When Anxiety Moves in

When Anxiety Becomes a Quiet Companion

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about anxiety — not the kind you casually mention when you’re running late or juggling too much, but the kind that quietly moves in and rearranges your life.

My son is a sophomore in college. Brilliant, kind-hearted, funny, and deeply introspective. But over the past few months, anxiety has taken up space in his world in a way that’s been hard to watch. It’s made it difficult for him to meet new people, find his rhythm, and trust his own sense of safety. He’s far from home, surrounded by new faces, yet often feels completely alone.

The Mom in Me vs. The Therapist in Me

As a mom, my instinct is to fix it — to jump in, rearrange his schedule, find him a study group, or even drive the four hours to campus just to sit with him through the silence. As a therapist, I know that anxiety doesn’t respond to fixing. It responds to compassion, consistency, and space.

So we’ve been finding small ways to invite calm back in: breathing together over FaceTime, taking walks, doing progressive muscle relaxation, and reminding him that this feeling — this discomfort — doesn’t mean he’s broken. It just means he’s human.

The Many Faces of Anxiety

Here’s the thing about anxiety — it’s not always panic attacks or racing thoughts. Sometimes it’s exhaustion. Sometimes it’s isolation. Sometimes it’s that invisible wall between you and the world you want to be a part of.

If you’re reading this and you’ve felt that wall too, please know you’re not alone.Maybe your anxiety shows up as overthinking. Maybe it keeps you up at night, replaying conversations or catastrophizing every “what if.” Or maybe it numbs you completely — because feeling nothing feels safer than feeling too much.

What Healing Really Looks Like

Here’s what I want you to remember:You can honor your anxiety without giving it control. You can tend to your body without judging it.And you can take small, imperfect steps toward peace — even if it’s just stepping outside, stretching your shoulders, or saying “no” when your body’s begging for rest.

Real self-care isn’t always pretty. It’s not just journaling and candles — though I love both. It’s also choosing to rest when your mind says “push harder.” It’s saying no when you’re afraid someone might not understand. It’s recognizing that surviving the day counts as progress.

For my son, it’s been learning that healing doesn’t mean the absence of anxiety. It means finding ways to live with it — to build a life that holds both courage and fear, growth and grace.

And for me — both as a therapist and a mother — it’s been remembering that support doesn’t always look like answers. Sometimes, it just looks like presence.

You Are Not Your Anxiety

So, to anyone struggling right now: you are not your anxiety. You are the person learning to breathe through it.And that, my friend, is strength.

Reflection: If this resonates with you, take a moment right now to pause. Place your hand over your heart, and thank yourself for showing up — even when it’s hard, even when it’s messy. Anxiety might have moved in, but it doesn’t get to redecorate your life. You do.

If anxiety has moved in and it’s more than just an occasional guest — if it’s interfering with your life, impacting your relationships, or keeping you from the things you love — you don’t have to travel this road alone. A qualified therapist can walk beside you, offer tools, and hold space for healing. You deserve that help.