moving away for college help

[alliew]

hi, i'm new to these forums and everything but i was just really hoping to find someone to relate to, it's easier for me to talk to people i don't know in real life. some background, i'm 18 and i just graduated high school and i'm going to be moving about 2 hours away for college in 3 weeks. anxiety runs in my family and sadly it didn't skip me, i suffered from pretty intense social anxiety in my younger years, especially from the ages of 13-16. the most stressful part of my life was when i was a freshman in high school, everyone around me appeared to make the transition from middle school to high school easily and i had a lot of trouble. i would have small anxiety attacks almost daily, i was highly irritable especially with my family, and i couldn't talk in class without panicking. i had a lot of hair loss and gained 10-15 pounds during this time, it was not good for me at all and watching my hair fall out and weight gain honestly just made everything worse. it took me over a year to get used to high school and get over the transition. my biggest fear upon graduating high school was that i was going to go through that again and ever since my 18th birthday (on july 18th, it was my golden birthday haha) i have felt the anxiety begin to set in. my irritability is back and i've barely left my room. i really just need reassurance i think, this is so hard for me. i don't feel ready to meet new people and start over, all of my friends are nervous-but-excited for college and i'm out here exclusively nervous.

thanks for reading/listening at least, and if anyone has any advice i would appreciate it so much. i do see a psychiatrist and i had been seeing him every 3 weeks for most of my senior year and last week he scheduled my next appointment for 6 days later. so it's really going down haha. this is terrible

[Kirk]

Our daughter is now almost 26 and I remember when she was going away to college, she was very nervous and we did not think she would be able
to handle it, but she really blossomed when away and really grew up. Think positively and this will also happen to you.

[The Intolerable Kid]

For the hair loss and weight gain, maybe look into adjusting your diet. I also went off to school at 18, 3 hours from where I grew up. Once you immerse yourself in it and you're busy accomplishing the goal of your degree you might find yourself adapting faster than you thought. Living arrangements are of paramount importance. I strongly recommend getting an apartment of your own vs a dorm situation. Having a sanctuary is extremely valuable. Dorms exacerbate stress and anxiety in my experience. Good luck.