Am I anxious or just crazy???

JoshQLD7 · ‎30-06-2016

Hi,

I wasn't sure to put this in the Young People forum or here, please let me know if I should move it 🙂

I know nothing can help but I thought I'd post here to get someone else's opinion of what's wrong with me. I'm 15 turning 16 and am in Year 12.

Sometimes (usually 1-2 times a day) I get really... I don't know. My heart beats faster and I start panting. I don't know if I'm either really worried or really stressed. The best way to describe it is that I feel like I'm going to explode inside. Usually I have no idea or reason to feel this way. If I can, I go talk to someone, anyone, so I can get away from the feeling before it gets worse.

When it does get worse (often late at night), my chest starts hurting (mildly) and the feeling goes from stress/worry to dread/terror/panic. But I don't know why or what I'm terrified of, and that makes it even worse! I'm yelling "NO" and "Stop" to myself inside my mind. I want to throw myself into bed and cry, but I can't cry because I'm not actually sad or upset. I feel seriously messed up.

I know thinking of my health often starts it off. I have a few health problems. I always seem to blow them out of proportion, googling for hours, etc. Its not always health though, sometimes it's something that should make me happy. For instance, Mum coming home from a week-away trip; I should be happy (and I am) but I get the feeling and have no idea why. Or watching a movie (that I've seen before), and for no apparent reason I start worrying. Even thinking of going for a jog outside sets it off.

Deep breathing helps a bit, as well as loud music. As I mentioned earlier, the best thing I can do is distract myself by talking to someone.

I just don't know. Is it stress? It is worry? Is this anxiety or just me going crazy?

You've probably never seen so many "I"'s in a post! Sorry! Its late and I'm tired. Thank-you for any advice in advance.

Josh.

P.S. It's not anything to do with school.

Dwwmills · ‎30-06-2016

Hi Josh.

It’s brave of you to post and it’s good that you have come on here to talk about things.

What you describe could well be anxiety but the best thing you could do would be to book into your doctor as they will eliminate other possible causes as well.

And you are right about googling things sometimes if you weren’t worried about things before you start you definitely are after. Best to give this a miss and see your GP.

It’s good that you’re aware of this happening and that you are doing something about it.

Good luck

Dean

Poodlejewel · ‎01-07-2016

Sounds like anxiety and panic attacks. I have just started having them to only mine seem to come out of the blue when I'm not worried even . You are doing the right thing by talking yourself out of them or occupying your mind. There are heaps of things on YouTube i use. Guided thought meditation, music, Tapping meridian points and get on the phone to a understanding friend and talk it out. If you are worried about your health the best thing would be go to your doctor and get a check up. Mine started when my brother dropped dead and couldn't be revived, 3 people in my family have died if the same thing and 3 more have been diagnosed with the same thing so I was major stressing every time I felt sick my time was up. Although some of my tests were inconclusive I have a better understanding of my health. Get a good gp and put yourself at ease. Chest pain is normal with a panic attack as is fast heavy breathing. Good luck you are so young to have this burden.

romantic_thi3f · ‎05-07-2016

Hi JoshQLD7,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for reaching out.

First of all mate I just want to congratulate you. Dealing with anxiety and worry and feeling like you're crazy is not easy! So I'm glad that you decided to post on here.

You mentioned that you had some health issues; can you share with us what they are? Sometimes it can help just to get the all clear from your GP - that way you know for sure that what you are dealing with is anxiety, and not anything else. Dr Google can often make us feel a thousand times worse, so stick with GP's and specialists that know their stuff.

If it is anxiety, though- that's okay and it's super common. You're not crazy. But the funny thing about anxiety is that it doesn't always follow a pattern or a trigger - we don't always know what 'sets it off'. Sometimes anxiety can happen when we're having fun or hanging out with friends. That doesn't mean that it's not normal - that's just how it works sometimes. What matters though, is what happens when the feeling comes on.

Learning some techniques to deal with the anxiety can help both lessen the severity of the episodes and stop it escalating from stress/worry to terror/panic.

It sounds like you've started to do that already with talking to someone, the music and the deep breathing. Do you notice a difference in your heart racing when you do the deep breathing? How about the chest pain?

One thing I think would really help is to try to avoid staying 'NO' and 'STOP'. Anxiety is a super frustrating and scary thing sometimes, but telling it 'NO' is like telling a kid they can't have candy. They still want it. What if, instead of saying 'NO' you said 'Ok, here comes anxiety' - and let it happen. Ride it through. You have been through the worst of it; that feeling of wanting to cry and explode, so you know what will happen. Tell yourself that you are safe, and that there's nothing to be afraid of. You don't need to question why it's there - just allow it to be.

I also encourage you to keep up finding activities that help you stay calm; maybe you'd like to talk to a counsellor, but if not - mindfulness and meditation (like the Smiling Mind app - this would be great at night when nobody's around), colouring (there's a few city and animal ones that are cool) or even drawing and doodling, muscle tension and release exercises.. Anything that you find works for you.