Anxiety Forum

Serenalove · Joined: 01 Jul 2008 Posts: 1 Location: tx

I'm Serena, I'm new and I'm really looking forward to all of this ...I'm 16 turning 17 pretty soon here actually, and everyday for the past year I have been in one room about 12 feet wide and 12 feet wall to wall, I'm in here (because i'm in here right now) for about 23 hours a day sometimes about 22 or 21 on a good day. I havent went to school for the past 3 years because I have severe anxiety and agoraphobia, I'm a recluse, I can't leave my room or my house for that matter, going to the store is a big deal to me, so I don't go to school, and I can't get a job because of the anxiety.My friends come over here because I wont go over to there house,they stopped asking me to go to parties and the mall because they know I wont go, they always try to help me but it never works.I only really have maybe 4 real friends, I spend my whole days sleeping, Ive recently started actually scaring myself because ive developed a talking to myself habit. I just want to pause my life right now until I get better because I know I'm waisting my teenage years away.. What do I do to get better, I feel like I'm going crazy, It's been this way for as long as I can remember.

Robbed · Posted: Tue Jul 01, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject:

I don't know if I am really telling you anything that you have not already heard. But you REALLY need to make it a point to get out of your room more. You might not be able to do this alot at first. But at least make it a point NOT to be there all day. Maybe start out by hanging out in the living room more. Or, better yet, try sitting in your yard for some time each day. See if you cannot try to increase the range of places you go little by little. And try to spend more time outdoors in particular. The positive effect of sunlight on conditions such as depression and anxiety is well-known. But remember to be patient. At the very least, it will take time before you will be able to freely go places once again.

mrgrey · Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 5

As mentioned above, it is very important to get enough light. I personally use a light-box that is specifically designed for mental health. It has a 10,000 lux brightness level.
I use the box mainly for fighting the lethargy of depression. (It can actually be dangerous to "overdose" on light, and can cause mania!)
Anyway, if you are spending so much time indoors maybe you could do with some light. It might help with your anxiety too, I couldn't say for sure. It might be a good idea to ask a doctor about it before trying one, but I thought I'd throw the idea out there.
I feel like just encouraging you to go out more is not going to help at all, and I wish I had more helpful things to say. All I can say is that the world has a lot to offer, and I'm sure you have a lot to offer the world.
Good luck!
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mishell · Joined: 25 Jun 2008 Posts: 4

Decide you will not let the fear control you, decicde you are going to do something about it, make a list of goals , examples

Find a therapist and arrange for them to come to you,
You can break this down into smaller steps,
Research, pricing, talking about it with your parents and calling up the therapist.

Make sure you find one that you like and trust and don’t give up looking, I finally found a very good therapist and I force my self to be honest with her, I think most of my anxiety comes from suppressed emotions.

You really need to make the choice to get help after that it will be hard.
But don’t ever give up, I’m sure you already know about the different thretments for agoraphobia most of which eventually make you face your fear, you need to face your fear in order to realize that nothing bad will happen, but the good thing is you can take small steps towards going outside,
Every little step counts,

I think you may need some anxiety meds, like xanax or something to help calm you down, maybe antidepressants too would help. I’m sure your not happy been stuck in that room all day

I get very bad anxiety and mild agoraphobia but its more of the fear of being on my own, but I can relate to the anxiety side of it.
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Anxious Frank · apprentice poster Joined: 30 Jun 2008 Posts: 45

Sometimes my thoughts and feelings get so jumbled up and mixed together that nothing makes sense anymore and there's no way out. In this state, words are not sufficient to express myself. Some tactics I resort to in this situation are:

Dancing (bewilderment)
Screaming (frustration)
Stomping my feet (impatience)

Sometimes I cry.[/list]
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tristanh1982 · Posted: Thu Jul 03, 2008 7:45 pm Post subject: Hey

Hi Serena i feel so sorry for you, to have anxiety at that level at your age is so terrible.. if you ever want a friend to talk to online send me a email my addy is haro35@hotmail.com

The Melody of Rain · mucho contributor Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 117

Serena I've sent you a message with contact details in it if you'd like to talk. Its good that you have found this site and as you can see, people are willing to help you. I once suffered from agoraphobia too but now I no longer have it. I'd like to offer you some advice. Hope we can talk at some point :]
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