Anxiety: don't know what to do

[musicastellae]

Hi everyone. I'm new here and a little nervous about posting.

I have always been getting stressed about every little thing for as long as I can remember, however I have only recently discovered that I have anxiety and that the way I have been feeling the past few years is no where near normal. Unfortunately moving into year 12 it only seems to be increasing. Now every day at some point I will feel panicked out of control. Despite the fact that I do pretty well at school I will be awake all night worrying about test results and expectations to the point I feel sick and my heart is beating so fast.

When I was younger I had a habit of pushing my nails into my hand as a way of distraction, never bad or serious. But now with the increase of anxiety the pain needs to be increased to match and I am worried that it is getting worse and will continue.

I don't know who to talk to about it and don't know what to do.

Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks. 🙂

[MarkJT]

musicastellae, well done for posting your thoughts. The BB forum is chockers with people of all ages that are travelling their own respective mental health journeys. The good news is that you can control your anxiety.

To control my anxiety i practice mindfulness. Every morning i listen to an app which gives me guided exercises to do which i find helpful as my mind races to much and its to hard to concentrate without the app. There are a good range of mindfulness apps out there. Headspace and Smiling Mind are two that i use.

The youth of today (which i am not one off!!) have a tonne of pressure on them and you are in this category. There is a specific space for the younger generation, see link below.

https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/online-forums/young-people

In this area you will find so many people of your generation that are very open about their journeys and will be able to give you some really good advice as they are going through the same thing.

I would encourage you to learn to breath. I know this sounds of kind silly but good deep controlled breathing will settle your racing mind and other anxiety symptoms once you get good at it. There are also apps that can help you learn how to do this.

If you want to have an actual conversation about it, be sure to give the BB help line a ring on 1300 224 636. Trained people are there to help you so please do not hesitate to contact them if you want or need.

Post any questions you want, that's what the forum is for and we are so very happy to help where we can.

Cheers

Mark.

[Pixie15]

Hello musicastellae,

Thanks for sharing how you are feeling. I hope you are still checking in for replies. I suffer some social anxiety and when I posted my first post here I had not done anything like this before and it was very difficult.

My son has panic attacks and anxiety like you. When he was going to school there was not so much help from things like the forum here but I did what I could even though I did not really understand. He did make it through his HSC and has gone on with further study.

I am hoping you have at least one parent who you can speak to about this. Maybe have a look at the information on the site with them about anxiety and panic attacks and talk about wether you need to see a doctor. A doctor may be able to refer you to a therapist to help work out some ways to challenge your thinking and deal with your worrying. One thing that was suggested to me was that I have a worry time of day. Limiting the amount I worried rather than trying to avoid worrying completely.

The difficulty with anxiety I think is that the more I give in to anxious behaviours the more anxious I become.

My best suggestion is to try to do something you love every day. I like to listen to music and eat ice-cream.

Hope you keep posting,

Pixie.

[BballJ]

Hi Musicastellae,

Firstly welcome to the forums, good on you for posting, it takes a lot of strength to post on a public forum so good on you.

Your anxiety definitely runs with the stresses of doing year 12, that is a common one but it seems it's a lot deeper than that and as you said you have been dealing with it for years. I was diagnosed officially with anxiety this year however it dates back to over 10 years ago when it started (I am now 28) So i understand where you are coming from.

Have you ever been to your GP to start talking about seeing a psychologist? They are such wonderful help and i only started this year but I wish i could of started a lot earlier in my life, just to have it under control. It may be an option you could look at, with your parents of course.

A lot of anxiety as Mark said above is controlling it, mindfullness is a good one, one I am not yet good at, hopefully I can one day, add that to my "Goals to complete" list but I am the king of distraction, I use music, TV, friends to distract myself from my anxiety, currently it works but i know i need more tools to help it, one my psychologist is helping me with.

Please feel free to post back as much as you wish, we are always here to talk.

My best for you.

Jay

[musicastellae]

Thanks so much, the support on this site is overwhelming.

I haven't seen my GP. Up till now I was determined to figure it out by myself but I am starting to think that isn't an option anymore. I have always been unsure about talking to parents, I don't want them to worry.

Just before some big exams at school I had a bit of a meltdown and one of my friends that had been through similar issues took me to see a councillor. The only problem was that they just thought I was nervous about exams and I wasn't sure how to tell them it was more than that. They thought I was ok after the exams and I didn't know how to tell them otherwise.

Who is the best person to talk to about this? Should I try to talk more to people at school or to my parents?

Thanks for helping:)

[BballJ]

Hi again,

I would definitely be talking to your parents, they would rather know than not know. If my kid was suffering, I'd want to do everything I could to help them. It isn't an easy conversation, I only told my dad this year what i was truly going through and I was surprised at his reaction, he rang me every day to see if I had to been to the doctors to get a referral to see a psychologist. It can be hard talking to people at school sometimes, because year 12 generally comes with a lot of stress and they may not understand it runs deeper than that for you.

It's a journey to recovery Anxiety, one that isn't easy, but stick with it and you will get there.

My best for you.

Jay

[MarkJT]

As a parent I would absolutely want to hear that my child was going through anxiety. That way I can put controls around how to help out. Give extra space where needed, help ground if needed and just generally help out. Taking that leap of faith and telling people the truth is hard to do but once you have done it, it becomes much easier.

Although it is admirable that you want to work things out by yourself, think of it this way, if you had a decent physical injury you would seek assistance for it immediately. There is no difference with mental matters. Go speak to your GP and get a referral to a psych. They will be able to help you. If you feel that you are not "clicking" with that psych, see a different one. Again, same as a GP, you need to have one that you can establish trust with.

As with BballJ, mindfulness is really good but keep at it, takes practice. Like anything else, you have to practice to get better.

The best news is that you are going really well in posting and engaging people in the forums. Shows that you are buying into your own health. Great stuff!!

Cheers

Mark.

[Sherlock_Holmes]

Hey! This is the first post I've written on this website and I thought that the support was amazing. I myself am an anxiety sufferer as it runs in my family. I've been to a psychiatrist and whatnot and it did help. I'm also on medication so that helps as well. We all have our own things when it comes to anxiety (mine is that I'm afraid that I will vomit in public and get so worked up about it that I sometimes do). It can be mortifying and terrifying at the same time.

I want you to know that there is help everywhere and to see a professional if you haven't already as it is a treatable condition. We are always there for you and are here to offer support when needed. Try to enjoy year twelve even though it's stressful. One thing I learned about anxiety and school problems was to try and not let the anxiety steal all the fun that school can offer. This did help me to relax as I became less paranoid with test results and marks. I've managed to find a way to still do well but have fun at the same time!

All the best,

Sherlock Holmes.

😄

[musicastellae]

Thank you so much. Everyone's comments have been so helpful and has given me the courage to talk to my parents for the first time in the years that this anxiety has been an issue in my life. They were fine and are finding someone that I can talk to. It's a huge weight off my chest and I wouldn't have had the courage to do so if not for all the support.

So again, thank you:)

[MarkJT]

Well isn't this the best piece of news anyone could get. That is just so brilliant that you spoke to your parents and are well on way to a healthy outcome.

Well done you! We may have encouraged you, but YOU were the one that worked up the courage - so so proud of what you have done.

Smiles all around!!!

Mark.