Sad, spaced out feeling; is this anxiety?

[Luke Ebhert]

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[aml0017]

It does sound like anxiety. It is often triggered by a real or imagined problem (in your case getting sick) but then it can take on a life of it's own. You start worrying that the feelings will return and stress yourself out and so they do return. It can be a vicious cycle. Anxiety symptoms can run the gamut from heart pounding, palpitations, sweating, dizziness, shortness of breath, tingling/numbness, crying, sadness, repetitive thoughts. Hopefully not all at once lol. It can be scary but it will not harm you. Anxiety is basically your body's fight or flight response going haywire. I also find after extended stress/anxiety, I will have that spaced out feeling as well. What you are experiencing sounds like depersonalization/dissociation, in which you just feel distant from everything around you. I think it is just your body's way of getting some relief from the constant stress.

I am not sure if this is the first time you are experiencing this? Do you have a history of anxiety in your family? A lot of time the onset of anxiety issues occurs in the teens. Try to continue doing the things you enjoy, and spending time with your sister, even if you don't feel quite right. Maybe you can open up to her, or another family member or friend about what you are experiencing? I often find when I put it out there, it takes it off my chest somehow and doesn't feel so scary. If you start to get panicky, take some deep breaths, move around, distract yourself, take a walk, tell yourself it is all in your head.

Hope this reply helps a bit, it is hard to explain my experiences of anxiety with one post. Continue to post here if you have more questions, or just want to vent.