I'm new here... But here's a little introduction.....

[lilyankate98]

I've been battling this kind of anxiety nearly all of my life. The social anxiety anyway. However, I didn't know that people just how not normal it was to stress over the social settings and situations that I stress over (like saying "here" in class). I always thought it was just stage fright. I broke into full on panic attacks when I began college and I fell in a depression. The hardest phone call of my life was calling a counselor. Now that I received the official diagnosis of Social Anxiety Disorder, General Anxiety Disorder, and mild depression, I feel like I just took ten steps backwards. Now I realize that the label is there. It makes it real. It makes it something I will always live with. Something I will always be thinking about. Overanalyzing. And I just don't know what the next step is. I've attended five sessions of therapy, but I don't even know what's working anymore. It feels like I truly am taking two steps more steps back... Now I don't know what to do..

[Ibanana]

It's ok to feel like this, I mean I just got my fist counselling session on last Thursday and it was tough. Im probably bipolar but I haven't been able to get medical help yet... anyway, it's hard but something will help in the end, just stick with your counsellor and support so that the right help will come.

🙃

[sierra12 in reply to Ibanana]

Thank you

[Hidden]

Hi I know how you feel but it is still better to get help than not to. Try not to worry about labels as they don't define you as a person but just your illness.

As far as counselling goes that is the way forward for you. Don't forget it probably took a long time for your anxiety to develop so it will take a while before you start to feel better. You are also exploring feelings you have buried for years so it is common to feel like you do after only a few sessions.

Stick with it and you will see a difference in time. Work on yourself is never wasted and hopefully one day you will no longer suffer with anxiety. And if you do you will be able to control it much better.