So I'm trying to figure out of I have anxiety, and I find the HP community to be super helpful ;3

It recently started with us moving from Maryland To Texas last year. I've moved 4 other times, nonissue normally. My dad was in Texas working for 3 months so I was left home with my mom and siblings to pack and sell the house. I also broke up with my boyfriend of 4 years because of "anxiety." I use that term loosely. 

I would constantly get asked out by guys, which have me anxiety. Even subtle flirting makes me extremely uncomfortable. 

So we moved to Texas. I was then 15 and was uprooted from my friends and expected to make new ones. My stress level rose exponentially during this move.

What I find most interesting is that recently, my best friend and I had a very bad falling out, extremely stressful for me. I have a hard time remembering alot of what the bad drama was, and I speculate it was my anxiety riddled brain blocking it out? 

I dont take any pills or vitamins, I eat real healthily, so I don't know. If it is anxiety, I'd like to get medication, or register Buddy as an Emotional Support Companion because he has a very calming affect on me. 

So yea. Let me know what you think. I honestly don't know at this point, normally I don't give a crud about anything, very calm. But when I get anxious, it can be scary. Let me know your brain thinks

Go have a chat to a GP? 

Idk my anxiety is just like an elephant sitting on my chest but its in no way a severe case. It might not be anxiety in the clinical sense but more a natural byproduct of the stress you are under. If you can avoid meds I'd try as the best ones are highly adictive and if its not a day-to-day fix. A few of my friends have severe anxiety (asin ambulances have been called..) and they find getting techniques to control it helps a lot more than the pills themselves. 

I really like http://smilingmind.com.au/ not sure if it works in the US or theres an equivalent.. but I just find its super dooper helpful to take 5 minutes out of your day and Just breathe. Get away from it all and relax.  Also whenever I get the whole elephant on my chest kinda feelz I go see the psychologist up at my uni (schools usually have an outreach program thats cheap if you go ask the nurse ect) and he really helps me.  The stigma around anxiety and it being a weakness is utter codswallop, if you don't feel 100% go get some help for it - anyone who calls you weak (yes, i'm taking from person experience here) is an idiot. Its not something you asked for and its not something you have to live with. 

Basically the moral of this short essay is you're not alone. Go have a chat to someone! Also Meds aren't always the answer in the case of anxiety - they can really help but its more on a trigger basis rather than a long term fix. Also if you're ever feeling rubbish drop me a message :) I know we aren't super duper close but sometimes just ranting it out can really help.

GOODLUCCCKK!!! ♥

I'm not good with change. In all honesty, I really dont have a helpful tip other than to try and build a routine again. Routines keep me sane half of the time. I swear, if something happens last minute when I am stressed out and it forces me out of my routine, I am NOT happy. Also, I am not sure if you do this but exercise! Even if it is taking a walk around the block. Anything is better than nothing.

I found this recently and thought it was interesting enough to share on the topic of stress: https://www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend 

I am working on making the change to follow her advice myself. 

I suffer and have suffered from anxiety for many years.  I know that it sucks and is definitely hard to deal with at first, but just know that you're not alone and that there is a lot of help out there.  Due to my anxiety, I actually pursued the fields of study that I did.  I'm not a professional and I don't have a medical degree, but I can definitely offer you insight into some of what is happening in a stressed out brain when anxiety strikes.

It sounds like stress is impairing your brain's ability to encode/retrieve memories.  There is a lot of jargon that goes along with explaining why this occurs; in the brain, there is a neuroendocrine system called the HPA (stands for hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis.  When stress hormones are released from this part of the brain (specifically cortisol), it flows on over to the hippocampus, which is the main part of the brain responsible for encoding memories.  When too much cortisol is present (from lots of stress), it negatively affects this part of the brain, and makes it difficult for the neurons to properly encode memories.  It is actually a lot more confusing and complicated than this; several other brain regions are involved, and we still don't have a super clear picture on how anything works in the brain.  But think of it like this: your brain chooses to make memories manually; some of them are short term, part of working memory, or something that you remember forever (long term memory).  Think of it like a typewriter, constantly typing to meet its demands.  When large amounts of cortisol flood into the hippocampus, the typewriter becomes unable to perform its job properly.  The typewriter is able to function at small amounts, so part of your memory is intact, but some memories weren't recorded properly.  Likewise, if you have anxiety surrounding something you are trying to remember, trying to retrieve them might be difficult because the hormones and process involved might be blocked by the emotions surrounding the situation.

Don't let that scare you!  Again, I was just trying to offer some insight.  This is just what I have come to understand about the brain during my time of study.  To be honest, I'm not a doctor, but I don't think it's blacking out, per say, just a lapse in memory caused by the natural processes in the brain due to anxiety.  Of course, I am no expert and I am definitely not a medical professional.  If you are worried about yourself, definitely go talk to a doctor.  I have two undergraduate degrees in this stuff so I have a bit of knowledge to share :)

I suggest getting acquainted with the types of medication that are out there.  There is a really good resource (http://www.helpguide.org/mental/anxiety_medication_drugs_treatment.htm) that I think gives a very thorough, non-bias overview of anxiety medication.  I am very bias when it comes to medication due to my personal experiences and knowledge base, but you have the choice to choose what is right for you.  As Kirreway said, medication can possibly cause more harm than good.  Likewise, it does not help with the underlying cause, it just masks and helps make things manageable for a certain amount of time.

