What Anxiety Actually Is And What It Absolutely Is Not

AnxietyTherapy

Aug 18

This blog is adapted from one of our recent podcast episodes. You can take a listen at the button above.

Let’s talk about this fundamental question: what is anxiety actually? Not in a clinical, detached way, but in a way that actually helps you understand what's happening inside your own body when it shows up.

Because here's the thing: we've made an enemy of anxiety. We treat it like a dirty word, something broken in us that needs to be fixed or eliminated. And I want to challenge that for you here.

We’ll go through six questions about anxiety - what it is, what it isn't, what it feels like, why some people have more of it than others, and what I'd say to someone who thinks they can just push through it.

Key Takeaways

In this blog post, you'll learn:

What anxiety actually is and why it isn't the problem we've made it out to be
The difference between anxiety, stress, and worry
Whether anxiety is a mental illness or something everyone experiences
What anxiety actually feels like (hint: it's not always panic attacks)
Why some people seem more anxious than others - nature, nurture, and neural pathways
What I'd say to someone who thinks they just need to push through

Question 1: We've Heard the Word Anxiety Our Whole Lives, But What Is It Actually?

Anxiety is our system's response to a stressor. That's it. At its most basic level, anxiety is how our nervous system prepares us to respond to something it has evaluated as a threat.

And here's the thing: that process is important. If I'm in a legitimately dangerous situation and I don't respond with some anxiety, that's the problem. The lack of anxiety is what we should be worried about, not the presence of it.

Anxiety becomes a problem in two specific ways. First, when we don't feel it when we should. Second, and this is where most people struggle, when we feel it consistently even though there isn't a legitimate threat on the horizon. The system fires when it doesn't need to, or it fires and then can't turn off.

The anxiety response itself isn't broken. The regulation of it is what needs attention.

Book a free consultation at Seen Therapy →

Question 2: What's the Difference Between Anxiety and Just Being Stressed or Worried?

Clinically, I'd put it this way: a stressor is external. Anxiety is internal. It's our internal response to that external stressor.

Something happens outside of us. Our system evaluates it. Our body responds with anxiety. That's the sequence.

In everyday language, we use stress and anxiety interchangeably, and I think that's mostly fine. When I'm sitting with a client, I try to be more intentional like "your body is evaluating this as a stressor and having an anxiety response" because the language helps clarify the process. But functionally, they're describing the same thing.

What I do think is worth naming: there's a stigma around the word "anxiety" that sometimes doesn't attach to "stressed" or "worried" in the same way. But all of them are pointing at the same nervous system response. None of them are signs that something is fundamentally wrong with you.

Question 3: Is Anxiety a Mental Illness Or Is Everyone Just Kind of Anxious?

Everyone is anxious sometimes. Everyone has depressive symptoms sometimes. Everyone is obsessive sometimes. Everyone dissociates sometimes. These are not signs of disorder - they're signs of being human.

What distinguishes anxiety as a disorder is the level of impairment. When I'm assessing whether someone's anxiety warrants a clinical diagnosis, I'm looking at how it's impacting their daily living. How are they sleeping? How are they eating? How are they socializing? How is their work or school being affected?

When anxiety starts impairing those things - when it's consistently getting in the way of functioning, that's when we start talking about disorder.

When someone says "I have anxiety," I usually think: good. Hopefully. We all do. The question isn't whether you have anxiety. It's whether your anxiety is running your life.

Question 4: What Does Anxiety Actually Feel Like? (Because It's Not Always Panic Attacks)

This one is important because a lot of people don't recognize their anxiety as anxiety because it doesn't look like what they've seen in movies or read about online.

Anxiety can feel like:

Dread
Restlessness
Difficulty sleeping - either falling asleep or staying asleep
Overthinking and looping thoughts
A sense of impending doom that you can't explain
Irritability

That last one surprises people. I've worked with a lot of clients who wouldn't describe themselves as anxious but can't sleep at night and find themselves snapping at their kids constantly. When I suggest that those might be anxiety symptoms, they look at me like I've said something strange.

But it makes complete sense. If my system has registered a stressor and is running an anxiety response, if I'm revved up constantly, and then someone interrupts me, I'm going to be irritable. They're getting in the way of me responding to what my nervous system has flagged as a threat or a crisis.

We accept irritability as a symptom of exhaustion without question. Anxiety produces it just as readily. And most of the time, people are more easily anxious when they're tired, which means irritability is often a double response to both.

Question 5: Why Do Some People Seem to Have Way More Anxiety Than Others?

