Poems about Anxiety (+3 reasons they help)

In this article, we will highlight poetry based on anxiety and how anxiety is portrayed by individuals who write poetry. We will explain how people use poems as an expression of emotion and how they use this as a creative outlet to release their anxious feelings. We will try and get a better understanding of what anxiety is, and look out for different symptoms and types for this disorder. 

Mainly we will focus on how poetry is a coping mechanism or a positive outlet for some people suffering from anxiety. Finally, we will discuss a few FAQs based on this topic to get an improved understanding of it.

Poems about anxiety 

People always look for an outlet to distract them or to remove the unsettling feeling of emotions that they might be going through, feelings of anxiety, stress, or even depression. Some may opt for more negative ways to express or deal with such emotions, for instance using drugs, getting into fights, alcoholism, etc. while some people look for a more creative and positive outlet to express these emotions in a healthier manner.

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Anxiety is a mental illness that disrupts an individual’s life, it creates blocks and difficulties in the person’s day to day activities. A person suffering from anxiety has a difficult time trying to communicate their feelings across to the other person, using poems to express what they are feeling could be an easier way of expressing their emotion. 

Poetry can help an individual deal with anxiety and cope with other stresses, and poems are also a good way to explain what anxiety is from the perspective of the person suffering. poems remind us that poetry has always been able to cope with uncertainties, ambiguities, and shades of gray.

Poetry can be a piece of the individual’s self-care plan. After all, reading poems helps press pause on life, focussing their attention on the moment, much like practicing yogic breathing.

What is anxiety?

Anxiety doesn’t always mean being nervous, it’s much more complex. When an individual feels intense, excessive, and persistent worry and fear about everyday situations, it is said to be anxiety, but usually, anxiety is a normal reaction to stressful situations, it is only indicated as an underlying disease when someone feels these intensive emotions everyday disrupting and interfering with their daily life, this could mean they suffer from an anxiety disorder.

Symptoms of anxiety 

The symptoms of anxiety can vary from person to person, everyone experiences anxiety differently. But these are the most common ones seen in people:

• Restlessness
• Fatigue
• Irritability or explosive anger
• Muscle tension
• Increased heartbeat
• Difficulty concentrating
• Sleep disturbances
• Personality changes, such as becoming less social

Different types of anxiety disorders 

There are 7 primary types of anxiety disorders recognized by DSM V

• Phobic disorder of the specific types 
• Social phobia 
• Panic disorders with agoraphobia
• Panic disorders without agoraphobia
• Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD)
• Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

Using creativity as a coping mechanism 

Poetry in some people’s opinion can be the most therapeutic form of writing, which means it can calm the person down while also helping them express how they feel. 

When someone has anxiety, it can sometimes be hard for them to remember that not everything in their life is awful. And it can also be hard for them not to collapse and break down into tears whenever they feel anxious because they don’t want to feel this way anymore.

 Anxiety is different for everyone, but people would have to agree, whether they have anxiety or not, they can benefit from writing poetry at least a little bit.

People can use poetry as an escape, the best times to write, if they want it to be most effective, are when they are feeling anxious. It can also be even more effective if they are having an anxiety attack, to be able to focus on the words rather than the fact that they are in the middle of having an anxiety attack. Or the person can set a time every day to write for 20 or 30 minutes.

Questions may arise about what exactly to write. Should there it be a rhyme or should it incorporate some nice figurative language, or should the person just write freely, with no rules? 

The best thing to do is just write exactly what one might be feeling. Maybe after a little practice, they might end up going more in-depth, but at first, it is important to remember that the only one reading their poetry in them. 

There isn’t any obligation to share the poetry they wrote with anyone, so it shouldn’t worry them about anyone judging their work. People should be able to pour their heart and soul into their poems, so it takes some of that immense weight off of their shoulders.

People should write for themselves and only for themselves. Let poetry do its magic and pull them in with words that will take them away from the world that is making them anxious, drowned deep within the piles of letters, words and stanzas.

When a person is very anxious, poetry can help them communicate better. It can help them express how they feel and help the other people in their life understand what exactly they are going through.

Side Note: I have tried and tested various products and services to help with my anxiety and depression. See my top recommendations here, as well as a full list of all products and services our team has tested for various mental health conditions and general wellness.

Few poems about anxiety 

Here are a few poems about anxiety from the perspectives of people suffering from an anxiety disorder:    

Signed, your mind 

© Emma 

Get dressed, love.

You’re going to be late.

You look at yourself in the mirror,

The one you really hate.

Put it down, love.

It’s caused you so much pain.

You’re going to do damage.

You don’t want to be called insane.

Stand up, love.

Your tears make you weak.

Wipe off that black mascara,

Proof of sadness upon your cheek.

Take your pills, love.

You must try your very best.

Forget about your dizzy spells,

The tightening in your chest.

Chin up, love.

