I have anxiety. Not the general kind either. The kind where you’re convinced that you’re dying and, at times, even call the ambulance. The kind that’s triggered by absolutely nothing, but consumes absolutely everything. The kind that kisses productivity and concentration goodbye in the middle of the day. The kind that prevents you from traveling long distances in a car, and won’t even let you step foot in an airport. The kind where you need medication to cope with each day. The shitty kind. The kind they call Panic Disorder.
Nobody in my professional life knows I have it, mainly because I haven’t told them. I guess you get pretty good at hiding it over the years. It’s a stigma. A disease. A debilitation, really. Truth be told, I don’t tell anyone because I’m embarrassed.
Those that don’t have it really can’t comprehend what a monumental achievement it is to even get to the office somedays. What seems normal and mundane for most, is a major accomplishment when you have panic disorder.
Needless to say, launching a startup had its challenges.
To be honest, I didn’t know how far i’d even get. What I mean is, if the company had any measure of success, I wasn’t sure if I could handle what that was going to require. Just the thought of having to fly made my anticipatory anxiety kick into high gear.
As it turned out, the company did have some success. What should have been exhilaration, was instead anxiety. Not as much today thankfully, but at times, it sucked really bad. I’ve had to travel — by plane — a lot. This is pretty much an anxious person’s worst fear.
< > Just as a point of reference, there is rational and irrational fears of flying. People with anxiety, like me, have irrational fears. We don’t necessary fear a plane crash. We fear that we’re going to lose control and doing something embarrassing or stupid. For example, my fear is that I’ll need to escape mid-flight and attempt to jump out of the plane at 32,000 feet. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but it’s a very real feeling at the time. < />
The good news is, I’ve kicked the shit out of anxiety — at least for now. It’s still there, and I think it always will be. But going toe-to-toe with it over the past few years ended up being exactly what I needed. Whether the company ultimately succeeds or not is secondary at this point.
I’m sharing this in the hopes that others that suffer from anxiety and depression will open up as well. This is the first time that I’ve spoken about it publicly, albeit anonymous, but damn it feels good.