This is a nature versus nurture conversation, and the honest answer is both.

On the nature side: there is a genetic predisposition to more frequent anxiety responses. Some nervous systems are wired to be more sensitive to threat detection. That's real.

On the nurture side: if you experienced a lot of external stressors during your developmental years, your body has run that anxiety response pathway over and over and over. It becomes easy to get there. The path is well-worn. The pattern is set.

Here's the important part: those patterns can be changed. EMDR doesn't change your genetic predisposition - I can't rewire your DNA. But it can address those original experiences that set the patterns in place. When we desensitize the experiences that taught the nervous system to default to anxiety, the default starts to shift.

The genetic piece remains. The amplification from trauma doesn't have to.

Question 6: What Would I Say to Someone Who Thinks They Just Need to Push Through?

I love this question because it lets me bring in something from Internal Family Systems, a framework I find really useful for explaining what actually happens when we ignore our anxiety.

Here's the idea: I move through my life with every earlier version of myself alongside me. Those earlier versions of me play a role in how I experience the world today.

So let's say I had a difficult couple of years around ages five to seven. When I ignore my anxiety response and when I decide to just push through, there is a terrified six-year-old inside me who is absolutely raging. Because she's convinced that if I don't pay attention to this anxiety signal and do something about it, we're going to be in danger. That was her lived experience. That's what she learned.

When you push through your anxiety without acknowledging it, you create an internal war. One part of you is saying "we're in danger, we need to respond." Another part is saying "we're too busy, we don't have time for this." And the first part doesn't stop. She just gets louder.

Now, responding to anxiety doesn't mean doing everything your anxious thinking tells you to do. It doesn't mean letting anxiety run your decisions. But ignoring it entirely and white-knuckling through it the way you have for the last decade isn't going to make it better. It's going to make it worse.

If your anxiety is impeding your daily living, pushing through is not a strategy. It's a delay with a cost.

That said, I want to be clear: I'm not always going to tell you that therapy is the only answer. There are things you can try on your own first. There are tools and practices that can help you get out ahead of anxiety symptoms. But ignoring them is not one of those things.

Book a free consultation at Seen Therapy →

Frequently Asked Questions About Anxiety

What is anxiety, exactly?

Anxiety is your nervous system's internal response to something it has evaluated as a threat or stressor. It's a protective process designed to prepare you to respond to danger. The problem isn't anxiety itself. The problem is when the system fires without a real threat, or fires and can't turn off.

Is anxiety the same as stress?

Functionally, yes - though clinically, stress or a stressor refers to an external prompt, while anxiety is the internal response to that stressor. In everyday language, we use them interchangeably, and that's mostly fine. Both point to the same nervous system process.

Can everyone experience anxiety, or is it a diagnosable condition?

Both. Everyone experiences anxiety and it's a normal human response. Anxiety becomes a diagnosable disorder when it consistently impairs daily functioning: sleep, eating, social relationships, work or school. The question isn't whether you experience anxiety but whether anxiety is running your life.

What are the symptoms of anxiety?

Anxiety doesn't always look like panic attacks. Symptoms can include dread, restlessness, difficulty sleeping, overthinking, a sense of impending doom, and irritability. If you find yourself snapping at people more than usual and you can't figure out why, anxiety is worth considering.

Why do some people seem more anxious than others?

A combination of genetics and experience. Some nervous systems are genetically wired toward more sensitive threat detection. And if someone experienced repeated stressors during developmental years, the anxiety response pathway becomes well-worn and easy to trigger. Both factors are real and the experiential piece can be addressed through trauma-informed therapy like EMDR.

Should I just push through my anxiety?

I'd encourage you not to. Ignoring anxiety creates an internal conflict - one part of you trying to signal danger, another part trying to override it. That conflict doesn't resolve on its own; it tends to escalate. If anxiety is impacting your daily life, pushing through isn't a strategy. It's a delay with a cost.

Does EMDR help with anxiety?

Yes, particularly anxiety that has roots in past experiences or trauma. EMDR can't change a genetic predisposition, but it can address the original experiences that set anxiety patterns in place, which often significantly reduces how easily the anxiety response is triggered.

