So I’ve just started university, many of my friends are moving away to the city and adult things are starting to happen for me. The problem is, I think I have social anxiety. I hate to self-diagnose but anxious thoughts and physical reactions have been affecting me for around two years now and I’ve done a lot of research and thinking about it. I just haven’t seen a therapist or anything yet because I’m not 18 and scared of telling my parents. The symptoms I have currently are a nervous stomach, irritable bowel problems (lmao), sweating, feeling of being constantly watched, unable to speak to/in a crowd, can’t talk on the telephone, panicking about conversation, etc.    My biggest fear right now is the adult world. Being in school, I was very sheltered with friends and a community I was comfortable with, so the anxiety was easier to manage. But now that I’m doing independent stuff, the social part of life is suddenly quite hard. I can’t walk into a lecture, tutorial, the library or even around campus without feeling naked and exposed, like everyone’s eyes are crawling over me like insects. I might add supermarket to that list too - pretty much, I get very anxious if I’m walking around without a purpose or destination. My parents want me to spend time with school acquaintances who go to the same uni, but that would make me really anxious and intimidated and being around those people takes me back to my school-self which I want to grow away from. I feel the need to always please my superiors (like my boss or lecturer idk) and I hate being a nuisance. I’m also really scared that, while I’m still in contact with school friends, I won’t make any new, nearby friends at university and I’ll become a hermit because I’m too scared to interact with the world. Any advice lmao? ... View more

This is something I’ve experienced now and then, more often when I was younger, and infrequently now as a teenager. I never knew what it was, and was always curious about it.   In the past i would sometimes lie in bed and my room, especially the walls and door, would feel very far away and stretched, and I would feel very small. It was quite a frightening sensation for unknown reasons. Also, sometimes I will do something and the action seems in slow motion. For example, just now I wet my lips and the action felt very slow and afterward, things felt far away. Again, i was frightened by it but I’m not sure why, how or in what way.    Additionally, this used to happen when I was sick and had fever dreams. This feelings were always heightened. I remember lying in bed with my mum and having her stroke my arm, but I had the opposite sensation of slow motion. Her stroking felt very fast and scary.    Could someone please attempt to explain this? I’ve never understood it.  ... View more

lately i’ve been feeling quite empty and anxious and overwhelmed. i tried describing my feelings:   - grey - tight chest, like a storm is building up behind my ribcage - detached, i am glued in place while the world continues to move forward - zoned out while my thoughts clamber over one another like the zombies in world war z - my body feels vacant - my mind is wading through claggy mud   i feel like this occasionally, usually for 1-3 days every few weeks. it hasn’t been so bad recently, but a lot worse a while ago. i guess it feels like depression and anxiety but i don’t want to diagnose myself. this is probably caused by a few things in my life, such as my deep set insecurities and self doubt, my detachment from my friends (who sometimes hurt me without meaning to or realizing), and the arguments and fighting in my home. i dunno ... View more