Julia J.
Photography by LeighAnn Henderson
If you’re reading this, you are worthy of it all.
I was diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder during the fall of my sophomore year of high school, but anxiety had been underscoring much of my life long before that. The frustrating thing about anxiety for me is that many people do not understand that it is not just nervousness. For me, anxiety manifested into a constant fear of judgment, an inability to enjoy anything without being on edge, and even physical symptoms like stomach aches.
In college, it is easy to let this anxiety overrun you. As students, our schedules are jam-packed with classes, internships, jobs, social obligations, and more. It can sometimes feel like you must always think about what comes next or worry about what happens later. I’ve compared it in the past to running on a treadmill. Sometimes it feels like I’ve been running for years and have never stopped to catch my breath. However, I have realized that there are people around me who are willing to help ease this anxiety because they love and care about me. All I have to do is find the courage to ask for help.
There were many days before I talked about what I was feeling where I felt like I was going crazy. My brain was overflowing with thoughts and worries, and it wouldn’t turn off. I didn’t know how to explain it to people, and I didn’t know if anyone else was experiencing what I was, so I let it continue to simmer and bottle up inside of me. Finally, I contacted a counselor and talked to friends and family to let them know what I was experiencing. The outpouring of support and love I received was incredible, but I also felt immense guilt. All these people were focusing on me, and I couldn’t help but feel bad about it.
I realized that we should never feel guilty when receiving help and support. We should be feeling grateful. You are a person that people love and care about enough that they want to help you, and that is something so beautiful. If we compare it to the treadmill analogy, all of us are running all the time, but there are people around us holding out water bottles and towels. They want to help us, and we just need to take the time to realize that they are there and we are never on this journey alone.
This journey of life is crazy and challenging, and for many college students in this generation, the crisis of mental health is rampant like never before. What we need to remember is that we are worthy of it. You are worthy of love. You are worthy of support. You are worthy of the success you attain. You are worthy of your place on this Earth. You are worthy of help from others to get back on track.
With mental health issues like anxiety, it really never goes away completely. There will always be stressors in our lives or events we may experience that are painful and scary. But we never have to go through these things alone. And we should never feel like we are a burden for asking for help. You are worthy of it all. We are worthy of it all.
Julia J., Clemson University ‘26
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