Anxiety Support Group
Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...
This post will be kinda choppy because I find it challenging to write out, please bare with me, read it out and respond, it'd mean a lot to me, even if you don't know what to say, but here's all the complications I have had since I have realized I had health anxiety.
Personal Info: Male, California, 16 years of age.
Mental Health:
I am almost constantly uncertain on how long I will live, I fear having a very bad disease that will kill me. I don't really enjoy the things I used to be into, I walked into a very nostalgic and complex computer shop today, Computers and technology are one of my 2 most favorite things ever. I didn't even get excited like I usually would, I wasn't poking around like I'd usually do.
Physical Symptoms (all may or may not come from anxiety):
I'll have to start from the beginning to help you get a better idea on how this all started in the first place. It started with one day, I was lying in bed and felt a discomfort in my throat, like there was lump or a ball in it. And I felt that it was getting bigger. I didn't know what it was, and that was the night I had my first experience with the panic attack. That day, I went to the hospital and misdiagnosed me by saying I had a swollen uvula. Which, I did not. I have been to many doctors after that and my tests came back clear (throat/chest xrays, swab, blood test ) {about 2 months ago}, and they sent me home, I have also went to an ENT specialist who saw nothing wrong {about 2 weeks ago}. My symptoms include from most prevalent to more rare; Chest Pressure (worse after eating), Trouble Swallowing, Feeling that I might choke or lose air, muscle twitches, stomach issues [food returning to esophagus, diarrhea/constipation, muscle bloating feeling, tightness in stomach] feeling on my body constantly, asking others to feel on my body, muscle ache, skin burning, swollen lymph nodes in neck (still uncertain on this one as some say that feeling small, movable glands in the neck is normal), occasional sore throat, ear fullness, nose stuffiness (usually one side alternating, sometimes both). Feeling that heart pumps off beat or a little too hard. All the symptoms i've also underlined I've had for less than 4 weeks. Also, all of the symptoms except the ones written in comic sans are inconsistent. Meaning they come and go.
Relationship damage:
Ever since this all began around June I have felt a major disconnect between my family and I, I feel as if they don't view me the same way. Every time I have a panic attack or high anxiety, they write me off as crazy, get extremely upset, tell me to stop moving so much and panicking, and they sometimes even ignore me. It had gotten really bad once and I was bursting in tears and they just sat there caught up in their own thing, ignoring me. It's really discouraging when you have a family that won't support you and just wants you to ignore what you're feeling. My brothers won't really talk to me anymore and hang out with each other and exclude me from their 'shenanigans'. I spend a lot of time in my room alone, like I am right now. My friends (well friend, because I don't have many at all) are starting to avoid me, and my family is starting to remove me from their plans. I'm starting to get very sad and feel lonely. My family has gone as far to even say that I do this for attention.
My trust in God is what holds me together...
Effect on daily activity: Recently i've been finding myself in a complete and utter lack of motivation, I can't do anything. It's not that I lack the physical energy to do it, it's just that I don't want to. I have one semester of school work due in 26 hours that I haven't even started yet. I've put things off and let them get this far.
That's about it, that's everything that this illness has brought upon me. I am in therapy right now, but have only seen my therapist once. I do not know when the next appointment will actually be. But I know that this was a lengthy post, thank you and Godbless you to anyone that reads this. It'd be a real help if you responded. I'm looking for some reassurance, tips, anything, everyone says that at 16 you should be having fun... But here I am. I'm not doing this for sympathy, but everyone needs a little support sometimes. Appreciate it ~ Key.
When I was your age, I had anxiety issues and my family was not super helpful. Not out-and-out cruel, but I was written off. Things are different now. I still have anxiety flare ups but my family sees its no joke.
Your anxiety is what is making you sick. Keep going with your therapy. Keep your faith. You are young and resilient.
Like that first comment said, keep going in your therapy. I've been experiencing OCD and clinical depression since I was about 15 years old (the clinical depression turned into major depression a few months later), but all of this went undiagnosed until 2 days after I turned 18. I am about to turn 20, so I can understand a little of what you're feeling. I have felt, and still do feel, that my family & I have been disconnected since they found out about my anxiety and depression. This is the thing: they're parents. Unless it runs in the family, they have NO idea what you're going through or feeling; they just think that they do and say to suck it up. Kind of like what I feel like my parents have done. But I know that my mother really does care for me. Her motherly instincts kick in when I am upset, she just doesn't know how to react in those types of situations. A good example: when I am having a panic attack, am struggling to breathe, and cannot speak words at the time, and my mother is asking what it is that she can do for me. And all that I am able to do is sit there and cry more, which makes her upset/angry because she wants an answer from me, but I cannot force one out. They feel helpless sometimes because they aren't sure how to react, and soon learn that nothing can really be done about it.
As for your friends, they're probably doing the same thing. Excluding you because of your lack of motivation to go out and do anything. I have 2 actual friends, the rest I call wishy-washy friends. Those are the "friends" that are only around or there for me when it's convenient for them. And that's what it sounds like you're dealing with. So my advice is to find some new friends that are going to be there for you in times like these.
Keep on going, it's going to be a long journey, but you can get through this. Ignore the haters, post whatever you want, whenever you want on here. Someone will always be there for you.