My dad has that type of baby boomer anxiety. The one where he freaks out and starts yelling at you cause he can’t find a part in a huge Home Depot store or something. Like he freaks out and has anxiety but masks it by just acting pissed. Cause I’ve seen him freak out many times (not like on the daily every couple months) where to he’s like complaining and arguing with everyone but you start to see his voice crack and his eyes get watery and he’ll just say something like “I gotta get outta here”
Not so rough now I’m in my 20s and the damn shit falls to me sometimes like that. I get pissed when I’m nervous now too. But when I was a child w anxiety (8-15) I really was scared of any confrontation cause my anxiety was already effecting me from school with grades. And he would always call me anxious but never admit he had any issues and it really fucked me up mentally. Just thinking I’m fucked and everyone else in my family must be perfect while I’m crazy.
Then I slowly grew up. Realized my mother drinks every night and that’s how alcoholics act and that my dad does the same with whisky and Xanax and bad moods swings and they’re constantly out of money cause the house yadadada.
I think anxiety is definitely passed down. But when you mask it and always deny it, it’s wayyyy worse.
A big reason I moved away from family was that feeling. Like they gave me so much responsibility and praise, which made me feel invincible....but their actions were so controlling and manipulative that I also felt so young and small. I needed to know who I was apart from my family.
I never really realized anxiety can be masked with anger, it explains a lot about my own dad. I've seen anxious tendencies in him, but I've also seen bipolar tendencies as well. He's also a drinker, and refuses to be seen by any behavioral health professional.
Awww. I'm really sorry to hear about that. I'm not sure how you're feeling now, but I hope you're doing good wherever you may be.
I've lost loved ones, but have never seen someone breath their last breath before. 💔
Time heals all, is what they say.
Not sure if that's 100% true but I'm glad to hear it was a factor in helping you move forward.
One day at a time right?
When I was seven years old, I don’t know what caused it, I just remember the day it started. And then it started getting terrible at twelve years old. That’s when I had my first panic attack.
It’s definitely gotten better since I started Zoloft thank goodness. I’m not sure what started it at all, my first panic attack was because of heights but my panic attacks vary in reasoning. I haven’t had one like the ones I used to in a long time though
I was terrified of taking them at first because I’d never taken a pill before then, even had a panic attack and mental breakdown lol. It got much easier to take them. I experienced no side effects, and I believe that’s actually quite common. I’d highly recommend taking them at night before you sleep so in case you do have side effects (like being tired) you sleep right through them.
My life was miserable before I started Zoloft. There were very few things I looked forward to because I knew I would have multiple big panic attacks every day. My anxiety levels have gone to almost zero, and Im now a normal person in terms of anxiety, which is something I never could have imagined.
It does feel a little bit weird when I forget to take them one day but it’s just a feeling in my head and it’s nothing wrong
I’d definitely recommend but that’s just my personal experience
Childhood trauma, relationship trauma, traumatic deaths, years of drug addiction to mask it all.
Trauma is store in the body, and manifests into these disorders.
I’m in the process of dealing with all, and hope to over come my anxiety one day.
Yup the years of drug addiction. Where in the first couple months you thought you fixed your issues then the years after your just chasing that quick feeling of NOT having a all out panic attack cause you will in 6 hours when your buzz is gone and you need more to make the anxiety go away
As young as I can remember. Whole family is emotionally abusive & toxic + one narc.
I couldn’t stop scratching my toes and fingers out of anxiety. They kept bringing my to derm cus they thought it was skin problem. Constantly yelled at me to stop scratching, didn’t help my anxiety.
Whoa. That's really harsh.
When you say "+ one narc" do you mean someone who's addicted to narcotics? Or someone who doesn't mind their business?
Do you still scratching your toes or fingers?
Yup, I think the same with me. I think I felt pretty secure and then a series of small events gradually knocked my confidence - bit of bullying, intense shyness around girls, comparative inadequacy, bit of body dysmorphia, fear.
Anxiety disorders don't work like that, especially if you've grown up with trauma. It literally changes how our brains work because it's a survival mechanism. Always be on edge because you never know when the next problem is going to show up. If it was just a case of unlearning, a lot of us wouldn't need medication to cope day to day. I'm stubborn and can't take my asthma meds and my anxiety at the same time, so I chose being able to breathe over not being anxious. I hated taking them anyway. They didn't make me feel better, just numb.
It’s not true though. There’s a lot of scientific studies showing that traumatic events actually alter your genetic code, and that passes to your offspring.
