Young college student who has been experiencing gradually more intense anxiety

[everyonedeserveslovethoug]

Hi!

I'm a young college student who has been experiencing gradually more intense anxiety as I've been getting older. I describe it as "waves" because it comes and goes so unexpectedly but I've been having symptoms like stress habits (picking at my sores, sorry sounds gross!! I wear makeup), weight gain, sudden urge to cry, impatience, indecisiveness, accelerated heart rate, bingeing habits and discomfort in large social situations.

If you 'knew' me, you would have never ever guessed that I go through this 🙂 I try keep it on the down low but it's starting to get a bit much and I want to feel healthy again. I'm not ready to open up to many people, and the few that I have, I don't want to bug them about it all of the time.

What do you guys suggest I should do to help / what should I do? I've booked an appointment with a psych but I've tried it before and it hasn't made a super large impact so far. I want to take things into my own hands as well 🙂

Lots of love to you all

xxx

[Doolhof]

Hi EDLT,

Hope you don't mind the abbreviation! Welcome to the community here. I'm not sure if you have just joined up fresh or if you may have already looked around the forum and Beyond Blue site.

Thanks for sharing how you are feeling. Many people suffer from anxiety and stress in many different forms. For me, I become short of breathe, really angry because I loose a sense of control and feel fearful. I have heart palpitations and feel like I need to escape from the situation I am in.

Do you have a Dr whom you have shared all of this with?

You mentioned you have made a psychologist appointment. To make the most of that appointment, I would write down exactly how you are feeling. I find it easier to write stuff then to try to express myself verbally.

I'd also like to suggest that you read some of the information on this site. There are some wonderful resources available in the GET SUPPORT, THE FACTS, WHO DOES IT AFFECT and also on the various posts under the Anxiety section.

Amongst family and friends, see if there are one or two people who are willing to listen and support you through all of this.

Are there counsellors at college you could talk to?

Instead of picking at those sores, I have heard that some people have an elastic band around their wrist and they ping that instead of doing more destructive stuff. Just make sure it is not too tight to start with!

Deep breathing, exercise, trying to eat more healthily, maybe writing down how you are feeling, all of these things can help. Just take one step at a time and try not to conquer the world all at once.

There are also some cheerful threads here in the Social Zone section you might to look at.

Hope some of this helps.

You sound like a person who enjoys knowing you are loved and cared for, so I am sending you a huge cyber hug full of hope and comfort.

Cheers, from Mrs. Dools

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi everyonedeserveslovethough,

Welcome to the forums! Thanks so much for reaching out to us. Can I just say that I am so glad you are taking this into your own hands - from your post you sound so proactive and I'm so glad that you've been able to book an appointment with your psych. It can be so hard to do but you've done the right thing!

I do hope that your appointment with your psych goes well - it can be hard to find one that you like and click with but in my experience I've found that no two are ever the same! So fingers crossed the one you see is the one that you like.

I've found that often with anxiety there's a trigger for all these behaviours; you mentioned that you were picking, crying, heart racing - do you ever know that it's going to come on? Is there something that happens beforehand? and what happens when the feeling does arise - if you are ever in a situation where crying, picking or binging isn't an option what happens? I know these questions are super uncomfortable but in there lies the key to your anxiety 🙂 Learning to know both the triggers and the thought patterns can be super helpful in being able to manage it.

One thing that might help too is trying to write these things down - whether it's a journal or even just in the 'notes' section of your phone. You may find that after a while you can recognise the things that you're saying to yourself or the things that happen that make you react this way.

Give yourself lots of compassion and self-care; you've totally got this!

[Dream2wish]

Hi Everyonedeserveslovethough,

I know what you're going through. I've been feeling the exact same thing since coming to university. But there's something that I want you to know and that's that you need to let yourself breathe. Take a day to just do something for yourself, such as reading or going home for a weekend even if the feeling isn't there. From my experience, the stress that's accumulating is what the 'waves' are and that means taking a day off can really untangle all the stress that's balling up.

In social situations, when I found it uncomfortable, I came up with the idea of carrying chocolate or lollies in my pocket to help ease the feeling. If you're not ready to open up to someone, I suggest writing, painting or drawing, anything that will let you express that intense feeling of panic. But, all in all, don't be afraid to talk to someone. Don't be afraid to let others know that you're having a hard time or feel uncomfortable in certain situations because they might be going through the same thing or have had the feeling in the past.

Your body is physically showing you what is going on in your mind, so in order to calm it down, you need draw your attention to more positive thoughts and instead not focus on things such as heavy breathing or an accelerated heart. What I've found works is thinking about what I was having or cooking for dinner or lunch, or my favourite scene from a book. It brings your attention away from your panicky emotions and slowly calms your mind. I know everyone is different, but the most important thing to remember is that you shouldn't bottle all these feelings up, try and recognise what sets off these feelings, but only do so when you're ready to acknowledge it, don't obsess over it.

Give yourself lots of love and care.

[everyonedeserveslovethoug]

Thank you so much! You are a gorgeous person, and your cyber hug means a lot to me

[Doolhof]

Hi Everyonedeserveslovethough,

Just popping by to say "goodaye" and to hope you are doing okay.

Have you been to see a psych yet? If so, then I hope it was beneficial.

We all have good days and then some we really don't appreciate at all! Ha. Ha.

Thinking of you, more hugs, from Mrs. Dools