When Other People (Or You) Deny Your Negative Mental State

I'm really upset right now because of a small thing that just happened.

I'm going into college, and my dad wants me to consider work study. Now, I'm not saying I would never consider it, but for the last year or so I've been very anxious and depressed and having a lot of trouble staying motivated and coping. It started my junior year of high school, when I was studying eight to twelve hours PER DAY on the weekends, doing five to six hours of homework a night, seeing my friends, seeing my boyfriend, playing volleyball, and studying for (and taking) the SATs. After all that, I started to feel exhausted - emotionally and mentally. I couldn't focus anymore, by the end of the year. I was starting to feel a bit jumpy. All of a sudden, one night, lying in bed, I felt this rush of what I would describe as "nervous hormones". It literally felt like chemicals were suddenly rushing into my head and stomach, and I felt restless and very uneasy. It had been coming on for weeks by that time.

Since then, I just haven't felt right.

So anyway, when my dad was talking about work study, he said I would have time on my hands in college. (However, I want to stay involved and NOT DRIVE MYSELF INSANE AGAIN.) So when I said I really wouldn't have that much time, as I'm still attending school every day plus extracurriculars and down time, he got snappy with me. He didn't say much, but he's my dad - I know that tone.

It made me feel like an overpriveleged, whiny brat. That's how I feel about what I think is anxiety/depression - like I'm overreacting. Anxiety, yes, I was diagnosed with. Depression, no, but as I'm a neuroscience major I'm completely aware that the two can go hand in hand.

I just wish people would take mental illnesses as seriously as physical ones.