I just finished reading Hi, Anxiety – Life With a Bad Case of Nerves by Kat Kinsman and loved it. Reading is something that I love to do. I’m always in the
middle of a book, if not multiple books, and feel incomplete when I’m not. Reading books about other people’s experiences with mental health has been one thing that has helped me out a lot throughout my journey so far. Battling an illness can feel so lonely and it’s sometimes easier to just go at by yourself than try to find the words that accurately explain how you’re feeling to others. That’s why I love books like this so much because these authors have found a way to put my feelings into words that I can share with others and have also reassured me that I really am not alone. For me personally something I struggle with is feeling completely unlovable because of my illness in all types of relationships in my life. One of my fears is that I will never find a guy who will love me for me, anxiousness and all. This is one of the reasons I liked this book so much because she shares her episodes of illness with full honesty and truth along with how she handles her relationships. It made me hopeful that one day I’ll meet someone who doesn’t see my illness as a fault and that I am not as much of a burden to the loved ones in my life as I feel like. I don’t want to spoil too much of what Kinsman shares but I thought I would take a moment to share some of my favorite moments so you can get a taste of if this would be a good read for you or not.
“But it’s a different beast when there’s no solution, no clear cause and effect – when there’s no triggering incident that makes you stop washing your hair because you’re suddenly terrified of getting your head wet.”
“We hunker and hide in fear of being judged imperfect, unlovable, high maintenance, and insane. We do not speak of it.”
“Prepared? HA! That’s all I do is prepare. That’s what I’m built for. I spend all of my waking moments (and a good chunk of sleeping ones, too) putting hammer, nails, scratched skin, and blood into constructing the worst-case scenario and armoring for battle against it.”
“I’m afraid that I’ll relax and have all the calm snatched back because it is not what I’m supposed to get.”
If you relate to any of these feelings I highly recommend you check this book out. As you can see I related to it so much I even took a highlighter and sticky notes to my copy so I can quickly reference those feelings I feel often and remind myself I’m not alone. If you want a copy for yourself you can find it on Amazon here. Happy reading! 📚
Until next time. 💜