No one can know your thoughts.

You must act like you’re happy

While your heart just sits and rots.

Smile a little, love.

Let me see those pearly whites.

No one has to know

What you thought about all those nights.

Breathe for me, love.

Your pain won’t be forever.

Take my hand, and I’ll take yours.

We’ll get through this together.

Breath

© Tiffaney L. Ganci 

Panic, worry, darkness closing in around me.

These are some of the words I could use to describe my anxiety,

but nothing I can say could speak of its entirety,

as I cry internally thinking I’ve lost my sanity.

Doctors, counselors, saying there’s something wrong with me.

My parents telling me to calm down and stop being so crazy.

But how can I calm down when the world around me

is spinning out of control and I can barely see?

Breathe. You will get through this.

You will get through the sleepless nights,

all the internal fights,

and the days that seem right

when the world hits you with all its might.

Breathe. You will get through this.

I know you think I’m overreacting about the silliest little things,

but to me, those silly little things seem like the doom the world could bring.

Can’t you see, a spilled glass of milk to you can seem like an earthquake to me.

I know it might be hard to understand my anxiety,

but I hope today I have given you some clarity.

So the next time someone is scared and feels like they can’t breathe,

shaking and crying, unable to see,

don’t tell them they’re overreacting; don’t call them crazy.

Help them realize there is more to life than this misery,

and no matter the doubt inside, they will be who they are meant to be.

Breathe. I will get through this.

Because I know I am more than just my anxiety,

and one day I hope to be free of it entirely.

But until then, I will keep telling myself, quietly,

I am stronger than this. I am stronger than my anxiety.

Silent screams 

© Aaron

Can’t you hear my silent screams?

They are so loud they echo in my dreams.

Behind this face that carries a smile

Lies a dark road that goes on mile after mile.

My silent screams have been going on for years,

But it always falls on so many deaf ears.

How can they hear these silent screams in my mind?

They can’t hear my thoughts if I keep telling them I’m fine.

What can I tell them? These silent screams carry no words.

It’s just feelings of sadness and darkness that come in its herds.

How can I explain so people understand this?

It’s like walking around in a suffocating black mist.

It’s holding on to happiness like holding water in your hands.

It just trickles between your fingers and disappears into the sands.

I can’t explain how this feels; it’s so extreme,

So I hold my mouth shut to cover my silent screams.

The monster 

© Olivia M Likens

Dear Anxiety,

When they ask me what I am afraid of,

I lie.

I can never expose you,

never tell the truth about you

for fear of speaking you into existence.

You are my punisher and my captor,

my tormentor, my torturer.

You are the little voice inside of my head

telling me bad, bad things to do to myself,

things I can’t talk about

for fear, I’ll forget who I am and turn into you.

You tell me we are one and the same, but I am not you.

I would never hurt a child the way you have hurt me.

I would never tell a young girl she is unlovable,

or fat,

or ugly,

or crazy,

or worthless.

I would never tell her to carve ugly, terrible words into her body,

to hold a flame to her skin,

until she has burned herself so badly that the pain goes out like a light

and her nerves are dead,

just like she should be.

I don’t know why I listen to you

when you force me to my knees in front of the toilet.

When you send me running around the house in a panic,

searching in vain for a pencil sharpener I haven’t already dismantled.

When you tell me the closest to love

I will ever come is sending naked pictures of myself

to disgusting hunters of young prey.

But I am not afraid of them.

I am afraid of the shadows of my mind

of the twisted and warped reality, I am living in.

And I scream because it is all in my head.

I scream because none of it is real.

I scream because you are clawing your way up my throat,

stealing my voice, gouging out my eyes, eating away at the lining of my stomach,

turning my bones to jello and my hair to dust,

destroying, destroying, destroying, destroying, destroying, destroying.

ENOUGH.

I have had ENOUGH. I am not you.

I never was.

I never will be.

This is only a body, and you are only a feeling, and I will rise above.

I am above this, above you, above my thoughts, above it all.

And I will survive.

And I will love me.

And I will not let go.

Sincerely,

Olivia

FAQs: poems about anxiety 

Conclusion 

In this article, we highlighted poetry based on anxiety and how anxiety is portrayed in poems written by people who suffer from anxiety. We explained how people use poems as a way of expressing emotions and how they use this as a creative outlet to release their anxious feelings. 

We got a better understanding of what anxiety is, and looked at the different symptoms and types of this disorder, we focused mainly on how poetry is a coping mechanism or a positive outlet for some people suffering from anxiety.

If you like reading, check the best fiction and spiritual books for anxiety.

If you have any questions regarding anxiety feel free to get in touch with us.

References 

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/the-monster-17

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/silent-screams-7

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/signed-your-mind

https://www.familyfriendpoems.com/poem/breathe-7

https://www.bustle.com/p/7-poems-to-help-you-deal-with-anxiety-34082