I hear this a lot, and it bothers me to no end. it is incredibly frustrating when people use this tired and uninformed argument. it's a fundamental ignorance of what anxiety is. they seem to willfully confuse people's everyday worrying about their career or something similar, with clinical anxiety. the former is rational, the latter is irrational and excessive. clinical anxiety is debilitating, impair your quality of life, impact your mental health, damage your relationships or impede you from forming new ones, etc. one is in the DSM-V, and one isn't.


 I've also been accused of "chasing the dragon" when I say that I'm on medication for anxiety, even if it's not controlled substance, although that really shouldn't matter. it's maddening. I could forgive them if not for the smug and judgemental overtones that usually accompany it. it's basically being shamed for having a mental health issue they don't understand, and they dismiss your mental health issue. sometimes I think maybe they don't intend to be demeaning, and it's a teachable moment, but it's hard to not get angry because it's so common, and I feel like they should know better.


sorry for the rant. my question is, how do *you* deal with this when it comes up?