The label that was supposed to help

A few years ago I was diagnosed with generalised anxiety disorder.

For a long time, that label was genuinely helpful. It explained something I’d been carrying around for years. It pointed me toward the right kind of support. Naming it helped.

But lately I’ve been thinking about what that same label quietly started to do over time.

When you’re known as ‘a worrier’ - by yourself, by a diagnosis, by the people around you - everything starts to get filtered through that lens. And when it does, the next question sometimes stops being asked: is this feeling actually telling me something important?

I’ve had moments where something real needed addressing - a conversation I was putting off, a situation that wasn’t right - and instead I put it down to being a worrier. Everyone did. But it wasn’t always the anxiety. Sometimes I was just responding, normally, to something that genuinely needed a response.

There’s a difference worth noticing here.

‘I notice I’m feeling anxious right now’ creates a tiny bit of space between you and the feeling. It’s useful.

‘I am an anxious person’ can quietly become the whole story - about who you are, and whether your instincts are worth listening to.

Your small step this week: next time you catch yourself labelling a feeling, just consider - are you describing this moment, or describing yourself?

You don’t have to do anything with that. Just notice.

Until next time,

Louise and Mark x