Anyone here with anxiety..

Im just really peed off, Ive had anxiety since I was 17 and am now 21 and it is still here. Will it last all my life? Ive not done anything with my life at all after A levels I went to uni, quit as I couldn't stand the constant anxiety, did voluntary work (that was ok), went back to college to do a access to HE and have just quit within one month of taking exams, im stupid but I just don't want to complete it and don't see where it will get me, if I go to uni again I will only quit. Some days Im confident but others I get panicky and restless at home. I have tried councelling but she seems to be changing my perception of being 'abnormal and a loser' rather than concentrating on the anxiety. What is the point in making me think im not a loser? Clearly most people would say I am and a waste of space I don't understand it.

What am I supposed to do though, I want to apply to uni and have a good career but the chances are I will quit and waste everyones time. Ive just read that anxiety is a disability and usually lasts forever in most cases which is why I asked, but I can't stand this thought as I won't be able to make anything of myself! I still get scared at the thought of being away from my parents but I never used to be like this.

Anyway, does anyone here have anxiety if so how long have you had it and how do you cope (if you do?)

Reply 1

ßlαcksωαn

17

Yeah I've been there. But I'm all good now..or mostly.
Seriously you need to go back to the counsellor with an open mind! you cant just sit around and try to cure yourself or hope it will go away. Counsellors arn't miracle workers who can cure you in one hour. They need to dig deep down to the problem, which may seem a bit invasive but it's the only way to help. You are not a loser or a waste of space or time! Everyone at uni is there for one reason, many many people have personal issues at uni and thats why there are people to help you. I think it would be good for you to go back, if your feeling up to it. Can you live at home if you're at uni?

Reply 2

Eien

16

Yes, I suffer from awful anxiety, but it comes and goes - but it is something that CAN be treated, or at least reduced to a manageable level. Anxiety often operates at an irrational level, irrespective of what logical thoughts you may use to reason yourself out of it - but several methods can work, such as relaxation, CBT (Cognitive behavioural therapy) and Counselling. Certain methods may or may not work, but the approach of CBT works with me - basically to objectify your anxiety - is it something that is supported with evidence and a tangible event that could happen? In my case my fears tend to be of abstract things or possibilities in the future, meaning I can't address or take hold of them, but that they are not real or worth worrying about - although the anxiety is still there sometimes, so it is a gradual process to deal with, but realising that it can be dealt with and how your anxiety works will be the first step.

Reply 3

Riddy

OP

Thanks, yea I could live at home if I went to uni blackswan but I keep thinking to myself I will go in a few years when I have built up confidence through working and my anxiety has gone, though it might not work like this.

Yea I wasn't sure of the difference between CBT and councelling I thought all councellors used CBT. I have read about it and thinking positively etc but it doesn't change the anxious/low mood, though maybe Im not applying it right.

Reply 4

ßlαcksωαn

17

Just don't keep putting it off. I guess it's ok if you're working but the more you put it off the worse it could be. I mean you dont know if you'll get 'better' just dont get your hopes up if it comes time to go to uni and it's all the same...

Reply 5

AverageGuyOnTheStreet

9

My psychotherapist said that it seemed my depression was caused by anxiety. I was messed up as a teenager and he has given me some relaxation techniques to get over it. I don't know how bad you are but I had insomnia and phobias.

Reply 6

Adam83

12

have ptsd

Reply 7

aieou

YAY!! I Have anxiety too!!!

and calm.

I was thinking about getting this spray. I heard it on the radio - it calms you down when you feel stressed (the advert is a mother stressed at her kids in a supermarket).

Anyone know what it is or if it works? It's probably for mild anxiety, dunno? Worth a try though!

Reply 8

yellow96

15

OP - I don't know if I have flat out anxiety, but I am an incredibly anxious person (sometimes I get too nervous waiting for a bus so I have to go home, for example) and I find it messes up my plans quite a bit. With regards to your problem, maybe you could try an Open University course to get some qualifications without the added stress of joining an actual establishment, then take things from there?

Reply 9

aieou

When I'm a bit drunk I've noticed that my anxiety leaves me and I love it!!

I mean, I'm consciously aware that I'm not having anxious thoughts when I would usually expect to and feels so liberating!!!

But for obvious reasons I can't get drunk every time I leave the house! Maybe there's away of being drunk naturally which would be great to discover

Reply 10

tis_only_meee

7

OP, your post really could have been written by me! I'm very good academically but when I got to university my anxiety about everything was so bad that I couldn't cope. I now have a full-time job and I do think it's doing me the world of good because it's mainly phone based and has forced me to confront my fears within a supportive environment. It's also very stable, which I think helps. At university there was never a strict routine, it wasn't comfortable and everything revolved around planning the next night-out during the week, it just didn't feel normal enough for me.

