@snowmachine I have overcome anxiety on two occassions in my life and so know that what you say is absolute truth! Unfortunately, as others have said in the comments, people with anxiety and depression don't often realise that they have the power within to overcome it.
Some even believe it's a disease or a part of their genes which means they are stuck with it for life. I don't blame them, it's the message that the medical profession and pharma industry has spread - that only meds will cure you because it's biological, a chemical imbalance.
I try to educate people about it on my blog but some people don't want to hear it because they feel like they are being blamed, or worse, they have become so used to having anxiety that it becomes part of who they are and they are afraid of losing their identity.
Eckhart Tolle writes really well about this in The Power of Now.
Thanks for the post :)
I think mental illness awareness is a great thing, but trying to equate anxiety to something like cancer is such a false equivalency, and it makes it seem like it's something that's outside of our control. I'm really glad that you related - I too have had terrible anxiety.