Teenager: Stress, worrying, anxiety and depression

[Andrew578]

Hey Guys, this is my first thread.

I'm 16 years old, for the past two years I have had a lot of problems and school, home and socially. I struggle with all of these factors and for this reason i have developed an eating disorder now. I get really stressed about school and always worrings, stressing about studying and if i'm not studying i feel guilty. Whenever I go out with friends I never enjoy myself like before and I always get anxious and worry about everything especially when it comes to food. I am super skinny at 49kg and haven't grown an inch since year 7 (always on my mind, everyone else is way taller than me and bigger) anyway so i started going to the gym recently, and have developed a huge interest in the gym (been going consistently 5-6 days a week for a couple months. However I haven't seen good muscle gains due to the fact I am not eating enough which comes back to my eating disorder. It's a vicious cycle I stress about school ect then I start stressing about food and then this leads to poor training in the gym no muscle gains and just the cycle continues. I don't know what to do. I am always unhappy never smiling never talking, i am always tired and lethargic.

Could anyone please recommend some tips or anything please. Thank you

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Andrew578,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for being here.

I'm sorry that you're struggling and it sounds like the eating disorder is kind of at the core of what's happening. Not eating enough would definitely be contributing to not gaining muscles at the gym, as well as making you tired and lethargic, and probably making a big difference to your mood as well (our mood drops when we don't have enough to eat).

Can I ask what sort of support you are getting for your eating disorder?

[Andrew578]

well i was seeing someone but i have stopped. My eating disorder is currently not as bad and i am eating much more than before.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Andrew578,

I'm glad it's not as bad as what it was before and that you're eating more - I take it that it means he/she was helpful? Have you ever thought about going back?

[Andrew578]

No, haven't really. Feel bad for my parents because it was a lot of money

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Andrew578,

Ah, okay. I think mental health is a pretty important investment though 🙂

One thing you might want to think about is Headspace. They offer free counselling for people between 15-25. Here is their website if you want to check it out -

www.headspace.org.au

[Matches]

Hi Andrew,

I'd recommend eating energy-dense foods, including protein and good fats, some bodybuilders eat as much as 2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight, so around 100 grams for you. For example, to get that amount of protein you would need to eat about 400 grams (weighed before cooking) of meat over the entire day.

Have you had your hormone levels checked by your doctor? Perhaps you may need to see an endocrinologist, they can prescribe hormones if necessary.

Hope this helps 🙂