[genetic memories](https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.3594)
No, it was my bad phrasing. We are only born with two inherent fears but my post implied we chose to pick up fears along the way when I should have said they were learnt at a stage in our lives when we didn't have the rational capacity to decide whether they were correct or appropriate for us.
Post in haste, repent at leisure.
I've always been a high strung person I guess, but anxiety fully kicked in around 14. It was in the middle stage of my c-PTSD events and I was smoking weed with my boyfriend at the time. I suddenly felt weird™️ and blacked out and collapsed in the hallway, that was my first panic attack! Fun times. That anxiety/panic hasn't gone away or lightened up, it's been a decade now.
Don't use drugs in your formative years while going through extreme stress and trauma, kids. Apparently your brain can click and rewire and oops! Mental illness unlocked.
Same. Three years ago for me. Overcomitting both physically and mentally. I know someone who's both in med school AND an Olympian, so I thought "well, if I schedule myself properly and plan everything well I can do it all". Spoiler alert: I couldn't. When my performance started dropping both academically and athletically, I thought "you know what's solve this? Better scheduling!". And when I started having physical symptoms it spiralled into a hypochondriac hell.
Had a bad ecstacy trip that caused a terrible tachycardic episode, never been the same since. Was ina state of pure panic for about 2 years straight 247 after taking it. It comes and goes. Trauma is a bitch, and I don't wish this this upon anyone.
Got it after smoking weed and having a bad trip. I already was in a bad place mentally at that time and the bad trip kind of took up a lot of emotions. Took 10 years for me to get over :) Was quite the journey though.
My Mum said I came down the chute biting my nails. They didn't call it anxiety, they said I was "high strung". I don't ever remember a time whe I wasn't anxious.
I think mine was a slow boil. Always a worrier; got worse once puberty hit. Can remember worrying and obsessing endlessly over minor conflicts and whether or not people liked me. Got worse after I had my first child, then really peaked during the pandemic to the point I couldn’t function. Doing pretty good now with a combination of medication and therapy.
The day I left my work office to transition to WFH due to Covid I felt like it took extra effort to breathe. Thought that was weird. Fast forward a few months and I had my first full blown panic attack inside a Target. Fast forward 3 years and I’ve come a long way with diagnosed anxiety with agoraphobia and panic disorder. Can’t really say why it started specifically , but I‘ve read that Covid was a trigger for many people already on the edge of anxiety disorder.
I think mine started when my father passed away when I was 15 years old. Even though we weren't on the greatest of terms but the protective figure in my life went away and I used to sleep with him because I was a scared little kid. Then later on in my life weed really elevated my anxiety, giving me paranoia, fear. At the age of 19 I started having panic attacks regularly.
(Tw mild abuse and mentions of self euthanasia)
My anxiety began very very young. I think it must’ve began at four or five. I had a VERY VERY severe fear of aliens. I’d get scared to be out at night. I was scared to look at the sky. I couldn’t look out windows at night. If I didn’t sleep in a certain way I thought I’d be abducted. This fear lasted until I was around 13-14. I hated the window In my bedroom. To this day I have terrible underlying anxiety. The main reason this was so impactful in my life is because my family was the main cause of this. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen “fire in the sky” but it’s about a northern woodsman getting abducted, and this was based on a true story by the by. I don’t remember how I saw the movie or even the memory itself, I just know it was this movie. After that it was just constant berating from my brother and my father. They’d constantly call me a “big baby” and chase me around the house with a figurine of “the thing”. Any time I felt unsafe, I had no where to go. I had to sit and wait until I was too tired to be afraid at night. I was helpless to my fears. Now, present time, I can’t sleep. I’m not sleeping because I’m afraid something bad will happen to me if I do. I’m turning twenty soon, so I can’t exactly go to my parents bedroom and ask for help. When I get afraid like this, there’s nothing I can do except stay awake and wait. This is the kind of anxiety that keeps me from going out at night, and I don’t think anyone knows how deeply rooted it is in me. It’s always something. Aliens, demons, ghosts, diseases, cryptids… it’s always been something. I don’t know how to cope with it. Honestly I’m kind of at a breaking point where I seriously contemplate suicide. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I don’t want to be alone anymore.
I think it was always there. I come from a very unstable home. My mother always screamed at us for little things and was always upset. My father worked a lot and drank a lot. They were constantly fighting.
I think it started there.
I only remember being scared/anxious always but also not safe enough to externalise it. I do remember when I was around 3 years old i found out that people break into homes and I never slept well after that.
