I have a big problem. =/

[alonealways]

So lately I have been extremely happy with my life. Everything has been great and I've been really involved with my school. I have dance practices and I have friends there. I was in the school musical and now I hang out with the drama kids all the time. I'm in the top show choir at my school and I have a whole group of people there that care about me.

My only thing is this anxiety is killing me off. I have a really bad cold, I've had it for 6 days and on Friday (my second day of the cold) I had a choir competition. I couldn't let my team down so I went on stage and performed despite the fact that I didn't feel well. Hours later I was hyperventilating. My mom was there with me luckily and she helped me calm down and gave me a soda to open up my lungs since caffiene helps. But after these attacks I get really sore..

It doesn't just happen when I'm worried about me or anything though. I was worried about a friend and my anxiety blew it way out of proportion. He had said he was upset and was getting a blast from the past and I kinda know some things from his past. I put two and two together and freaked out! I tried to talk to him about it but he wouldn't reply, I guess I was being annoying or he was busy or something. I was crying I was so worried and anxious to hear from him. Turns out he was hanging out with friends the whole time and he was fine!

I'm also not at school today cause I played off my cold like it was the first day I got it so I could avoid some stuff. My stomach was in knots because my friend said she had a surprise for me. I don't really like surprises and I warned her about that but she said it'd make me laugh. But I went to bed nervous about what it was going to be and I woke up feeling extremely sick because I was anxious.

How do I fix this?? It's controlling my life. I shake over the littlest things. I cry when nothing is really the matter at all but in my mind it's the WORST thing. I think people hate me if they don't acknowledge me and then I feel like I have no friends when I KNOW that's not true.. I hate this so much. Any advice??

[Stacey]

I know exactly how you feel. I recently started getting symptoms of anxiety for no reason and it got to the point that it was a daily occurrence, for three months I had constant symptoms of anxiety. I recently got fed up, because it was affecting every aspect of my life and I went to see my doctor. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder and now I am on medication that will help me get through any attacks. If your anxiety is interfering with your daily life that is often a sign that you need to speak to a doctor or psychologist about getting treatment so you can begin to enjoy yourself again, because like you said you're extremely happy with things, so you deserve to be able to get back to how things were.

[alonealways]

I hate medicine. =/ ugh.

Is it possible to have general anxiety and separation anxiety?

[Whisperer]

Hey there,

Yes it's possibile to have both I'm pretty sure, but I'm not a doctor. Medicine isn't the only alternative though. There are types of therapy called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) which works on coping strategies and ways of turning your thoughts around. Basically, deep breathing is extremely helpful in slowing down your racing mind. Then you have to start thinking differently. Rather than "Oh my God I'm freaking out I'm sick I'm going to die." you have to try and think logically like "I just have a cold. I'm not going to die. I may not feel perfect but I'm going to be okay." Since thinking logically in situations like these may seem almost impossible in the moment, it takes practice in change your thought habbits. After a while, the bad thoughts start to come unconsiously which makes it even harder to change. So I really advise therapy.

Also, don't be afraid to tell people in your life about your anxiety. Like it's okay to say to your friend "I know this may sound stupid to you but I get anxious over the littlest things and surprises are one of them so it'd be helpful if you just tell me what it is or don't tell me about it in the future." It's also really nice when people around you know about your anxiety because then they can help uplift you by telling you you're okay. It's much easier to hear from another person when you can't tell yourself. Plus, it seems to help me when my friends know I'm nervous and they start making me laugh to distract my mind, and soon enough I forget what I was even anxious about! Just remember, anxiety is irrational thinking, so if you can get your mind to think rationally, you should feel a lot better. If you ever want to talk, I'm always here.

Hang in there,

Alessa