How can I cope with my severe anxiety?

[NicksGirl321]

I was feeling the effects of an anxiety attack coming on in 3rd period today in school so I went on the computer and looked up ways to get rid of anxiety before I had a full on attack I went to this website: https://www.adaa.org/tips-manage-anxiety-and-stress and I couldn't really do any of these in school I could only do a little bit of them I took deep breathes and counted to 10 slowly in my head that seemed to work about 7th period I started to get another anxiety attack I tried taking deep breathes but that didn't work quite as well as it did in 3rd period the attack was just getting stronger and stronger I was sweating, I felt sick my heart was beating really fast I was shaking my mind was just racing with these unwanted thoughts of the past I couldn't sit still I was figiting around breathing very heavily out of my nose trying to work on the rest of the math problems but I just couldn't focus that period ended 8th period I was standing outside of the door to my English classroom taking slow deep breathes but nothing was working I could not calm myself down, I was about to cry my best friend asked me if I was okay and I just shook my head he asked why and I couldn't say it it was like there was a lump in my throat preventing me from speaking I finally got out some words "my anxiety" I was shaking violently now you could obviously tell I was having an anxiety attack he tried to get me to calm down but I couldn't its hard to calm down when your having anxiety attack he kept telling me to calm down which is the worst thing you could tell someone with anxiety we got into the classroom I sat down and I just started crying and crying by this point the attack had gotten so bad it felt like there were little beads vibrating under my skin it felt like my whole body was numb he gave me a bottle of water to drink he started rubbing my shoulders and my arms trying to get me to calm down but I just couldn't he bent down in front of my desk rubbing my thighs telling me

[fauchelevent]

I have pretty severe anxiety too and used to get attacks like that. I'm not amazing at giving advice on this kinda thing but I 100% recommend going to the doctor to talk about it. Getting put on medication and being given therapy drastically improved my life. It's good to get that support when you need it and it's terrifying but it's so worth it.

I also recommend a technique I use when dealing with really intense anxiety or attacks. Okay, so you calm yourself down just enough that you can actually breathe and you go through your senses. Attacks like that are often overwhelming and take up all of your concentration, right? So you want to narrow your focus down, make a couple of things the focal point of your attention. And to do that you can count :) I do five things I can see, four things I can touch, three things I can hear, two things I can smell and one thing I can taste. Usually by the time I get down to one, I don't feel like I'm dying anymore.

[NicksGirl321]

thank you so much I'm going to try that technique next time I get an attack and my mom just looked into therapy for me and are going to get me to go to therapist I don't know how well I'll do though I'm terrified of talking to people about my feelings I express my feelings better on paper than I do verbally

[fauchelevent]

Your therapist will understand. When I first went to them, I had to go to the doctor first to get the formal diagnosis and the doctor let me write some more personal things down rather than actually say them aloud. The therapist helped me with my preference for written communication and the need to track my anxiety to see what exactly caused the attacks by asking me to keep a diary and write whenever I felt anxious. Your therapist will probably do something similar and it's important to remember that the therapist doesn't think badly of you for any nervous habits or tics you display whilst talking to them. They don't think anything you say or do is stupid, they see that there's a reason for all of it and their job is to get to the bottom of it, so it's best to try and force yourself to be natural with them, even if it's really hard.

[NicksGirl321]

yeah I went to the doctors before and she suggested that I go and talk to a therapist abut my anxiety I don't really know what causes my attacks I'll just think about things then I'll start having an attack but it only happens when I'm in school never at home once I get home I instantly feel better I was talking a a woman on crisis chat about my anxiety and depression and she told me she thinks I should keep a journal too and write down my feeling when I'm getting anxious the only thing is I'm scared of loosing the journal and someone else reading it but I'm sure I'll be fine I rarely ever loose things so I'm going to start doing that cause I think it would be good for me to be able to lift some weight off my shoulders I know I'll have to get comfortable with the therapist that I talk to cause I'm going to have to tell them my problems and I'll only tell someone my problems if I'm comfortable around them which is like 2 of my friends I'm sure I'll get comfortable fast though