Everyone on the face of the planet experiences anxiety on different levels. Everyone also experiences anxiety differently. From the person who gets nervous before a test, to the person who suffers with a constant worrying feeling. Although I believe we experience anxiety almost daily to some degree, some people still say “I just don’t get anxiety.” Trying to explain hardcore anxiety to those people can be a difficult job. I’ve tried to explain to those kinds of people the anxiety I have experienced. I’ve received shocked faces from some, and puzzled looks by others. It’s always been a struggle to try and get the message across. That’s why I’ve put this list of anxiety metaphors together, because hopefully they resonate with you, and so hopefully they’ll help you to explain to others how anxiety makes you feel.
Anxiety Metaphors That Anxious People Can Relate To;
1. Anxiety is like when you’re nervous for a big test. Instead of having a relieving feeling once the test is over, you continue to feel nervous without knowing why.
2. Anxiety is like being chased by a pack of wolves. You’re heart is racing, your thoughts are in a panic, you expect to be eaten alive but you keep on running.
3. Anxiety is like you’ve left something at home. You’re not sure what it is though. You check your pockets and everything appears to be in check, but you continue to ruminate regardless.
4. Anxiety is like when you don’t understand sarcasm. You’re not sure if someone is really being rude to you or not, but you can’t stop wondering about it.
5. Anxiety is like getting stuck in a broken down lift. You start to panic and bang on the doors but nothing happens and you have to wait it out.
6. Anxiety is like getting your feet stuck in thick mud. You pull and push but you can’t seem to free yourself no matter how hard you try.
7. Anxiety is like being on a plane with constant turbulence.
8. Anxiety is like when you’re walking down the stairs in the dark. You misplace your foot and miss the next step. You gut sinks, and you brace for impact.
9. Anxiety is like feeling as if someone is watching you all of the time. You feel judged and conscious of yourself, but you keep wondering if it’s all in your head.
10. Anxiety is like you’re running down a dark tunnel. You finally turn on the lights but you haven’t even moved an inch.
11. Anxiety feels like you’re waiting in a cue to go on your first ever roller coaster. You don’t know what to expect but you know it will be scary.
12. Anxiety is like being a kid at school when you’ve done something bad. You’re sitting at your desk, waiting to be pulled out of class to be told off.
13. Anxiety is like having a car come out of nowhere and nearly swipe you as you cross the road.
14. Anxiety is like having a weight on your chest whilst your heart pumps faster and faster against it.
15. Anxiety is like being sucked out of a spaceships doors except you’re not wearing your space suit. You panic and start to fumble around.
16. Anxiety is like losing your child in a busy shop. You start to panic, look around frantically, and lose all sense of control.
17. Anxiety is like watching a scary movie, you’re waiting for something scary to pop up but it never does.
18. Anxiety is like a crashing wave of thoughts that don’t seem to have any purpose but to confuse you.
19. Anxiety is like hearing police sirens behind you that don’t go away. You wait to be pulled over, but each car goes past you.
20. Anxiety is like being stuck on a treadmill that you can’t step off from.
21. Anxiety is like the gorilla cages being opened at the zoo. You don’t know if you’ll make it back to your car or not in one piece.
22. Anxiety is like you’re on a bus. Everyone is being rude to you and insulting you. They’re trying to make you feel bad about yourself. However, the passengers are just the negative voices in your own head.
23. Anxiety feels like you’re pulling one end of a rope whilst the anxiety monster pulls the other. You’re both trying to avoid falling in the pit between you.
24. Anxiety is like you’re listening to a storyteller that never shuts up. It continues to paint pictures for you with its cruel words even when you tell it to stop.
25. Anxiety is like when our TV screens go to black and white static ‘fuzz’. Something goes wrong and we frantically turn it off and back on.
26. Anxiety is like seeing someone we don’t like for the first time in years. Your stomach sinks and you try to hide until they pass.
27. Anxiety is like a spider’s web. It is difficult to separate the webs like it’s difficult to separate important thoughts.
28. Anxiety is like being shoved into a Roman Colosseum, you’re not sure if you’ll survive the battle.
29. Anxiety is like choking up when you’re about to do a speech. Instead of calming down, you run off and hide.
30. Anxiety is like falling through the sky at 200mph. You know you’ll hit the ground but you’re not sure when it’ll happen.
31. Anxiety is like jumping into a lake before you gave thought to what objects might be beneath the surface.
32. Anxiety feels like the air being sucked out of your lungs
33. Anxiety feels like a cold sweat you feel when you’re in danger, but you’re not.
34. Anxiety feels like someone else is controlling your life and you have no control over what happens.
35. Anxiety is like a little monster that grows only when you listen to it.
36. Anxiety feels like you’re in a tunnel when each end caves in and you can’t think of a solution to get out.
- Also see 15 metaphors for depression
I hope these anxiety metaphors help you in some way. I also hope that they help you to explain anxiety to others. Metaphors for anxiety can also be useful when you’re journaling your worries. By creating an analogy, or metaphor for anxiety and the way you feel, it can help you to see it in a new light.
Here’s to your success – Sean