Anxiety+Depression

[PoisonedCake]

Hello this is my first post, I was diagnosed with depression in 5th-6th grade and later anxiety. The anxiety is the one I'm stuck on now, in my past years of school my anxiety and depression would pull on me. I missed so many days and I stopped caring about my future and education. I was able to get back up when the new year started, I put tons of effort into everything, getting all A's and never missing. I started to get anxiety attacks a lot more frequently, and worst of all, in class. They worsened within months, I was having them almost everyday. I was able to keep up my grades with the cost of my sleep. I wasn't able to always leave the class since it was so frequent. I feared going to school because the symptoms became more and more intense as the days went on. I couldn't deal with it, but at the same time my depression was getting the best of me. I felt so alone, I was thankfully able to communicate with some friends about my problems and they helped. Yet, I was still suffering from those things, I couldn't think straight. I wouldn't sleep and I sometimes didn't eat much. And here I am now, with some people to talk to, although both haven't gotten too much better.

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So how many years have past..and what is your situation now?

[Simone14]

Hello,

I have depression and social anxiety as well. Interestingly, I did not have it in high school. I started to become anxious when I graduated high school and began aesthetics school. It was when I hit the legal age of 18. I was never confident as a person but when I was going through aesthetics training and when I completed it, I felt lost. My peers were in college (university) and I wasn't and bc I was ashamed I avoided people around my age, became depressed and didn't do anything all day. I held a few jobs but would quit them after some time bc I was so incredibly lost. I am now a university student nearing my senior year in undergrad. I am a psychology student interested in if genetics plays a role in mental illness including social anxiety. My parents showed signs of social anxiety & depression growing up. I am wondering if your parents did as well, or their parents and so on...I am also interested to hear from those who are adopted who have anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses.

[Agora1 in reply to Simone14]

Hi Simone14, I am always willing to give an input on my experience with medical or mental health issues especially your being a psychology student. I am the mother of a 25y.o. adopted daughter who I received as a foster child at the age of 2y.o. She came to me with a diagnosis of Separation Anxiety which later I found out was even more. She had been left in her crib for the first 2 years of her life so rocking became her self soothing method of comfort.

She was being seen by a psychiatrist at the age of 3 because of the consistent rocking as well as fears. From there it was psychologists that followed her up to the age of 12 when she completely refused to see anyone. Her parents were both drug addicted. She was watched carefully throughout her formative stages of development. A little behind in her cognitive behaviors. Grammar school had many stomach aches which were determined in later years to be caused by anxiety. Middle school was met with migraines enough to not allow her to graduate with her class. Made it up in summer school.

High school, went the first 6 months and then stayed in bed for the next 4 years. I was told no one could do anything because she wasn't running the streets and I was a stay at home mom. Even truant officer was called. She was on no medication because of her refusal to see anyone. She finally got her GED at 19y.o.

Since the age of 17 she has been Anorexic for the last 8 years. Her drug of choice, Laxatives/Water pills. She has 4 other siblings. A set of twin sisters, one who is homeless and drug addicted as well as a young sister who was a Cocaine Baby and an older brother who went from foster home to foster home but is now a productive person of society with children. That is 2 children of his own as well as 2 children from the homeless sister.

I think this more than says that genetics can play a huge part in a child's mental illness, since all 5 children were adopted by the foster parents who they were first placed with, the seed was already planted in their brain long before coming to us foster parents.

I wish you success in schooling. There is certainly a need for help with the number of new cases being addressed daily. Make sure to take care of you. xx

[Simone14 in reply to Agora1]

Thank you so very much. Your message has motivated me to continue and pursue this path. I will try my very best to do my part in the grand schedule of things to crack the code of mental illness.

And I wish you and your daughter much healing. I hope she somehow finds peace. She definitely has strength although she may not think she does. People like her have unusual strength. I will think of her and those like her to fuel my motivation even in times when it seems futile.

Thank you again