Why do I feel so anxious before I go at school every morning?
Hey there. I'm 17 year old male, currently in the 11th grade/ Form IV at my school. Anyway, I have a problem. Every morning, when I wake up, I get this nervous, anxious feeling and a sort of pain in my stomach. This began late last year because we were cramming so much work in, in a relatively short amount of time as the exams approached (that is because of the FIFA World Cup. We had extended holidays). Yet, I assumed that after the December holidays the anxiety would stop because I was more relaxed. However, it has started again (started school on Wednesday). It gets so bad that I can barely eat my breakfast (which is normally muesli with plain yogurt and fruit juice), thus forcing me to eat either peanut butter on toast or a sugary cereal (which I dread doing, because I am trying to lose weight). So I really do not know what is wrong. But it gets really bad on the day that we have Physical Education. I get so nervous because I am overweight, and I really dislike having to swim because I get nauseous and weak afterwards (when we are doing time trails). I also cannot do any pull-ups, and I can do very few push-ups or sit-ups. I don't mind so much if we are playing soccer, touch rugby or cross-country, it's just those few things I really loath. I always feel that people are judging me, and there is this one person currently in my class who used to tease me during my second year in high school, but I ignore him because he really is unintelligent (though he appears to have grown up a bit this year). I guess my problem does extend because I am ashamed of my body, because I really am fat (I have a large stomach). I used to be an emotional eater, but I have managed to gain control. Whenever I feel sad or angry, I just do something like read or write [my novel] or even go take a swim outside in my pool. I try to avoid the kitchen as much as possible unless I am really hungry. There are other personal and family-related issues that I have, but I doubt it has anything to do with the current situation (unless it is the stress I gain from it, but I don't know). What can I do to rectify the problem? This anxiety is driving me insane and I am afraid that it may get worse. Thank you for your help.
Why do I have such bad anxiety?
I've had some problems in the past where I would get so anxious, jittery and nervous over the SMALLEST things. I would get anxious walking about my college campus going to work or classes or anything. Breathing would get heavy, and I would just have this nervous feeling. Maybe I thought I would be late (but I am always early)... That has kind of disappeared since I transferred schools, but I still get bad anxiety every once in a while. I notice that I get it when I am anticipating something, like waiting for someone to text me or arrive at my house. What is wrong with me? It isn't affecting my life very much, but I do wish it would go away!
Why do I feel bad when I'm anxious?
Anxiety isn’t just feeling nervous.It is a disorder that has physical symptoms. Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) often leads to a low immune system resulting in having a constant cold or heartburn, for instance. Sufferers of GAD can also experience all-over body and muscle aches. They get intense headaches. They feel overwhelmingly fatigued. They might sweat excessively or have sleep issues. Anxiety causes physically painful symptoms because your body is working on overdrive all the time, trying to cope with the anxiety. Your body is in a constant state of stress, and so physical symptoms will emerge.You feel bad because GAD isn’t just a chemical imbalance in the brain, it also results in incredibly painful physical symptoms.People who think that they just get sick a lot, or who get migraines often might just take cold medicine and Advil with adequate results some of the time.But once they speak with a psychiatrist who diagnoses them with GAD and they begin taking anti-anxiety medication, those painful symptoms will often just disappear.Medication combined with talk therapy are the key to stop feeling bad when you have anxiety. Good luck!
Why do I get anxious about nothing?
