Hi,
I'm new to this so thought I'd give it a try as per my doctor's advice. I'm 22 and in my 5th year of a double law degree, I have always suffered from stress. I've always been a 'worrier' however in the last 2 years I've seen a shift away from worrying. I feel very low all the time, I worry to a point that it is debilitating, about anything and everything. Strangely I am an incredibly outgoing person so I find it hard for others to understand my personal struggles. For the last year I've had trouble sleeping. Sometimes to the point of maybe 1 hr solid sleep a night for around a week during really stressful periods. This month I have cried daily, I feel as though I have accomplished nothing (most of my friends are in full time work, and I know logically this is due to my degree but I can't shake this feeling). I stay up almost all night watching the clock, ironically worrying about how bad my day will be as I haven't slept enough to the extent it keeps me up all night. I also meticulously track everything about my days to try and alleviate my symptoms (from exercise, to water intake, sleep, if i've made my bed, tidied my room, taken my vitamins, etc.).
I finally had a snap and I went to see my doctor. I told her everything, how overwhelmed I feel, and she diagnosed me with anxiety and also prescribed me with some low-strength anti-depressants to hopefully help me sleep. I am really upset as I spoke to my mother about this (she already swayed me from seeing my doctor because 'everybody has trouble sleeping'). Her response was "That is very personal and antidepressants can be viewed negatively and misjudged. Nothing to be ashamed of but people are judgmental". This has made me even more stressed as I always have had incredibly close and supportive friends, and now she's made me anxious about people seeing me differently. Has anyone had similar experiences to this?
