Anxiety at school (Mostly)

[plat93]

Hi, my name is matt. I'm 16 years old and anxiety has clearly taking over me. I dont feel i can handle it. When I am in class I am extremly worried that someone is watching me.. I try to play it off like there is nothing wrong and I try not to show my anxiety but that just makes things even more weird. I have tried various SSRI;s but those seem to have no effect. I'm afraid to go to class.... And when I am there I am thinking about my anxiety the WHOLE time. I cant concentrate for the life of me. I am sick of this anxiety and I;ve had it for well over a year now, I dont know what to do. And I have come to you. Everytime I go to the doctors he just gives me another SSRI which just makes things worse. sometimes I feel like I just wanna die. I feel sometimes "trapped" in my anxiety. Whenever I drink or do any downers I feel almost free and I understand thats a path to addiction but I wouldnt let it go that far, I only do that stuff maybe once or twice a month. Do you guys have any suggestions? I feel hopeless

[wikiinit]

Sometimes at school I would get an anxiety attack just because of the sheer number of people in the hall.

[Tammy1975]

Hi, I am so sorry you are going through this. I wanted to tell you that your not alone. I'm 35 now, but I vividly remember the days sitting in class, and the horror I felt when we were taking turns reading aloud, or other similar things like that. This started about when I was 14, I wanted so bad to be "myself" or what I thought I could be and my mind never let me. I dealt with it for years, quit school which was a relief at the moment because I didn't have to deal with that atmosphere. Now that I'm grown, it didn't go away....the same thing happens at work meetings etc. Alot of situations it seems this fear just consumes me. I think I hide it well, but not always and it's draining to hide it so much. I know you said your doctor gives you meds, but does he know they don't work? I currently started taking Lexapro 20mg which my dr. said the higher dose was to target the anxiety (since I dont really have depression, just anxiety). Talk to your dr. and don't hold back ANYTHING, don't be embarressed. Good luck.