PDA

View Full Version : Anxiety over height



Tim213123
02-16-2014, 04:18 AM
Basically I have anxiety over height in terms of a fear I didn't reach my genetic potential.

I just reliased that during my child/teen years that I had 'constitutional growth delay' which means my bone age was delayed in relationship to my birthday. At 18.5 my body was 16 years old for example.
I was extremely short before puberty and before my growth spurt which I went from below the 3rd percentile to the 45-50th percentile. So from over 97% of boys were taller then me to rougly 50% are taller and 50% are shorter then me.

This extreme shortness during my adolesconts gave me very low self estem and lacked any coinfidence and only hightened the social anxiety that I have.

I am very greatful I grew and my shortness was only a normal variation of growth.

As one could expect I am still self concious of my height even though I am happy the height I am as what I have been through.

But only recently is when the anxiety started to kick in. I researched about the effects of cows milk on height and a systematic reivew concluded that a 250ml of milk per day would = 0.4cm of free growth(you wouldn't of had otherwise) per year. And a study showed girls drinking 3+ glasses a day from ages 10-18 grew 1-2's more then girls drinking 0-1 glasses per day.

Im really mad and fustrated that my mum never pushed for me to drink milk daily from a young age. How was I supose to know as a child that milk has long term effects on adult height? She assumed that I could get the goodness from milk, from cheese and yoghurt which doesn't have any effect or only little with yoghurt but not for final adult height, because I most probaly said to her I didn't like the taste of milk and she never forced me to drink it.

Chocolate milk I drunk free willingly because it tasted good every now and then. But if I recall correctly I didn't make a habit of forcing myself to drink it daily. There was a period during my teens that I drunk chocolate milk daily for a while though. Prehaps because I had to think for myself that It 'might' help me with my short stature. I drunk 1 litre a day just before my 19th birthday which was probaly far to late to make new drastic difference since growth had declined.

My life could of been soooo much better if I was 5-7cm taller.

I am getting depressed over it and not doing the things I enjoy. I think of all the people that drunk milk daily and think how lucky they are. Why did I have to have a life where I was already self concious of my height only to be slapped in the face with it again.

Milk isn't the only problem. I think maybe I didn't get enough vitamins and minerals or sunshine and its really doing my head in. I really wish from a young age I knew what to eat and drink to fully reach my max height. I also had to take steroids at 21.5 for medical reason which probaly stopped any further growth even though I am 90% sure I wasn't growing any more then. You may think I am shallow or selfish or whatever to complain of achieving a normal height but that is not the problem remotely. I don't care if I was geneticaly programmed to be short its the fact that I didnt push my genes to their max which is the problem and I don't know how to get out of this mess.


Is it weird to have anxiety over something so specific? Am I making a big deal over nothing? If I saw a university councillor over this would they think im totally nuts?

backdoc
02-16-2014, 06:09 AM
Hi Tim, I'm sorry to hear of your struggle ........Let me say a few things that might help.......I have a good friend who is a successful businessman, has a great marriage, great children etc. He is Short....yet he holds himself as though he is 9 feet tall, you don't even notice his height, nor do you care, He is confident is who he is and people treat him as such( i had known him for years and never once thought about his height, in my mind he was a "Big Man") I had terrible acne when i was young and would have done anything to get better and be "normal" yet that struggle had caused me to look within myself for who i was and not be Defined by my outer appearance , it made me a better man .........Lastly and most importantly Tim ; its not what "man" says or defines who you are , Its What God Says Who You Are........He Made You, and he is very Pleased..........