Anxiety??

[Blak3]

Hi everyone

I think I have anxiety.

It seems to be gradually getting worse and more frequent. Does anyone have any advice?

[ahw309]

Hi Blak3, welcome!!

Have you looked around the forum or Beyond Blue website? There is a lot of information you can read to learn more about anxiety, and quite a few tips in helping to manage it. There is also the k10 test for depression or anxiety which you can do if you would like. Just looking around at the information here would be a good start.

I would also strongly recommend seeing a GP or counsellor about how you are feeling if you can, especially as you are saying it has been becoming worse and more frequent.

Do you know of anything that has happened recently which may have triggered these feelings of anxiety to worsen? You are more than welcome to continue posting and share more of your story, as it will be easier for us to help you if we know a little more, but only if you feel comfortable in doing so. 🙂

I hope this helps a bit and best wishes to you!

[Blak3]

Hi

I have had a look around and taken the test. It seems like I may in fact be right about having anxiety but I do not wish to jump to conclusions yet.

I haven't really told anyone yet about this whole thing and it has been on and off for months. As a teen male it is harder to talk about.

I'm not sure what specifically may have triggered it to worsen. Just a lot of stress. And the anxious feelings can lead to me feeling depressed which just goes in a loop until a friend sort of gets me out of it without them really realizing. So I'm honestly not sure but as I said I can see it getting a bit more frequent.

Thanks for your advice

[ahw309]

Hi again Blak3,

I also find that anxiety can lead to depressed feelings or vice versa, and can start a bad cycle, and often for me there is no specific trigger for when these feelings worsen. Sometimes it might be a combination of different stresses, sometimes it all just seems to come out of the blue!

It's good you've looked around and taken the test. Even if you don't have an anxiety disorder as such, what you are feeling is impacting your quality of life at least to a point where you have posted on the forums (well done for posting btw!), so I think it would be really beneficial for you to talk to someone about this. Keeping these feelings to yourself doesn't help, and can often make things worse.

I know how difficult it is to talk to someone, especially for you with society's expectations for teen males making it harder, as you've said. It took me a really long time to reach out for help, and it probably would've taken a lot longer if the few teachers who noticed a change in me hadn't encouraged me to. But it was definitely worth it and although I still have quite a bit to go, I am now able to manage my anxiety a lot better than before!

Allow yourself to take a bit of time if you really don't feel ready to talk yet, but just remember that needing help doesn't mean you are weak, or there is something wrong with you. Asking for help is actually a great display of strength and courage.

[Blak3]

Thanks for all your help

I think I'm going to try working towards telling someone. May I ask who you told first?

[ahw309]

Hi Blak3,

Sorry for the late reply, how have you been going? You're very welcome, and it's good to hear you want to work towards telling someone!!

I saw on another thread of yours that a friend asked about depression/anxiety. Did you decide what to say, and how did it go? You should be careful as so many people just don't understand, but I think the best thing to do is be honest, and say you're not sure what you are experiencing, but you are not feeling the best right now. The fact that they asked specifically seems to indicate they have some knowledge or maybe experience with mental illness. It also depends on the person and your relationship with them, but true friends will stay with you and support you, even if they don't understand. Be careful though 🙂

Who did I tell first? Well with my social anxiety, I always just thought of it as part of my personality as I've had it all my life and thought it was normal. (now I know it's not though haha) With depression, for about 1-2 years I hid how I felt really well, especially as I am a very private person. But obviously that didn't make things any better, I got a lot worse and people started to notice. A few of my teachers approached me and asked if I was ok. At first I just said I was fine, but eventually I started skipping classes because of panic attacks/when my depression really got to me, and my grades started dropping.

So I didn't approach anyone first, it was others who asked me. What I learnt from this experience was that despite how difficult it is to reach out, it is so worth it, and I wish I had done so earlier. Talking to my teachers, being caught for skipping class, etc. then finally led me to seeing my school counsellor and GP for help, and my family and school are so extremely supportive of me! I realise now I could've received that support earlier, and could've addressed the problems when they were smaller!

Sorry if I was rambling, I hope something helps. All the best to you!