Related Resources

Hello. Hello. Hello, friends, welcome to the podcast where we simplify everything about mental health. Just kidding. But here's what we are gonna do. We're gonna sit down together a licensed mental health professional, that's me and a regular old Joe as my husband Garth would describe himself. We're gonna talk about the nitty gritty of EMDR, some nervous system mapping, how couples can help each other heal. What's healthy parenting actually look like? Maybe a little bit of good old banter mixed in. All with the goal of making mental health a little bit simpler for you. Quick note, because my lawyer says that I have to, I'm a therapist, but not your therapist. Unless I am. Even if I am. This is still just a podcast. Okay, now have a good listen. Hello, friends. We are starting an anxiety series today, and of course, I am joined by... It's me again. Were you going to start introducing yourself before I got rolling? I, no, I was gonna... You said, "We're starting an anxiety series," and I was gonna go, "Oh, no." And I just didn't think that was probably very funny. Cool. That's where we're at tonight, huh? The- Yeah. Mm-hmm ... that's the kind of mood we're rolling with? Okay. Yeah. Yep. All right. Awesome. So we are starting out with what anxiety actually is and what it absolutely is not. So that's the, where we're gonna get rolling in the series. And we're switching things up a little bit. We're gonna see how we like this style. Garth is more informed on the episode than I am in that he has a list of questions that he's going to go over. And I have not read through all of them, and so I have read the first one. But outside of that, I'm gonna be kind of flying blind in answering them, so we'll see how that goes. Before we get rolling with official questions, though, Garth, bant us, sir Hmm. It's summertime. Indeed. What is your favorite summertime activity? That's a great question. I, we've just had so much fun this summer We have had a lot There is nothing better than doing something outside and getting really hot, whether it's, like, playing or working, and then coming inside and having a cold treat and, like, cuddling up. Like, last week our nieces were here, and our five-year-old and nieces and I went and played pickleball. And then we got, like, super hot and sweaty, and then came home, and, like, I cuddled up with our five-year-old on the couch. And it w- was just all... It just feels so good to have, like, gone and w- worked hard, right? Mm-hmm. And, and then come back and enjoy the air conditioning and... I don't know. I don't know that that's necessarily my favorite, but it's... I do enjoy that. It's what came to my mind first. What about you? What's yours? Yeah, similar. I like to, whenever it's, like, really, really hot, I love to go work outside because you get that just good sweat, you know? Mm-hmm. And then the best part is coming back inside to the lovely- Yeah ... and privileged air conditioning that we have and just being like- Mm-hmm ... "Boy, it's hot out there, and now it's 70 degrees. Ah." So that's, that's really your favorite too? Yeah, I love it. I, I- Yeah ... today I was out mowing the yard. It was like 96 degrees, and I'm out there just- Yeah ... hustling 'cause I've got, you know, a 30-minute window on my lunch break. I'm like, "I'm, I'm mowing this grass." Yeah. And yeah, it was, came back inside- It's gotten done and it was like, "Ah, this feels good." Sweet, sweet, sweet air conditioning. Yeah. Yeah. No, it, it really is nice. That's funny that that's your answer too. Well, we just discovered a few weeks ago, I had randomly said, "You don't hate the hot. You hate the hot indoors." Like, you love to be outside sweating. Yeah. But inside- Doesn't bother me at all to be outside. Mm-hmm. You wanted a solid 68. Yeah. Yeah. Yep, I don't like the heat or spiders inside. Outside, I don't mind them. But either one of those come inside my house, watch out. It's done. It's done. All right. Sir, you're in charge. You're leading us through questions. Oh. So- That's right. Okay Do you have your notes? You wanna take us away? Got 'em. All right. Most of us have heard the word anxiety our whole lives, but what is it actually? I knew that in reading questions there would be serio- zero serious tone, so I appreciate right off the bat you taking us there. It's very serious. Very serious what is it actually? So- Yes ... it's a great question because I do think we turn, we like throw it around a lot, right? When I think of answering this question, what comes up for me is something that I explain to clients in session over and over and over again, and that is we've made an enemy of anxiety. We've made it this dirty word. And anxiety is just our system's response to a stressor that, you know, our system has to respond this way in order to keep us safe. And so actually if we're in a legitimately stressful, unsafe situation and we don't respond with some anxiety, that's the problem. It's the lack of anxiety that is a problem. Mm-hmm. So anxiety becomes a problem when we do not feel it when we should, and when we do feel it often even though there's not a legitimate threat on the horizon, right? So- That makes sense ... anxiety is detecting a threat, preparing for that threat. The problem isn't that system, that process. In fact, that process is very important. The