22/03/2026
I used to think anxiety was just a word people used when they were overthinking. Something small. Something you could ignore. I even believed I had felt it before but if I did, it never stayed long enough for me to notice.
Until one night.
It started quietly. I was lying in bed, scrolling through social media, watching videos about different illnesses. At first, it was just curiosity. But as the clock crept closer to 11 PM, something shifted. A thought slipped into my mind What if I’m sick?
That single question didn’t leave.
When I turned off my phone and closed my eyes, my body was tired, but my mind refused to rest. Thoughts piled on top of each other, fast and loud. My heart felt different. My breathing felt wrong. Every small sensation in my body suddenly meant something terrible.
My eyes were closed, but it didn’t feel like darkness. It felt alive. Images flickered and moved as if I was still watching videos, as if my brain refused to shut off. I didn’t understand what was happening. I just knew I couldn’t stop it.
Minutes turned into hours.
Hours turned into a full night.
Then another.
I stayed awake for two days and twelve hours.
Time felt unreal. My body felt heavy, but my mind was racing, trapped in a loop of fear I couldn’t escape. It was like being stuck in a nightmare but I was fully awake.
That’s when I decided to see a doctor.
I was scared the next night would be the same. I was afraid I would lie there again, watching invisible thoughts, unable to sleep, unable to stop. But something changed. Maybe it was the decision to ask for help, or maybe my body had reached its limit.
That night, I slept.
Not perfectly. Not peacefully. But enough.
It was my first time being awake for almost three days straight, and it left something behind a quiet understanding. Anxiety isn’t always loud in the beginning. Sometimes it whispers. Sometimes it disguises itself as simple worry. And if you ignore it long enough, it can grow into something overwhelming.
I still think about that night.
I still remember how strange it felt how real the fear was.
And sometimes, before I sleep, there’s a small part of me that wonders, What if it happens again?
But now, I know what it is.
And somehow, that makes it a little less scary.
