Hey everyone, I'm Zoe. I'm 17 and I'm pretty sure I've had anxiety my whole life. When I was little I would have panic attacks at night and I would breathe into a paper bag. My mom took me to the doctor because of it, and he diagnosed me with asthma. I didn't have asthma, lol. It was manageable when I was younger, but my mental health started deteriorating when I was 12. That's when I was diagnosed with anorexia and depression. It was pretty bad and I struggled with that eating disorder up until I was about 15, although I still have a weird relationship with food and a bad body image. But the biggest issue has really been anxiety. That started flaring up around eighth grade, I would obsess about my grades and I would have a panic attack if I got an A- on something I studied really hard for. This ironically led to me withdrawing from school after freshman year. (I would dread school and I would have constant anxiety about every little thing. I'd cry in the hallways and freeze up during tests. We tried everything. We tried having me stay in the Nurse's office and doing my work there, but that didn't help. And we tried online school but I was still obsessing there too.) I got my High School Equivalency diploma when I was 16 and it's been pretty hard on my self-esteem. I've missed out on a lot. I recently tried to start community college but I had a really panic attack on the second day and then withdrew. It makes me feel like crap, honestly. I know I'm going to try again someday, but I'm scared. My panic attacks are horrible. There was a time where, when at home, I would lay on the floor and scream and cry. When I'm in public I freeze up and excuse myself and go cry in a bathroom. I'm currently in therapy and taking prozac and risperdal, but I'm not sure if it's even working because I'm not really exposing myself to stressful situations right now. I feel lonely a lot of the time, so I'm hoping that I could connect with some people on this forum that have gone through similar things.