I Didn't Heal My Anxiety, I Just Learned How to Gaslight it

From a longtime, I told myself I was fine. I was productive. I was meeting deadlines. I was showing up. So how bad could my anxiety really be?

I minimized it. I rationalized it. I convinced myself that because I could still function, my anxiety didn’t deserve attention. I labeled it as stress, ambition, or just “having a lot going on.”

But what I was really doing was gaslighting myself.

I ignored the tight chest. The constant overthinking. The exhaustion that came from always being “on.” I praised myself for pushing through instead of asking why I felt like I had to.

Somewhere along the way, I confused emotional suppression with strength.

The truth is that healing didn’t start until I stopped invalidating myself. Until I admitted that anxiety doesn’t have to look like panic attacks to be real. Until I let myself sit with discomfort instead of immediately explaining it away.

I’m learning that listening to myself is more powerful than silencing myself. That acknowledging anxiety doesn’t make me weak... it makes me honest.

And honesty is where the real healing starts.

Join the Camversation: Have you ever convinced yourself you were okay just because you were still functioning?