Beyond the Spiral: Why You Shouldn’t Believe Everything Anxiety Tells Youनमुना

You Are Not Your Anxiety.

What we allow to define us will ultimately direct us. For example, if you grow up in a family of die-hard fans of a specific football team, you’re likely going to be a fan of that team too. The problem with mental health challenges like anxiety, is that sometimes we can over-attach to the label of having anxiety. We start to believe the story we tell ourselves. It’s like, if you go through a tough season of life that stresses you out, you might start to experience situational anxiety. Perhaps you even have a panic attack. Given the situation, your anxiety is expected and normal for your history and personality. But let’s say you start to take steps to manage that anxiety, applying the tools you’ve learned and even seeing a therapist or counselor. It’s very possible to overcome the anxiety spiral. Do you then still ‘have anxiety?’ Sure. But we all do.

This matters because you don’t want to discredit your growth or make your mental health challenge your identity. Maybe it would be more truthful to say, ‘I’m prone to anxiety,’ or ‘I’ve experienced some challenges with anxiety.’ Because who you are is so much more. Anxiety will lie to you and tell you there’s something wrong with you, but the truth is there’s so much more that’s right with you.

Your mental health challenges do not define you. Anxiety is a condition, not an identity. Depression is a diagnosis, not an identity. You’ve been created on purpose by God, in His image. And the good news is you don’t have to choose between the two. You can be a child of God who struggles with anxiety. And contrary to what you may have heard, you can be a Christian who struggles with depression. After all, God didn’t make us souls floating around without bodies. He also didn’t make us with bodies walking around without souls. He made us body, mind, and spirit; you can trust Him with every part of yourself and your life. No matter what changes around you, God never does.

You are not your anxiety. You are a child of God. And you can trust everything He says about you.

If you need to know who you are, perhaps you could set aside time over the next few days or weeks to read the following scriptures:

Psalm 139:14
John 1:12
1 Corinthians 6:20
Colossians 1:14
Ephesians 2:10
Ephesians 1:12
Ephesians 1:13
Ephesians 2:5
Ephesians 2:14
Ephesians 3:18
2 Timothy 1:9
Romans 6:2
Hebrews 13:5
1 John 5:4
Romans 8:2
Romans 8:37