Anxiety is certainly not fun to deal with, and it is something everyone tends to experience at times. There can be a few explanations for why you might be feeling anxious:Biological triggers. Not getting enough sleep (or too much sleep), caffeine intake, poor diet, dehydration, and even low blood sugar can trigger anxiety. When our body isn’t in balance, it is very hard to regulate our emotional responses, breathing, and mindfulness. Make a commitment to get a full 8 hours of sleep, reduce your caffeine intake + hydrate and see if that makes a difference. You would be surprised at how just a small change can make a big difference.Boredom. Most of us associate anxiety with being overwhelmed by too much stimulation, but it can also be caused by a lack of it as well. Are you feeling mentally stimulated and curious on a daily basis? Are you feeling a little disenchanted with your daily life? Anxiety can often manifest when our intellectual needs are not being met, and can lead us to overthinking. “Try something new” is extremely over-used advice, but it could be very helpful in giving you an emotional refresh.Unsolved problems. Anxiety tends to crop up when we are procrastinating a big task, avoiding a difficult conversation, or stalling to get an action into plan. The idea of something in your head (even if you don’t realize it) can actually cause more stress than going through with it. Take a look at what needs to be done and try to cross some tasks off your list.Mental illness. You should not be ashamed for feeling anxious or depressed. You can take very good care of yourself and still battle mental illness. Reaching out for support here is a great step in seeking outside resources to deal with these feelings. If the steps above don’t seem to alleviate the anxiety you are experiencing, it is very important that you seek guidance so you can start feeling better again.Remember that anxiety and stress are all part of living an ambitious and meaningful life. You are not alone, and I wish you the best of luck in finding strategies that work for you!
Can anxiety make you feel like you're going crazy?
Yes it can...but you are not. :) Anxiety, even when it is involving an anxiety "disorder" is a very normal reaction to stress. What is abnormal is the amount of stress and negative thinking and worry that you do. Your brain works just fine. It is releasing the amount of adrenaline that your negative thinking is calling for. But you don't know you are calling for all that adrenaline with your negative thinking and worry. So here you are feeling the side effects of adrenaline that you don't know is coursing through your veins and you think something is mentally wrong with you. But that is not the case. You are the captain of the ship. The brain can only release adrenaline on your command. Whatever your emotions tell it do, that is what it does. Laughing, crying, panicking. You are in charge. Anxiety is not confusing at all. People just have it backwards. They think that the anxiety symptoms are causing the worry and fear and negative thinking. But the truth is that the worry and fear and negative thinking is what came first. THEN the adrenaline and anxiety symptoms came. And then you start worrying even MORE because of the adrenaline symptoms that are making you feel physical and mental side effects, and so than you start making even MORE adrenaline and eventually you are just a dog chasing your tail over and over and you don't know what came first, the chicken or the egg. How many analogies can I fit in one paragraph? lolYou are not crazy. Your brain is not crazy. Nothing about this is crazy. Its just a case of bad communication between you and your brain. Your brain wants you to calm down and relax and slow down you life so that it can trust that you are safe and shut off the adrenaline. YOU, on the other hand want your brain to shut off the adrenaline so that you can relax and stop worrying. Its like a game of "chicken" and I can tell you right now that your brain is NOT going to flinch. It will NOT back down first. Your brain has a job to do and it takes it very seriously so if you want the anxiety to change, YOU have to go first. You have to make changes to your life, change the way you think, etc. It can be done! I could write all day but I am out of time but you can read more at my blog at www.theworrygames.com
I always feel like something is wrong with my dog or something bad will happen to her. Is this what having kids is like or am I just anxious?
Yes, I think that must be what having human kids is like because my mom worries about me all the time and I'm 36 years old. I think also it matters a little bit whether you are male or female (my dad thinks if they don't hear from me in days or weeks, I must be fine; my mom, however, is more bothered by that), whether or not you have a lot of time on your hands as opposed to a busy life; and finally, whether or not you tend to have anxiety or any related anxiety-disorder like OCD (obsessive-compulsive disorder).You see, when I was a younster, twelve years old to 27 or 28, I had my first cat, Sylvester, and I seemed to constantly worry about him, either excaping out the front door, or, if the family all went somewhere for a trip, a fire breaking out and my cat would be trapped inside. I know some of this worry was in part because of my OCD.My second cat, Misti, made my heard actually ”ache” when I had to leave her at home the first few days after I adopted her as a kitten. I chalked it up to my “mommy instints” even though she was a kitten and not actually my kid. But I did wonder if what I was feeling was a feeling that actual mothers of children feel when they worry about their offspring.I never did have any children of my own, but I'll bet a lot of money that parents always are worried about their kids, no matter how old they get ( the kids). (I see it in my fiances' mother, too).
