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I’ve had anxiety for the better part of my life, but I was oblivious to it.

Growing up, there were recurring patterns, but I never gave them a name. Having the habit of rumination or racing thoughts was something normal to me. And I was positive that panic attacks were the norm!

Only when I started getting bothered by constant nervousness, did I take the right steps to recognize my mental patterns.

If you suffer from anxiety, you know what I’m talking about. We have a pattern—a way of doing things—that sets us apart from other people. We’re not proud of it, but we’re working on it. We promise.

Here are 10 things people with anxiety do:

1. Getting anxious about past events. We’re so damn good at remembering the past and mulling over what we could have done differently.

2. Getting anxious about the future. Evaluation is our speciality. We love sitting for hours worrying about something that hasn’t happened yet.

3. Having trouble sleeping. When we are mentally overwhelmed, it can be difficult getting a good night’s sleep.

4. Obsessing over small details. Anxiety means having a perpetual feeling that something’s not right. We always feel we need to fix something. Yes, we’re extremely attentive to detail.

5. Having difficulty making decisions. Not because we’re indecisive, but we overanalyze every single option. Oh, and we get too emotionally involved in our decisions, which eventually wears us out.

6. Wishing we have accomplished more. We continuously feel like we haven’t gotten any real work done.

7. Yes, you locked that door; no, the stove isn’t turned on. I wish someone would tell me this before I leave my house. A person who has anxiety has an endless checklist—we just want to make sure everything is right.

8. Thinking we have a serious illness whenever we get a headache. Or a stomachache. Or a backache.

9. Canceling plans. Enough said.

10. Experiencing extreme exhaustion by the end of the day. Let’s be honest: constantly worrying and thinking is tiring. Anxiety depletes our energy, and we’re just too tired to cope with it.

Do you have anxiety? How do you cope with your patterns?

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