One of the most common symptoms of anxiety disorder is the belief that you’re going crazy.
You have the sense that you are losing your grip on reality and that you are literally on the verge of a mental breakdown. Anxiety disorder can cause a deep seated fear that sooner or later you’re simply going to go mad.
However, despite this overwhelming fear of possible insanity, the fact that you fear it, and are aware of insanity as a state of being, is precisely why you’re not crazy.
Crazy means a lot things to a lot of people, however, for the sake of clarity let’s say that for our purposes crazy means a mixture of insanity and psychosis . Let’s look at insanity first and how it is normally defined. In the United States, insanity is no longer a medical term and, in fact, is mainly used in legal definitions.
You have heard people say that someone is “legally insane” generally meaning that they cannot comprehend the meaning of “right” and “wrong”. They simply don’t understand what it means to do something horrible, like killing another human being, for example.
Under this definition of crazy or insane would you qualify as such a person? If you have an anxiety disorder the answer is no. You have your mental faculties in order, and you know exactly what right and wrong mean. You know the social norms of society and you follow them.
In other words, you don’t walk around with your underwear on your head because you know that society views this as unacceptable behavior. The second and highest level of so called crazy is a mental state of delusion and abstraction known as psychosis.
Psychosis is associated with conditions like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. These conditions fall under the psychotic types of mental illness. These conditions are debilitating brain disorders that can seriously hinder ones life.
When someone is psychotic they may hear voices or have hallucinations. In addition they might have a serious paranoia and a feeling that everyone is out to get them.
When someone is deemed psychotic they exhibit disorganized thinking and strange behaviors of various kind. Their very perception of reality is not what you would call “normal.”
It is seriously distorted and disconnected from normal definitions of reality. Moreover one of the most critical aspects of psychosis that does not affect anxiety sufferers is a lack of insight.
Having a lack of insight is just another way of saying that you don’t know that you are behaving or acting strangely. As an anxiety sufferer you spend a lot of time thinking you’re crazy or on the verge of crazy but if this were true than you wouldn’t know it. You simply would not be aware of the fact that your thoughts and behavior were strange or “crazy.”
When you have anxiety you are certainly filled with dread and worry. You experience psychosomatic sensations that make you feel terrible and make you think that you might die soon. It’s pretty scary sometimes.
But the bottom line is that your level of mental fitness is not the same as someone that is psychotic or crazy – it’s much better.
You have the ability to make sound decisions, you don’t hear or see things that aren’t there, and you know the difference between real and unreal. Even if you experience feelings of unreality, or dream like states, you are still aware of them as such.
Unfortunately if you were to ask someone tagged as crazy if they were actually crazy, they would probably say something like “crazy, who me?” They just wouldn’t know that they were in mental distress the same way that you would be able to know.
As you can see you just don’t fit the profile of an insane or psychotic person. So the conclusion must be that you are not crazy. When you have anxiety disorder will you have tricks of vision? Yes. Will you have strange sensations and worry all the time?
Yes. But despite this your condition is a completely different tier of mental ailment. You have an anxiety disorder and you will not graduate to a greater and more terrible mental state.
You’re an excessive worrier racked with tremendous amounts of stress, but you are not crazy by any stretch of the imagination.
I’ve had anxiety for over 7 years, sometimes bad sometimes not as bad.
The worst feelings are the ones where you feel like you’re going insane and might do harm to yourself or others. It’s the worst feeling you can feel, it feels like it’s uncontrollable but deep down you know you’re okay and not crazy.
The feeling is sometimes overwhelming; you do feel like you’re going crazy and that you might become your worst fear and insane killer.
I know that saying, “why worry about being insane, you wouldn’t even know it,” but the fear is there an at times strong.
I know this will not happen and these fears come when my body is weak and my stress is strong.
I know to get better is it eat and get enough sleep so that my body and mind can get strong and handle these thoughts.
I at times feel like I’m letting my family down and so scared to let them see me like this but every time I have a anxiety attack, my family is there to help me.
@ BB and Milan-
I know the anxiety feeling- its scary but you are both strong; just writing on this Blog show strength.
As a person who suffers anxiety I know sometimes it feels like your losing control- but your not; you mind and body is weak and will get strong. Keep writing and let your thoughts out; this will help.
Joe
I am in the same boat as many of you. i have had anxiety for quite a number of yeears but the last almost 3 years have been the worse, and it comes and goes. Last week i had a anxiety episode that is lingering still. i have this awful thought that i am going crazy and that scares me. i have feared about leaving my son without a mother and that just terrifies me, especially when i feel i cant control how i feel or think. i have been physically sick and weak. with constant hot bruining skin feeling. i keep thinking i am going to have a seizure or an aneurysm or soemthing. i have been in the ER and to my GP, and i still feel like there is no fixing me =( i just want to go back to being who i was before all this came about. i feel like i let everyone down
I am 24 and all of this sounds too familiar. I felt like something was wrong with me but I wasn’t sure what it was. And I worried so much that I went with the first diagnosis they told me. I have been diagnosed with psychosis and paranoid schizophrenia. The doctor stills insist it’s that. But I’m wondering now if I have bothsince iI’ve been on antipsychotics for the majority of my life since then. I always worry about stuff and what people say. Someone could laugh at me about a hairstyle I wore and I’d go for weeks thinking that they are making fun of me and etc. I really was mad and wanted to wait until someone came up to me and I was seriously going to beat them lol. Even a psychology specialist thinks that my doctor misdiagnosed me. I might have to bring up this article and see if I have anxiety too.
Since last july after about of post natal depressiin from been isolated i began to hear myself talkn my thoughts outloud i have myself convinced its schizophrenia or bipolar however ive been diagnosed with ocd about having these disorders no mayter what anyone says i believe im crazy its a nightmare no interest in anythn anymore becuse i believe im becoming very ill.
im suffering anxiety too and i belong to social anxiety, and i always think and recall and recall how i came like this maybe i can undo or something and its so iriitating when i go to crowded place,its feels like im working everyday just to control anxiety and avoid negativity but im able to realize that informal activities is my only enemy after 1 and half year of analyzing, that was a torture cause i fucked up 2 works and all my old friends they all feel bad at me and evrything connected to me even my family but im able to handle with my family and in social engagement with my family is kind of hard and people see me as eyesore and it feels like theyre like all looking to me and i feel nervous how i should react all the time.. but i know once u know and be able to control your anxiety, your comfort place , its not really a bad thing, you have advantages than any other who did not. for social anxiety only but i do feel you all guys im praying for you.
social anxiety only because i dont know how it feels with with different anxieties but i feel you all guys im with you.. sorry for bad english.. takecare
After reading all your stories it’s sound just like me I have every symptom
Racing heart daily
Weak and feeling I’ll collapse
Eye sight gone funny
Chest pains
Feeling I’m not real in the world
Ringing in ear
Tremmers
Brain zaps
Numbness
Feeling sick everyday
Tired 24/7
Carnt go out so many more I suffer daily to the point iv gave up my job through anxiety and lost my house I’m 27 with 2 kids and have to move back home. I hate anxiety ruined. My life I just want my care free self back makes me believe I’ll die any day I wake up thankful I feel for everyone of u guys ❤️️😢X got to think we can beat this x X
I have gad, can be very crippling at times but i do pretty well using the coping tools i’ve learned and taking the right meds.however I have a controling, verbally and mentally abusive sister who sends me into many anxiety and panic attacks.sometimes i will even apologize for something I haven’t even done just so she will shut up and leave me alone.then I feel bad about myself for being weak. She needs help but doesnt see it that way