When Anxiety Comes Knocking - and Just. Won’t. Stop.

Part of our 10 for when series:

ANXIETY

Anxiety exists on a spectrum, and whether you've always had a name for what you feel or are just learning the language, understanding anxiety is the first step to moving through it.

Here are ten resources to reach for when anxiety comes knocking.

Similar Scenario, Wildly Different Experience

Imagine this: you're 15, you're getting ready for school. You didn’t sleep well, your throat is tight, your stomach is doing flips, your hands are clammy, and you’re bracing for impact because you haven’t done your homework for your creative writing class.

Your mom has decided skipping is out of the question. While your teacher was not kind about your tardiness turning it in - and hearing out your array of excuses, you hand the paper in a few days later - and you survive. 

Now imagine, it’s 15 years later. You’re 30, you’re behind on a project at work and you’re heading to a meeting with your boss to discuss. Except this time, you had decent sleep, you’re breathing fully and without restriction, your stomach is calm, your hands are dry, and you’re prepared for the conversation. You give your boss a realistic update for the project timeline that you both agree on, and you leave feeling proud of yourself for communicating and not inflating a delay into a real crisis. 

What’s the difference between these two scenarios? In both situations you are behind on something, in both situations you’re going to have to deal with a person in an authoritative position who will likely demand better from you, and in both situations you survived and life continued. The main difference is how you felt throughout each experience. 

The main driver of that difference – is that you’ve built some tools and learned some practices to help you manage high stress situations.

Naming Anxiety

When I was growing up I often felt like the person in the first scenario.

Therapy was less talked about and less accessible then. We didn’t have social media at our fingertips with creators openly discussing things like anxiety, depression, and other mental health struggles. I didn't have language for any of my feelings, and so I had no idea how to support myself when they were challenging.

It wasn’t until I was in my late 20s that I even learned what anxiety was, and finally had a name for what I had been experiencing as a teen. And it wasn’t until my 30s that I finally went to therapy and learned how to process my anxiety so it didn’t consume me. 

We’re lucky that in 2026, anxiety is openly discussed among peers, on social media, and in new literature and pop culture. We not only have more language and understanding around it so we can quickly recognize it in ourselves, but we also have more access to tools to process it and support ourselves when we’re experiencing it. 

Feeling Anxious about Anxiety?

It’s extremely common to experience anxiety. And experiencing anxiety does not automatically mean you have a disorder. Whether or not you have an anxiety disorder depends on many factors including the frequency, duration, severity, and how much it affects your daily life. Regardless of if you’re experiencing momentary versus persistent anxiety, it can be uncomfortable and can easily affect other areas of our lives, and so it is worth it to seek out ways to support ourselves. 

Because while the term anxiety may be more mainstream now, it doesn’t make it any easier to go through. Anxiety can manifest differently for different people. For some it looks like worry, fatigue, and digestive issues. For others it can feel like an impending sense of doom, muscle tension, and a racing heart. Anxiety can be experienced both physically and emotionally — have you noticed how it shows up for you?

Understanding anxiety doesn't always prevent it from returning.

While I can paint a pretty picture where having a meeting with your boss no longer makes you panic, supporting your anxiety is an ongoing practice. There is also nothing wrong with feeling nervous before an important meeting. Being impenetrable to outside stressors is unrealistic, and so instead we can aim to have a toolkit to turn to when we start to feel anxious.

if you’re struggling with ANXIETY, view our list of 10 for When.

10 for When is your go-to swipe sheet of tools, resources, and support for the moments when the hard stuff shows up, because it will. Consider this your standing invitation to be a little more ready than you were yesterday.

Disclaimer: This blog is not meant as professional advice or counseling. If you are in emotional distress or experiencing thoughts of harm to yourself or others, help is available 24/7:

• If in crisis, call 988

• Text HELLO to 741741 to connect with a Crisis Text Line counselor

• Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline:

  • 1–800–273–8255 (TALK) Spanish & English

  • Deaf & Hard of Hearing TTY 800–799–4889

• Call 911

• If you need mental health treatment but cannot afford it, contact Rise Above The Disorder, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to making mental health care accessible to everyone: YouAreRAD.org