@niceCup1996
I probably won't be much help, since I'm going through terrible anxiety myself and don't know how to handle it.
But you should know that these emotions are valid and you're not stupid for having them.
I understand what anxiety is like. I constantly worry about people thinking the things you say they think about you. My mother said she was getting sick of my moods and I stopped showing her my emotions. But she's shown a different attitude after finding out I was having anxiety.
You might find people's attitude towards you changes if you can let them know it's anxiety.
But keep in mind that it's very hard to understand anxiety without having felt it yourself, so there's unfortunately a high chance of someone who hasn't to misunderstand.
Choose the people you talk to carefully, being misjudged can make it worse and can make you afraid to reach out for help for fear of being turned away.
Also, here's a trick for panic attacks.
People will tell you to just breathe, but the thing is, when you're on the peak of an attack, you just can't. But breathing helps.
Lift your shoulders up to your ears, hold for 5 seconds.
Bring your shoulders back as far as you can, hold for 5 seconds.
Then drop. Repeat if necessary. This should loosen the muscles in your chest enough for you to be able to breathe.
@Jisola
" But keep in mind that it's very hard to understand anxiety without having felt it yourself, so there's unfortunately a high chance of someone who hasn't to misunderstand. "
You are absolutely correct. People who have never experienced anxiety or a panic attack will always just say you need to "get over it" or "deal with it." They don't understand that it's not a simple thing we turn on and off. I mean, who would really want to feel anxiety all the time?? No one! We'd all turn it off if we could - if it were that easy.
@thoughtfulmomma
That's completely true. I wish I could turn it off. I had a panic attack yesterday and the second it started, my vice principal literally said the words "no more of this, that's enough, you're done, go to the office."
@Jisola
That sucks that your school leaders aren't very understanding. One good thing about our local high school is that they are super-focused on making things as anti-stress as possible. They even set up a room for students to go to when they just need a break from things. There's someone monitoring it, so you can't just hang out all day skipping class. But if things suddenly feel bad or you have an attack, you can just tell your teacher you need to go down to that room and that's it. You go and take a bit of a break. I guess it's kind of like a self-created "time out" to relax.
Anxiety is real and more people need to be made aware of it...and those with anxiety issues shouldn't be made to feel bad.