problem is when that process does not flip off when it- Mm ... should be flipping off. Mm-hmm. Does that make sense? Yeah, for sure. And I think the, this comes down to a matter of, and you use this word all the time, dysregulation, right? Our bodies, a lot of these things that it seems like people struggle with are not, like, maladaptive things that their body is doing. They're just dysregulated. They're happening at a time when they should not. So yeah, anxiety should happen. You see a bear in the woods, you should be anxious about that. That's important that your body amps up and gets ready to act. But whenever you're like, "Oh my gosh, did Brenda eat that muffin that I gave her? I wonder if she was allergic to pistachios. It had pistachios in it," and you're laying in bed at night and it's circling and circling and you can't sleep- Well ... well. How, how allergic is Brenda to the pistachios, Garth? I don't know. I was making that up. I don't know. Well- Maybe she's allergic to pistachios. What if she is? What if she is? Yeah. I don't know. Mm-hmm. Well, and if sh- maybe that should wake us up, right? That may also be another e- example of appropriate anxiety. Where are you, Brenda? How allergic- Brenda shouldn't eat food- ... are you to pistachios? ... if she's deathly allergic to things if they might be in there. That's my opinion. Oh, really. Just don't take food from anyone ever if you have a food allergy. Is that the- If I had terrible food allergies, I'm not eating anything that somebody gives me. No way. Mm-mm. We're, we're diverting horribly. Just saying. Okay. Next question? Yes. What is the difference between anxiety and just being stressed or worried? Hmm. The way I define them, a stressor creates anxiety. Mm-hmm. A, a stressor is an external, a stress or a stressor is an external prompt- Yeah ... for anxiet- for the system to respond with anxiety. So anxiety is secondary to a stressor? Anxiety is internal. It is- Mm-hmm ... our internal response to the external stress or stressor. Stressor. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And again, coming back to question one it becomes a problem when our system is detecting a stress or stressor or, or I'm sorry, creating something evaluating it as a stress or stressor when it, it in all actuality is not. Yeah. Right? And so- Maybe Brenda, let, let's say that Brenda just doesn't like s- pistachios. We know that she is, in fact, we know for sure she's not allergic. She just doesn't like them, and she didn't realize that you put them in the cookies that you sent home with her. That's not really, y- you know, that doesn't warrant high levels of anxiety. Mm-hmm. Now Brenda is deathly allergic to the pistachios. In fact, that's great that our body is responding with a high level of anxiety because that is a si- significant stressor. We do not want to kill Brenda with the pistachio cookies. Sorry, Brenda Yeah. Brenda's made up. But- so the question was actually the difference between anxiety and just being stressed or worried. And I think hearing you, there's not a difference. The feelings of being stressed and worried are anxiety, but we have, as you said in the kinda intro here, we've m- made this word anxiety such a dirty word. But it, it's just being stressed and being worried. That's anxiety, right? It's, it's... Are they one and the same, or are there differences? Clinically, no. Yeah. I, I mean, y- you know, like I think that we, I did it earlier. We use stress- Mm-hmm ... and anxiety interchangeably in our culture. Yeah. And so the feeling of stress and the feeling of anxiety. It, but i- if I'm being, if I'm sitting with a client, I'm, I try to be more intentional ab- ab- about my language when I'm sitting with a client. I would try to say something like, "Your body is evaluating this as a stressor- Mm-hmm ... and so it is having an anxiety response." Response, yeah. But we could also argue, like, your body's evaluating this as a stressor, and so it's having a stress response. Mm-hmm. Same thing. Does that make sense? Yeah. Mm-hmm. And I, I, yeah, and I wouldn't argue over that. Yeah. So I think, I think that comes- So really there's not a d- there's not a difference. It's just that there's a stigma surrounding the word anxiety that there isn't around stressed or worried. I think there's a stigma around all, all of them. That's fair. Yeah. That's fair. I again, I would define it as you register something external as a stress or a stressor. Mm-hmm. You have an anxiety response as a result of that. Yeah. Stressor, external. Anxiety, internal. Yep. All right, next question. Is anxiety a mental illness or is everyone just kind of anxious? Or is everyone just kind of anxious? Yeah. I mean, I think yes. Everybody's anxious sometimes. Everybody has depressive symptoms sometimes. Everybody is obsessive sometimes. Everybody is dissociative sometimes, right? Mm-hmm. The, the complicated thing about actually being diagnosed with, like, an anxiety disorder, for instance, right? Or y- you know, a mental health condition in general Is that there's this fun kind of part for the clinician where they have to determine what level of impairment is this client experiencing- Mm-hmm ... as a result of, in this instance, this anxiety. Yeah. And does that warrant does that warrant a, a diagnosis? So outside of looking at actual, like