There are many books out there that are helpful as well.  Remember that you absolutely have the power to get over this and move forward and past it.  You are more powerful than your anxiety.  I would personally recommend investing in your mental health; take a journey to figure out how to help yourself.  Write in a diary when you're anxious.  Talk to a psychologist if you feel that this is the right path for yourself.  Take walks when you get nervous, call a friend, talk about it and you could discover so much about yourself and how your brain works.  I think that, with time and patience and belief in yourself, you'll find peace again.  Best of luck in your journey and if you need anything, feel free to message me :)

I don't have a whole lot to add, I am a naturally anxious person, but generally I control it well. (Keyword being GENERALLY).

But I have reletively serious ADD, and so I see a psychatirst regularly, and I would recommend this. They will tell you what you should be taking, if anything, and work to get you on the right doseage. I love my psychiatrist. Like even when I just need to go for the 3 month check up (ADD patients take narcotics/controlled substances, so we need to be weighed and stuff every 3 months), I look forward to it.

Also, look at your diet. I don't know about anxiety specifically, but I'm generally under a lot of stress, so I drink certain teas, and do yoga, and stay away from Caffeine (for more reasons than one), so you might want to look into that! I know you're kind of young, so it might be hard to control what you're eating for meals, but you can at least try the teas and breathing exercises. If you want advice on what kinds of teas and how to do infusions and stuff, my inbox is always open!

Like, for breathing exercises, count your breaths. Whenever I get stressed out, I close my eyes and take a deep breath, and just think about breathing. In and out, for about 10 seconds. And then I am calmer. And if I'm still not calm, I do it again. But that's the trick, you can't think about anything else besides just breathing. If you start to think about other things, start over. It's a type of meditation done by Zen Buddhists, and it seems to work. HOWEVER, I could not do this for the longest time. It basically took a total breakdown for me to even be able to meditate, it used to make me hyperventalate. But, try it, and see if it works for you because now that I CAN do it, it's amazing.

You can also try a different version (this one is what works for my dad, it sounds kind of weird until you try it though) where you set a timer for 1/2 hour and then go lay down with your eyes closed, and picture a small metal ball circling around your feet, and touching each of your toes, and then moving up your legs and down each arm and your hands. And basically, you just focus on nothing but the thought of the metal ball and each body part until the timer runs up. I have ADD so I get bored with this, but I kind of do the same thing where I read or do something relaxing for 1/2 hour and don't think about anything else (you could run, pray, cook, meditate, do sodoku, build something like a wood dollhouse or legos, whatever).

Finally, I don't know if you have a YMCA, but when I was in high school I paid for a student membership and took yoga classes two or three times a week there. I think it's like $150 for a year and you can take any of the classes for ree, use the gym, and the pool. They teach you how to focus on your breath, but more than that it's impossible to worry about anything else while you're contorted into all of those weird stretches. So it works.

I've always had anxiety bad. It unfortunately runs in my family from both sides and their stress levels would brush off on me but I never really understood what was wrong until I was much older and took a class in school and one of the lessons was problems such as anxiety and all and I had all the signs and was like woah, this is new. I think it started for me when my parents divorced when I was 7 and just grew from then on. I think my lowest point was a year ago. It was my freshmen year of college, financial problems set in, family problems, my boyfriend of 3 and a half years and I broke up. I just really hit a low point. I remember just sitting in my car gripping my streering wheel with my nails until I left marks and tiny tears in it. I also remember getting into a fight with my stepmom who I never got along with in the first place and it turning into a full blown anxiety attack. The most I can tell you is to find someone to talk to, something to write in or even doodle your thoughts in or on. Being an art major I found to put my anxious feelings into what I did and I would feel better and my art would have a deeper meaning. I can't say much about medicines, I know they are meant to help but I refuse to take any form of medicine for my anxiety. I don't really even like perscriptions unless I am terribly sick. If you ever want someone to talk to or anyone on this thread for that matter I'm always here to lend a listening ear. Dont let yourself over think or feel like you're alone because thats how anxiety swallows you and I almost let it swallow me. 

Oh Duckduck.  

I have social anxiety brought on by a traumatic event.  It comes instantly, instead of evolving slowly as yours did, but many of the things fit me in the exact same way.  I get nervous.  My memory lapses when my anxiety spikes.  I could go into detail but theres no point.

I suggest talking to somebody about this - medication can help but often just talking relieves a lot of the stress that causes the anxiety.

:/ exercise too, helps, I find.

If there is ever a question about your mental state. I cannot stress this enough.

See. A psychiatrist. And/or a therapist.

I have Bipolar II disorder, and my manic episodes pretty closely mimic generalized anxiety. With some added unpleasantries. 

Do not assume that what you're going through is minor, inconsequential, or not bad enough to seek professional help. If you have to ask the answer is yes. Do not try and self diagnose based on a Google search and talking to strangers on the internet. I thought I was mildly depressed and shouldn't bother people with my trivial problems. Problems that turned out to be much, much more serious.

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