I have this weird paranoid feeling that something is going to go bad. What is this?
For me it all started when i learned the word ‘Anxiety’. It was only after that i realized everything happening all these years was just Anxiety.Not everyone has the same experience with anxiety. My anxiety made me a self obsessed person. The only thing i cared about was my health. I started caring about myself like never before. Even a small scratch on my body mattered to me. My anxiety was more about my worried wellness.Everyday i had to struggle a new disease. Google search added more to my anxiety levels. Sometimes i felt i’m suffering from asthma and sometimes i felt the pain of heart attack. This may sound funny but i was actually feeling these symptoms because of my anxiety.Life was becoming more and more difficult with such feelings. I started worrying about my breath. I felt shortness of breath anytime anywhere. And sometimes i feared may be with this my breath will also stop. These feelings took my anxiety to another level.The peak time of my anxiety was during night time. As soon as the night hour approached i automatically start feeling shortness of breath, heartburn and negative thoughts start pouring from my brain. With this my sleep time turned into horror time for me.I hope with this you can figure out your problem
People with anxiety only!! What does anxiety feel like?
What it felt like for me, and scared it will happen again a bit... It's UNBELIEVABLY hard to control your thoughts, it's as if someone is running your mind with the most unthinkable fear, you notice things in your breathing, sitting, surroundings everything you could careless about it. It is terribly hard concentrate on everyday tasks, you can't do it. It feels like its wrapping itself around your throat, and griping at your stomach, you want to cry, you start breathing heavy, your head is pounding and your hot and sweaty, you want to run out of wherever you are and go in your bed and just rock yourself.
Can my anxiety really make me feel this ill?
Yes, anxiety really can make you feel that sick. If you've been to the ER six times in 2 weeks, that says to me that you are a really, really anxious person. Someone without anxiety would have maybe gone to the ER once, had a bunch of tests done, been told they were fine, and gone home. Most people probably would've waited until the next day and made an appointment with their regular doctor, thinking it was the flu or a virus. But the ER six times in just 2 weeks? That screams "anxiety disorder" to me. All of your symptoms are really typical of anxiety. The rapid heart rate, tingly/numb feeling, lack of appetite, digestive problems, fatigue, insomnia, flushed feeling (feeling like you have a fever when you don't), dizziness, tense muscles, dry mouth... those are ALL hallmark symptoms of anxiety. All of this happens because your central nervous system (CNS) is flooded with adrenaline when you become anxious, and that adrenaline kicks your bodily systems into high gear. It makes everything in your body go at a faster rate - your heart, your breathing, your digestion. Your blood circulates faster, making you feel flushed, and you suddenly have a rush of extra oxygen in your blood, giving you that sort of light-headed feeling. After doing this for too long your body gets tired, because it's literally as if you've been running non-stop. Imagine if you spent all day at a constant run, never slowing down or taking a break... you'd feel pretty damn tired! But because your CNS is still over-stimulated by the anxiety, which tells your brain there's something to run from even when there isn't, you can't sleep. Your brain doesn't want you to sleep because it has you on hypervigilant mode, it wants you wide awake to keep an eye out for danger. So you get crappy sleep, which makes you feel even worse, and become even more tired. Did any of the ER doctors refer you to a psychiatrist or a psychologist? If not, then shame on them, they are not doing their job as doctors. Ask your general care physician to refer you to a psychiatrist and a therapist who you can begin seeing. Don't just go to the psychiatrist, the therapist is really important as well. Talking to them can help figure out WHY you have such bad anxiety in the first place, and they can help you correct your anxious thoughts and stop them from coming back. Good luck!