Brittany Nichole Morefield is a 23-year-old makeup artist living in Nashville, Tennessee.
She’s married, and has a beautiful baby boy. She has over 26,000 followers on Facebook.
On the outside, her life looks picture perfect. But there’s something Brittany wants the world to know: she, like millions of others – including two million Australians every year – struggles with anxiety.
A Facebook post Brittany wrote about the “raw and real” realities of living with anxieties is now going viral, having been shared over 420,000 times on Facebook.
"Anxiety isn't just having a hard time catching your breath. Anxiety is waking up at 3am from a dead sleep because your heart is racing," Brittany wrote.
"Anxiety is breaking out in a rash for no reason. Anxiety is stressing over things that may or my not be real. Anxiety is questioning your faith, how could my creator allow me to feel this way!?
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"Anxiety is calling your sister 3 hours before she gets up for work, in hopes she'll answer so you can get your mind off the attack. Anxiety is a 2am shower. Anxiety is your mood changing in a matter of minutes. Anxiety is uncontrollable shaking and twitching. Anxiety is crying, real and painful tears.
"Anxiety is nausea. Anxiety is crippling. Anxiety is dark. Anxiety is fear. Anxiety is worry. Anxiety is physically and emotionally draining."
After sharing her realities, Brittany had one other thing she wanted people to know: that your feelings, however unjustified or unusual compared to others, still matter.
"Just because you're bothered by something others aren't, it doesn't make you crazy or worthless," she shared.
"Some of the most successful people in life have anxiety. This is not your fault. This is not the end. You are strong. You are intelligent. You are brave. You are worthy."
According to beyondblue, anxiety is the most common mental health condition in Australia, with one in four people experiencing anxiety at some stage in their life.
More than 58,000 people have commented on Brittany's post, many sharing their own experiences with mental illness.
"People just don't seem to understand what "Anxiety" is, and you've explained it well, thank you for sharing this. It helps," one person wrote.
"Thank you for this it's help me understand [I'm not] the only one (sic)," another shared.
If you are struggling with anxiety, click here for a list of helpful articles.
If you or someone you know needs help you can call Lifeline on 131 114 or Beyondblue 1300 224 636.