I've actually just had an awful weak in terms of anxiety. For example, I burst into tears whenever someone slammed a door loudly, it sounds ridiculous but I was just so on edge. I'm feeling better now, I talked my feelings over in a journal and it really helped.

Reply 11

sweetface.

I get an anxiety attack when, I am really scared of something happening that I don't like.

Reply 12

eurasianfeline

13

I had anxiety attacks last year around this time when I also felt scarily suicidal. Luckily it hasn't happened this year. well, yet.

Reply 13

messynessie

1

Riddy

Im just really peed off, Ive had anxiety since I was 17 and am now 21 and it is still here. Will it last all my life? Ive not done anything with my life at all after A levels I went to uni, quit as I couldn't stand the constant anxiety, did voluntary work (that was ok), went back to college to do a access to HE and have just quit within one month of taking exams, im stupid but I just don't want to complete it and don't see where it will get me, if I go to uni again I will only quit. Some days Im confident but others I get panicky and restless at home. I have tried councelling but she seems to be changing my perception of being 'abnormal and a loser' rather than concentrating on the anxiety. What is the point in making me think im not a loser? Clearly most people would say I am and a waste of space I don't understand it.

What am I supposed to do though, I want to apply to uni and have a good career but the chances are I will quit and waste everyones time. Ive just read that anxiety is a disability and usually lasts forever in most cases which is why I asked, but I can't stand this thought as I won't be able to make anything of myself! I still get scared at the thought of being away from my parents but I never used to be like this.

Anyway, does anyone here have anxiety if so how long have you had it and how do you cope (if you do?)

I have pretty bed anxiety, well I always think I do, but I cope with it a lot better now... it started when I was 13 and now am 18... but I've never had any kind of help for it... maybe I should?

Reply 14

messynessie

1

Thelfo

OP - I don't know if I have flat out anxiety, but I am an incredibly anxious person (sometimes I get too nervous waiting for a bus so I have to go home, for example) and I find it messes up my plans quite a bit. With regards to your problem, maybe you could try an Open University course to get some qualifications without the added stress of joining an actual establishment, then take things from there?

:O I get that! The bus thing! Exactly the same. Wowww. Not cool, but... cool. lol.

Reply 15

yellow96

15

messynessie

:O I get that! The bus thing! Exactly the same. Wowww. Not cool, but... cool. lol.

Haha weird. Glad it's not just me though. I feel like such a drip standing at bus stops getting more and more wound up and then having to leave.. :redface:

Passing my driving test helped though seeing as I now very rarely have to catch buses. Of course now when I'm getting ready to go out and I find I have time to spare before I have to get in the car, I get nervous waiting for that..

Reply 16

messynessie

1

Thelfo

Haha weird. Glad it's not just me though. I feel like such a drip standing at bus stops getting more and more wound up and then having to leave.. :redface:

Passing my driving test helped though seeing as I now very rarely have to catch buses. Of course now when I'm getting ready to go out and I find I have time to spare before I have to get in the car, I get nervous waiting for that..

*nods* lol... not that I drive, but the sitting there waiting to go out... it's a reet bugger! Am I allowed to say that? oops. But yeah... being rushed seems to be so much better for my head. :smile:

Reply 17

puppy

I've had chronic anxiety since I was 15. I'm 22 now. And I doubt I'll ever get rid of it. It goes through patches of getting a bit better but never goes away and there are some things I know I'll never be able to do.

Coping is a lot of work, you just have to really want your life (which I'm starting to lose the desire for now so things are starting to go bad). If you have things you want then you've got no choice but to keep going out, keep going to lectures, keep working hard, going for interviews etc.

I probably wouldn't manage without alcohol and valium though, which is really sad. I've just gotten much much worse over the last 2 years so I'm now faced with a real struggle to sit my exams as I don't know how I'll manage to sit in the exam hall for 3 hours at a time (I hate being 'trapped' places).

I'd recommend medication if it's really messing up your life that much. A year on an anti-deps might give you the chance to re-experience life without anxiety and 'unlearn' the behaviour for good. It's up to you what you do to sort it out, depends on how much you want to enjoy your life.

Reply 18

vicki045

ugh i hate anxiety, especially as it feels it can sometime take hold of you whole life, luckily i have managed to get it more or less under control. This thread has been really good as i didnt think anyone else experienced like this.

Reply 19

Danielle89

14

aieou

YAY!! I Have anxiety too!!!

and calm.

I was thinking about getting this spray. I heard it on the radio - it calms you down when you feel stressed (the advert is a mother stressed at her kids in a supermarket).

Anyone know what it is or if it works? It's probably for mild anxiety, dunno? Worth a try though!

Umm, I think you're probably talking about Rescue Remedy. It worked for me the first couple times but then I sort of realised it wasnt actually working and that it was just a placebo. If you believe this stuff can work then it does but considering im about to start studying pharmacy it's nearly impossible to tell yourself that something with no pharmacaphore can affect the workings of your body...

Anyone here with anxiety..

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