Hello

[Owlchip]

Hello everyone, my nane is Rachel. I am a 17 year old girl from Scotland. Recently I was sent to the school nurse by my guidance teacher because my class teachers and my parents had raised concerns about me. I spoke to the nurse for a while and she said it sounded like I had a generalised anxiety disorder, and referred me to someone (CAMHS? I think) to talk about this further. I am still waiting for them to get back to me. This is all very new and confusing for me. I'm still not quite sure what GAD is if I'm honest. Im very worried about things, a lot is going on right now and I don't know if it's okay to talk about it here or whether I should start another thread. But I think I would like to talk about it?
I seem to mainly be affected by anxiety at school. It makes me feel sick. I shake and I sweat, I feel my heart and my head racing, and I often come out in rashes up my arms. At home things are better, I feel like I can relax again, but sometimes this happens when I'm in bed at night. I can't stop thinking and it stops me from sleeping.
I hope that whoever the nurse had referred me to can help, but in the meantime I thought I would join here. Sorry if this introduction wasn't very concise. I hope I made sense, English is not my best subject!

[maptheworld]

I am 16 and I live in the US. I experience the same symptoms and used to have anxiety attacks in school everyday. I also wouldn't do anything social or hang out with my friends. I became antisocial and depressed. I finally got help and I found out I have social anxiety disorder SAD. If you get really nervous in public situations and worry about people judging you you could have SAD. And your English was great! I hope you can understand this:)

[Owlchip]

English is my first and ony language, I am just bad at making sentences sometimes? I was just worried I had made that too confusing I'm sorry. :P
I don't have very many friends. I had lots of friends. Then I got into my first relationship. My boyfriend was abusive, a lot of stuff happened, and I dumped him, but all my friends were close to him, and I had become so withdrawn they didn't want to talk to me anymore and believed him over me. I then made friends with two boys, one was a very close friend but he went to college last year. I miss him a lot. I am now dating the other boy. He's very nice, just I woul like to have a friend friend. Sometimes it is hard discussion things with a boyfriend? I don't want to offend him and not have anyone? He has his owb friends, but it is very hard for me to approach new people? I've tried to but I'm not having much luck :(
I also worry about the future a lot. University is a massive worry right now :(
Thank you for your comment, I am glad I am not the only one :)

[alankay]

Owl, your English is fine. :) Anyway if you are generally tense, worried, apprehensive, etc, you may have GAD or just be anxious at this time in you life. I'd have an honest talk with whomever they set you up to talk to and go from there. I bet it will all work out in time. Alankay.

[maptheworld]

Don't worry everything will get better! I wish the best for you in college! Wish me luck for next year.

[AnxietyInstituteSA]

Rachel, you seem wise beyond your years, and it impresses me that you would seek help for an emerging problem (even though you may not quite understand it fully yet). It's smart to gather information about GAD, but just remember that everyone's experience (symptoms, triggers, prognosis) will be different. The fact that you're getting professional help and seeking community support tells me you're proably heading in the right direction towards recovery and management.