DSM-5, which is what we use to, to diagnose and then like physicians, nurse practitioners would use the ICD-11. So without like going through specific criteria some of the... You know, generally I start with, how is this person's anxiety impacting their daily living? Mm-hmm ... so again, we all experience anxiety sometimes, and we should. Mm-hmm. There are things that should, again, there are those external stressors that should produce anxiety for us. I'm driving somebody doesn't have their blinker on and they're merging into the lane right in front of me. I should have an anxiety response- Right in my body to that. Yeah. So I look at how is this impacting daily living? How is someone sleeping? How is someone eating? How is someone socializing? How is someone doing their work or their, their school, their schooling? And if anxiety is starting to impair those things then it, it's crossing over into a disorder. Now, that's really general, right? Yeah. Like that does not get into the nitty-gritty of it, and we're, we're not gonna do that today. But I do think that a lot of people will use the verbiage, "I have anxiety." Well, hopefully. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Hopefully. We all do. Yeah, yeah. We all do, right? And obviously we're not gonna walk around saying like, "I'm impaired by anxiety." Yeah. But that, that would be more of an- That would actually be helpful ... I'm impaired- That would be helpful ... I'm impaired by anxiety. Yeah. Yeah, that that would be more of an, an indication of, of disorder. Does that make sense? Yeah. Mm-hmm. No, for sure. Yeah. For sure. Yeah. All right. Next question. You ready for this one? Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. What does anxiety feel like? Because I don't think it always looks like panic attacks. No. It certainly does not always look like panic attacks. Dread, restlessness, difficulty sleeping, overthinking a sense that there's, like, impending doom. One that people get confused about, irritability. Hmm. I have worked with a lot of people who are surprised by that symptom, right? Yeah. They're, they're like you know, "I I wouldn't describe myself as anxious, but I can't fall asleep at night. I am really snappy with my kids, right? And I'm like, "Well," Mm-hmm ... you know, that those are- Yeah ... possibly anxiety symptoms. And when you think about it, like, if my system has registered a stressor and it's having that anxiety response- Mm-hmm ... and I'm, like, revved up constantly, and then my kid comes and tries to talk to me, I'm gonna be irritable with them because they're getting- Yeah ... in the way of me responding to this stressor or this crisis situation. Yeah. Right? Just- So irritability totally makes sense as an anxiety symptom. Mm-hmm. We just don't talk about it a ton. Yeah. Okay, go ahead. Personally, that one makes tons of sense to me because I know whenever- Yeah ... I am anxious, I get irritable. That's, that's one of the first things that's an indicator to me, like, okay, you need to slow down. Like, you need to take a deep breath here and figure out what's- Yeah ... what's making you anxious, is I get just grumpy about things all the time. Yeah. I think we accept anxiety or, let me back up. We accept irritabi- irritability rather with, like, exhaustion. Mm-hmm. Like, when people get tired, they're irritable. Mm-hmm. Well, when people get anxious, they're- Yeah ... irritable. Yeah. And I would actually say most of the time, like, people become anxious more easily when they're tired, and they're actually irritable in the response to anxiety. And- Yeah ... we won't go down that rabbit hole. Not today. But irritability makes sense to you. Yeah, totally. Totally. I mean, if you're on edge and then someone is, like, disrupting whatever it is that you're working through in your head or trying to do, trying to accomplish, yeah, it could be the sweetest thing in the world that could cross your path and it's like, but the stressor, I must do the stressor. You're in the way of the stressor, and that makes sense to me. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Okay, next question. Why do some people seem to have more anxiety than others? Think this is a good like nature versus nurture discussion, right? Yeah. So the nature of it is, like, th- there is a genetic predisposition to having more anxiety responses in your day-to-day. But then al- obviously your experiences, right? Like, if I have experienced, especially in developmental years, so zero to seven, if I experience a ton of external stressors then my body has run that path of that anxiety response over and over and over. It's very easy to get there. Mm-hmm. So it, it's wiring. It's pattern making. Those patterns can be undone though. Sure. Right? And that's where EMDR comes in, right? Is, like, yes, there are genetic dis- predispositions towards anxiety disorders, and trauma exacerbates that. And we can desensitize those original experiences that set those patterns of anxiety responses. So can we use EMDR to change your genetic predisposition? No, we can't do that. Right. But we can address those original experiences that set these patterns in place in the first place. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Cool. Okay. We got one more question. Last one. Last one. Okay. What would you say to someone who thinks they just need to push through their anxiety? Okay I really like ans- the idea of answering this from an internal family systems perspective. Mm-hmm. And this does not do internal family systems justice, but the idea is that I walk forward in my life with every earlier version of myself with me. Mm-hmm. And so if that is the case, that I walk forward in my life with every earlier version of myself with me, and that those earlier versions play a role in my life let's pretend for a moment that I had a very difficult couple of years from, like, five to seven, right? Mm-hmm. And we'll just meet in the middle and say that six-year-old. Like, when I ignore my anxiety response, when I just try to push through it, there is this little six-year-old inside of me that is just raging. Mm-hmm. Because she's terrified- Right ... that if I don't sense this anxiety response and do something about it, that we're going to be in danger. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so when, when you don't respond to your anxiety, you just kind of create this, like, internal war for yourself- Mm-hmm ... right? Now, responding to your anxiety doesn't mean that you do everything that pops into your mind as a result of anxious thinking. That's- Sure ... that's not what I mean. Mm-hmm. Right? But not responding to your anxiety looks like, "I know that this is an issue, and I'm gonna try to white-knuckle it through it for the, the next decade just like I have done in the previous decade." And it's going to get worse. Mm-hmm. Like, that is going to happen. And again, I think the visual that I get is just, like, this internal war against oneself on, like, you know, one being, being like, "You don't understand. We're in danger," and the other being like, "We're too busy." Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like, "We're too busy to be in danger. We can't, we can't stop and look at this." So anyway, that, a short answer. Let's see. What would I say if someone suggested pushing through? Pretty much, yeah. If we're talking anxiety to the point that it is impeding on your daily living, that's gonna make things worse. Yeah. So d- don't. Don't. Yeah, don't. Don't. Yeah. It's not. Yep. Okay. And depending on how severe your symptoms are, I try to be very clear about this. I'm the therapist that's not always gonna say, "Go to therapy, go to therapy, go to therapy," right? Like, there are- Mm-hmm ... you can try to manage this on your own. There are a few different things that you could do to try to get out ahead of it. But ignoring it is certainly not one of the things that you can do to get out ahead of it. Right. So. Well, that's all, folks. That's all. Well, that's all my questions. So- Okay. Can you run us back, 'cause I usually do a summary at the end of the podcast, and if I'm real- really feeling snappy and on top of things. Mm-hmm. Can you kind of run us back through the questions? Yeah. Just really quick. So question one was we've heard the word anxiety our whole lives, but what is it actually? So, do you want me to do the summaries as well? Well, are you wanting me to fast answer? Oh, I- I can fast answer ... I, I, I can, I can also summarize Well, let's do rap- let's, let's do rapid fire answer to summarize at the end. Okay. Okay. Okay. Ready? Anxiety, what is it actually? I actually don't know that I'm capable of this. Never mind I get it. You just run through the questions really f- Yeah. Do you want me to give the summary of your answer as well? No. Or... Okay. I can't rapid fire anything. Okay. Like I'll talk for days- and honestly I think if you try to summarize the answer you will too. So let's just go with the questions from there. Nonsense. Okay. So today we answered six questions. Number one, most of us have heard the word anxiety our whole lives, but what is it actually? Number two, what's the difference between anxiety and just being stressed or worried? Three, is anxiety a mental illness or is everyone just kind of anxious? Number four, what does anxiety actually feel like, because I don't think it always looks like panic attacks. Number five, why do some people seem to have way more anxiety than others? Number six, what would you say to someone who thinks they just need to push through? Ba dum tss. Don't do it. There. Don't. I summarized that one. Yep. Don't. Don't. Don't. All right. Okay. Guys, thank you so much. We've actually recorded a video before, but this should be the first podcast episode with full video. We kinda practiced it last time, ended up just doing audio. And I think as long as everything goes well, that you guys will be watching us potentially right now. I say that, I don't watch any podcasts. Do you watch any podcasts? No. I don't either. 'Cause I'm always like bebopping around and I think you are too whenever I'm listening- Yep ... to a podcast. But on the off chance that you wanna watch us, hopefully here we are. Thanks so much for joining everybody. We are in our anxiety series and we hope you had a good listen. Bye bye. Well, that's all folks. Please see our show notes for ways to connect with us or go give us a follow on Instagram. You can find us at Simply Mental. If this episode resonated with you, send it over to a friend. Give us a five star rating. Subscribe. Download all the things the cool kids are doing these days. Thanks for having to listen.