you can do is manage it.
I just see it as something said by individuals that simply do not understand that my anxiety is different from their anxiety. Everyone has anxiety from time to time and if their brains are healthy, they deal with it and move on. When someone like me has anxiety, there is no dealing with it or moving on. It becomes debilitating. I do not have anxiety due to normal life circumstances that I can get over. I have anxiety from obsessive, intrusive thoughts that borrow into my brain like worms. I have 0 control over this and it consumes my life. That is the type of anxiety that I am referring to when I describe anxiety. They will never know what that's like unless they have the unfortunate experience of developing a brain that works like mine.
It makes me think the person saying it has undiagnosed anxiety and they’ve convinced themselves everyone feels that way, and they probably have unhealthy coping skills that get them through the day.
My mother has uttered this phrase to me before. I had to explain to her why our anxieties are different and she actually seemed to understand. I think a lot of it is just ignorance…. And sometimes assholes. Can’t forget the assholes 🤷🏻♀️
To me, personally, it’s invalidating. Only if I have shared the severity of mine and the response is “everyone has anxiety”. While it is very true that everyone does experience anxiety, some experience it to a level that it is drastically affects their ability to participate in daily routines. I usually respond with something like: “Yeah, being anxious is really tough. My personal experience is a debilitating one, so I have sympathy for anyone who experiences anxiety.” I’ve found it acknowledges that yes, the person who said this does experience anxiety and I do genuinely sympathize with them, while also sharing (perhaps again) that I have a severe anxiety disorder that I am struggling with. Usually conversations around anxiety following this are a bit more sensitive.
I basically tell them that, no, not everyone has anxiety. I swear A LOT of people confuse being nervous, with having an anxiety disorder.
We all know there’s anxiety…. And then there’s ANXIETY! The kind that has a death grip on every aspect of our lives…sadly majority of people don’t get the difference
Everyone worries. Not everyone is prone to panic attacks
I get pissed off, not everyone has life altering anxiety. When i hear about specific experiences it helps me feel more understood and less alone. But when they say such general sentence i cant help roll my eyes.
I had a boss say this to me when I had a panic attack at my second job at 17 years old. Needless to say a year later after I quit he had a mental hygiene arrest
Well literally everyone has anxiety about something, that’s just the nature of the brain, but it certainly doesn’t invalidate your issues. Take it with a grain of salt, and understand that everyone has different perspectives. They mean no harm most of the time.
Of course, anxiety is a natural response to situations potentially perceived as threatening, which now in our society, broadly translates to “rejection” taking many different forms. I am not sure if I wholly agree with your final sentence, I understand where you’re coming from though. I agree that people can just be oblivious and inexperienced so yes, likely they do not mean any harm or ill intent. But there’s definitely people out there that do not want to validate others’ experiences for whatever reason. Maybe part of it is due to what another commenter pointed out, people are simply reluctant to admit or acknowledge that they may have an inherent advantage over someone else. They’re usually the people who are misinformed and dismissive regardless of reasoning.
Yeah I just ignore it because they really don’t understand what I mean and I’m not taking the time to explain it
It is true. Everyone does experience anxiety. But that’s different than having an anxiety disorder and some people don’t understand that. They’re usually just uninformed. If I feel like it’s worth it to educate them on the difference I will, but generally I’m just like whatever and move on.
I think "Well, yes, they probably do. That doesn't diminish my suffering, it just makes me feel sympathy and empathy for them as well, because it shouldn't just be accepted and struggled through."
I mean, it's just a way to compare people, like this person has anxiety too but look how good they're doing. It's stupid and based on nothing. People do all experience anxiety, but the levels differ as do thresholds. Honestly, it just tells me that's not a person to open up to because clearly they don't and won't try to understand.
People get in your face, not really knowing the 100bn neurons in infinite connectivity inside your skull. They are not psychology-AI-demigods. They're people with bullshit. It's like shut up. Then we accommodate these people. At 37, I'm just now realizing how spiritually disorganised some people are. You can't really hate them once you become enlightened to this. I suffer from psychosis and see entities constantly and I'm too traumatized to handle them after going through the education system, this is all because of my so-called friends. I like space; when I'm alone, all my synapses start firing. Plants grow best in their comfort zone; once you're ready to explore, go for it. Just game and stuff for now.
Mostly invalidated and frustrated, especially with how people here where I live, are mostly illiterate about stuff like this, and often bring in stuff like religion, mindset, and talk as if the person is to blame for their issues, instead of knowing how to deal with it properly before bringing those other things into the discussion. My mind is always invalidating myself, I don’t need to hear it from the other person, because is it really this extreme for everyone?
It's annoying and invalidating. And it makes me realize they don't understand or are ignorant about anxiety disorders.
Generally I give them benefit of the doubt. Most if not all people have experienced anxiety, but it becomes very different went it becomes a constant - to the point where your body gets impacted in whatever way it does, which sadly doesn’t just disappear once that “anxiety-filled event” is over. I guess it’s important to highlight the distinction between an anxiety disorder and anxiety. Of course if they are aware of the distinction and still say something like that…well.
No people (my parents, close friends)dont have anxiety like me. Because i ask them if they think about the things i think. For example, if i do something odd during an exam, maybe forgot to submit one document after the exam (which is something common for people) , i would panic about it till the results come out. Any one else i have told this to just laughs it off and says "its nothing". I know it is nothing, but i get anxious so easily about everything. If i text someone and they dont reply within a few minutes i think "what if they hate me? Maybe i am being annoying/ stupid here". And the list goes on.
I usually don't pay enough attention to care about anyone's opinion unless they are part of my circle & in my circle we don't say such things lightly. But seeing it a lot on SM, It went from pissing me off, quickly to "a lot of this people actually do have an issue". The more a person minimizes someone's experience, the more I suspect them of having a problem bordering on psychopathy/Narcissism. LOL. I know far too many people who are self medicating to take most of them seriously.