Wanted to say hi?

[Guest_294]

Hello, I am an 18 year old university student, in my first semester of a law degree. I wanted to give a general introduction to myself since none of the other forums seemed appropriate...

I get really anxious a lot of the time, and more recently I’ve found myself having panic attacks that physically overwhelm me a lot more than they used to. Particularly, I find myself short of breath for a long time after the stressor has been removed. In addition, and this is why I joined today, i found myself this morning having an intense panic attack, unlike anything I had experienced before. I was hyperventilating and feeling very emotional. I then found myself having the terrifying experience wherein I felt like I hadn’t experienced the past 5 minutes of my life if that makes any sense at all. It felt as though I had heard it like a story from someone else. This of course heightened my panic even further and I was left feeling terrified and upset for the rest of my day.

I recently entered a new relationship with someone I really like. He is supportive and caring and we were friends long before we decided to move to this next stage. Whilst I know he cares though, he doesn’t really understand it and just tells me it’ll be ok without really recognising the issue. My parents are the same - they tell me I’m feeling anxious and to calm down, and recently that I was being silly. I don’t know how to talk to these people in my life about this issue.

I organised today to meet with a psychologist at my university and am really hopeful that they will give me an insight into what is actually the issue here and maybe that will make it easier to talk to my parents?

That’s all I wanted to say. Hopefully being in these forums might be an extra support? Thanks guys.

[Lici]

Hi Mills!

Welcome to the forum! I'm new too and I've found it to be a really welcoming place so far.

Anxiety can be super scary! I'm also at university (3rd year mature age student) and found the first semester really anxiety provoking, have you got a disability access plan in place? It's one of the first things I did when I started and it's been really helpful!

I found the psychologists and disability support people super supportive at uni, they want you to do your best in your studies so will always be there to help! I know my uni has student support services that can help if you are having a hard time with assignments etc, so I can't stress enough to make sure you know where all of the support services are etc, utilising them can reduce so much anxiety!

Did you have anxiety before starting uni at all? I'm only wondering because if not, starting university may be the trigger. There's a huge expectation and pressure put on you when you're coming into uni so it can be a really anxious time. I think the psychologist will definitely help you get to the bottom of it which will help you explain things to your parents.

It sucks that your parents were like that, I think a lot of people don't know how to react to mental health issues so they tend to either brush it off or say things that are well meant but aren't super helpful.

Anyway, I hope you stick around. Feel free to respond and have a chat, I'll always reply as soon as I can! Let me know how the psychologist appointment goes as well! Good luck with your studies!

Lici

[Guest_294]

Hi Lici,

thank you so much for the quick reply! For now I don’t have any disability access plan in place - I mostly just want to get an idea of whether I should be concerned or not. I’ve had a really bad day today, but recently have been so happy. My start to uni has been amazing - I have great friends, a lovely new boyfriend, and am doing fairly well in my classes. I have been happier than I’ve ever been over the past few months and just recently have experience these feelings of panic. I know theyre induced by events like getting marks back so I don’t want to be too hasty to think there’s a deeper issue here. I wonder if maybe I am just feeling anxious cause of uni. I did have anxiety attacks last year during the HSC as well and was socially struggling the whole year with friends who made me feel terrible about myself. Honestly I don’t want to make myself more panicked by thinking I have an anxiety disorder when I don’t....this year has been so great and I’m worried that I am concerned over nothing...

[Lici]

Hi Mills,

I'm glad you replied! One thing with the disability access plan, you can have one even without an anxiety disorder diagnosis. From my understanding of them, they're there for any mental health concerns (so even if you only have anxiety over marks and exams etc) I've found mine useful for exams especially because I get an alternate room which is smaller than the main one and therefore less anxiety producing and I also can get extensions when needed without having to get doctors certificates etc.

I think seeing the uni psychologist will be really helpful for you, they'll be able to let you know if things like DAPs etc will be a good idea. Either way, just keep it in mind for the future, the disability advisors who organise them are always available throughout the year, so if you ever think it might be a good idea you can always make an appointment to talk to someone.

Waiting to get marks back is the worst! Especially if you're like me and have high expectations of yourself. I get anxious hitting the submit button on an assignment as well... It's like a sudden "oh god what if I haven't done enough?!" Moment that passes soon after it's submitted.

I'm glad to hear that things have been going well for you at uni so far! It really is a great experience. It sounds to me like you're proactive enough to know when you'll need help and not let it get to the point where it affects your mental health too much which is really important.

Let me know how the appointment goes!

Lici