[Celyn]

Hey there,

I hope that ranting has helped a bit! It is very good to get things out of your system rather than keep them bottled up to yourself.

Anxiety and depression often exist together. When we worry about getting anxious and being in social situations, we might start avoiding people. For a short time, we feel that avoiding others helps us, because we don’t feel anxious anymore. But after a while, anxiety can get worse when we avoid things and we can start to feel depressed, because we might be a bit lonely and we might feel overwhelmed with anxiety.

But anxiety can be controlled. It might help you to realise that anxiety usually starts out with negative or worrying thoughts. When you were doing your art project, was there something that triggered you to get anxious? I find that I get anxious when other people are looking at my work, as I’m scared they are judging me, but otherwise I am ok working on my own. If you do find yourself thinking negatively, try challenging those thoughts. A lot of the time anxiety happens because we worry about what others think of us, or how we perform in front of others. Realising that most of the time, people don’t judge us as they are often thinking of other things, can help relieve some pressure from you. Also, remind yourself of the positive qualities you have (appearance, talent, personality, achievements etc) as this can help you boost your confidence and feel better about yourself, and hopefully, less anxious.

Anxiety also brings a lot of physical symptoms with it too. The symptoms you listed (faster heart rate, breathing, feeling dizzy, nausea etc) are very typical of anxiety. When we worry about things, our body gets ready to ‘fight or flight’ whatever we are worrying about. Our brain thinks we are in danger, so these symptoms are just our body’s response to either fight the danger or run away from it. But actually, there is no real danger. The symptoms can get pretty horrible, I know, but remind yourself that it is only anxiety that is causing you feel like this. You are safe and nothing bad is going to happen. When you begin to accept that it is only anxiety causing you to feel like this, the symptoms get easier to deal with. Doing some deep breathing exercises as soon as you start feeling anxious can help. So too can counting backwards from 100, or rehearsing the alphabet backwards…things that help take your mind off the symptoms, once you realise it’s only anxiety.

When we have repeated anxiety or feel anxious for a while, we may experience panic attacks. This is our body’s way of telling us to slow down, because the anxiety is getting too much to deal with. From what you have described in your English class, does sound like a panic or anxiety attack. I’ve experienced the same thing too, so you aren’t alone in dealing with this at all. As hard as it is, try not to leave the situation. Just keep reminding yourself that you are safe and it’s just a horrible panic attack, but it will pass.

I think it would be really great if you could tell someone about your anxiety and panic attacks. I know approaching people, even with a written note, can be scary and can trigger anxiety. Could you find out where your school’s guidance counsellor is and leave a note with him/her? It’s best to think that even though the anxiety you may experience giving the note will be frustrating to deal with, it will only last a short time, and by taking steps to get help, you will be able to deal with and overcome the anxiety- which is really good!

Take care