# 18 year old struggling



## Lavieenrose5 (Apr 2, 2019)

Hi, I have always had anxiety and was diagnosed with panic disorder when I was 13 years old. Before Christmas I finally felt like I had gotten a hold of my anxiety and was enjoying life. However I had a bad panic attack on Christmas Eve and multiple throughout Christmas day and I've been feel the after effects for months now. Ever since new years I haven't felt like myself at all. I can still recognise who I am, where I am and who is around me but I just don't feel connected. It's as if my whole sense of self has just gone out the window. It's been 3 months nearly 4 and I'm scared that I'm going to be this way forever and I'm never going to feel like me again. I keep having existential thoughts all the time and I just want it all to go away and I want to live my life like before. I constantly feel like I'm going crazy and I'm finding it really hard to even leave my house. I also keep having a fear that one day I'll wake up and forget who I am or my family and it's really hard to deal with. I keep fearing that I have other kinds of illnesses that it can't just be anxiety, like I keep fearing I have psychosis or something like that even though I know that's impossible as I have no hallucinations or anything along those lines. I am hoping that there is someone out there who can help me feel less alone and more sane. How did you get out of this? Will I ever feel like me again?


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## FirstAid (Nov 19, 2018)

Lavieenrose5 said:


> Hi, I have always had anxiety and was diagnosed with panic disorder when I was 13 years old. Before Christmas I finally felt like I had gotten a hold of my anxiety and was enjoying life. However I had a bad panic attack on Christmas Eve and multiple throughout Christmas day and I've been feel the after effects for months now. Ever since new years I haven't felt like myself at all. I can still recognise who I am, where I am and who is around me but I just don't feel connected. It's as if my whole sense of self has just gone out the window. It's been 3 months nearly 4 and I'm scared that I'm going to be this way forever and I'm never going to feel like me again. I keep having existential thoughts all the time and I just want it all to go away and I want to live my life like before. I constantly feel like I'm going crazy and I'm finding it really hard to even leave my house. I also keep having a fear that one day I'll wake up and forget who I am or my family and it's really hard to deal with. I keep fearing that I have other kinds of illnesses that it can't just be anxiety, like I keep fearing I have psychosis or something like that even though I know that's impossible as I have no hallucinations or anything along those lines. I am hoping that there is someone out there who can help me feel less alone and more sane. How did you get out of this? Will I ever feel like me again?


It's early days but one of the best things you can do is stop saying will this happen, will that happen. All that does it stress you out and bring on anxiety, it sounds like Dp to me, nothing more nothing less.

Best thing you can do at this point is realise it's temporary, believe it even, and go forward, staying at home doesn't make it better imo. Socialise if you can, go for a jog, also better nutrition may help, doing something that requires your attention is better than sitting around thinking about what's happening isn't it?

You got this, and always try to ground yourself if you feel anxious were ever you are, even in public.


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