Anxious Andy: Overcoming a Lifetime of Challenges to Gain One Million Followers

When Andy Horner was young, his neighbors would 'jokingly' propose they set their Alsatians on him as a means of forcing him to attend school. His awful comments missed the crucial reason why he was absent: his crippling anxiety.

Currently, Andy is more popularly known as "Anxious Andy," a mental health advocate with over a million subscribers on his Facebook. His authentic and heartwarming posts about his experience living with anxiety have profoundly impacted thousands— during a period when close to half the UK population was reporting having high anxiety during the first lockdown, his message was desperately needed.

A Difficult Start

Andy has started with a life story that we all can empathize with. Showing signs of anxiety from an early age, he was adopted at just 6 weeks old. Although, in the 1980s, very few people recognized mental health struggles in children; instead, the mere withdrawal from activities was perceived the wrong way as ‘naughty’ or ‘disobedient.’

The beginning of Andy not being able to fit in began during primary school. He was an outsider like Julie, but the kind dinner ladies did try to help him. Unfortunately, he does not mention the other children being friendly towards him. He had no friends during his formative years. Whenever his mother prepared a birthday celebration, only Julie would come to celebrate with him, which was quite ironic considering he had no friends. As a child, the closest thing to a companion he had was an imaginary friend who was perfect in every way and would never hurt or let him down. 

Challenging A New School System 

To help him, his parents decided to transfer him and his brother to private school. However, the entrance examinations were too much for Andy, and he ended up failing twice. After that, he was enrolled in a different private school with no exam requirements, which was only slightly better. 

Even though Andy did manage to excel in sports, which got him a few friends, his academic life was a disaster waiting to happen. Simple questions like “What’s 2 x 2?” gave him a crippling stage fright and made him freeze completely. This would lead to merciless bullying by his peers which made him wracked with anxiety to the point of him soiling himself in class. His solution was to sprint to the bathroom as soon as the lesson ended while praying no one saw him.

As his brother excelled, Andy fell further behind. Parents' nights became events to be loathed, as every teacher kindly offered the same explanation for his dismal grades: he simply wouldn’t pay attention, which shattered what little self-esteem he had.

In the end, the private school did ask Andy to leave, feeling remorseful that they were taking his parents’ money when he was having such a hard time. Yet again, Andy had to begin from scratch.

New School, Same Issues

With the public school system, Andy’s parents tried for a third time to support him by booking him two “buddies.” Sadly, this just made Andy feel more like a burden.

Finding friendships proved just as difficult as learning new material. He still dreaded the thought of being called on by his teachers. Andy’s fear started to reach concerning levels, forcing him to barricade himself in his room and, in more extreme cases, the bathroom, or even climb out the window to escape to the nearby woods.

Even during the dragged-out school sessions, he would often escape through the fire exits.

That same year, neighbors stunningly decided to use their Alsatians as makeshift fetch dogs to “straighten the boy out.”

Anxious Andy recalls one disturbing memory in which he was chased from the woods by two men who he thought were going to kill him. The people who were trying to save him from social services were shouting, “We’re taking you away!”

Even with the connections Andy was able to form, he left school without any GCSEs, a sense of self-worth, and mental health issues that were never identified. 

Adult Challenges 

With the onset of adulthood, Andy was able to socially integrate to some extent and form relationships; however, the war within him did not end. 

In my twenties I got my first girlfriend, which was also my first abusive relationship. If Andy tried to go hang out with friends, he would get beaten up. While eventually escaping this relationship, he ended up in another one just as toxic. 

Trapped in harmful relationships due to low self-worth.

That second relationship resulted in a marriage with two kids but was also rife with years of mental and physical abuse. After the marriage ended, Andy lost contact with the children as the ex-wife turned them against him. 

Supported by his mother until her death, this led to devastating grief, followed by isolation. With no support, Andy reached a harrowing low and tried to end his life.

A Crucial Shift

Surviving one of life's lowest points gave Anxious Andy a new outlook and purpose.

He began speaking about his issues, and he openly advocated for the improvement of mental health care. He would not allow shame to determine the narrative of his life anymore.

A Global Reach

Andy’s experiences have echoed through the lives of many and can be felt through his Facebook page and videos, where he encourages people to strive for an anxiety-free living, something they should take pride in.

Since Andy was a child, society’s recognition of mental health has improved, but there remains an enormous gap that needs to be filled.

Voices like his — unfiltered, authentic, and powerfully compassionate — help shift the narrative for so many who are silently suffering.

With his over one million followers, “Anxious Andy” has changed his pain-filled past into a source of hope for many.