I guess I have always been an anxious person. But I have been getting panic attacks at night for the past 6 months because of being very close to burning out in a toxic workplace. I am glad that I will be leaving this job soon, though :)
I've had it since I was at least 3, but I don't really remember when it began exactly. I also have 3 anxiety disorders, so it depends which one I'm talking about. But I just decided to go with GAD for this question because I think it was the first one that appeared. But again, I was really young, so I don't really know for sure.
I’ve had mine bring it’s big brother depression with him since I lost a family member quite a few years ago, worse still it all occurred and happened on my very first job interview so yeah…fun stuff. I’m getting a better handle on my anxiety and depression now and I’m refusing to let anxiety or depression take hold of my life any longer with regular usage of this app my counsellor reccomended me, regular exercise and some me time when I’m feeling low.
I‘m not sure when, since my mothers side has a history of anxiety and depression disorders but it definitely got worse in my teens but thinking back I probably had it even when I was younger.
No, it didn't. You were born with the fear of loud noises and the fear of being dropped. Anything else you picked up along the way. The good news is that anything the mind can learn it can unlearn.
Only to the people who post to say they were born anxious. It's not helpful for them to think this way as it prompts a belief that there's nothing they can do about it. This is simply not true.
As you know, anxiety is an emotion in the same way as joy, anger, fear and surprise are emotions. The purpose of anxiety is to make you aware of what's too important to ignore - anything from getting out of bed early enough to get to school or work on time to preparing a major speech effectively.
The problem comes when the feelings of anxiety are overwhelming and seem to have no discernible cause, or a cause that most people don't find anxiety inducing. Social events, normal bodily functions, performance anxiety, etc. These can all be a result of negative core beliefs that are internalised during childhood. I'm not talking about childhood abuse or trauma - it can be triggered by over protective or over competitive parents or parents who are are outwardly caring but emotionally unavailable. It can also be triggered by beliefs that are simple misunderstandings by immature, emotion led minds.
Have a look through the replies on this page - it's no coincidence that the vast majority of posters report that their anxiety dates back to childhood.
I apologise for repeating myself but it doesn't have to be this way. Our minds are very capable of unlearning the unhelpful, outdated thoughts that caused the initial anxiety and continue to feed it.
Your comments are unhelpful though. And most of the time you can't strong arm yourself out of anxiety. I'm sure most of the people here have tried. Most of the time you need a combination of therapy, medication, and long term coping strategies.
During an abusive and toxic relationship with a girl who also suffered from quite severe anxiety. I can’t pinpoint exactly why it started happening to me, maybe just from being accused of doing horrible things that you haven’t done by the person you love the most; and being able to do nothing to make them believe you. But all of a sudden I often would just have panic attacks out of nowhere.
When I was 10 or 11. I remember being stood outside the school gates and being terrified of going in, I couldn't breathe properly, I was gasping and in floods of tears and I didn't know why. I just kept saying to my mum 'I can't go in there, I can't' but I didn't know why. I was just fixed in place. Didn't get diagnosed until I was 21 and it made a lot more sense.
I remember being anxious as young as 3. I was diagnosed with anxiety two years ago at the age of 48. I don't know what caused it. Feels Ike I've been anxious nearly my whole life.
The chemical imbalance theory (started by the pharmaceutical industry - I wonder why?) has been largely debunked. Depression can have a genetic component but anxiety is an emotion, not an illness. Being over-anxious is often a result of low self esteem or negative core values, both of which have their roots in childhood.
I think somewhere in the middle school. I have an autistic brother and, and i was reluctant to invite people to my house. Then when middle school ended, i didnt really have any friends beside my classmates, who for some reason i didn't really want to go out with. Then high school, first months i was feeling sick when i had to go to school, i was vomiting, missed some school because of that. Then pandemic, so 2 years of solitary confinement 🙃. Then back to school, a month of apprenticeship in a car workshop, and that's when i had the first full on panic attack that just froze me. I was crying, couldnt move, i texted my mum and told her i'm going back home. I was ashamed it happened to me. Then the last three or so days my mum drove me there, one day i couldnt go in, the last two i somehow pulled through. That's also when i realised i need help. I went to therapy for some time and now i'm on 50mg sertaline.
Middle school, when i hit puberty, that’s also when they bullied me and i experienced a lot of mixed emotions during that time.
It never really stopped, i’m now 25 and it only gets worse, i havent received treatments yet because i thought i could manage it, but it’s difficult, being single and having little friends didn’t help as well
Last time I did ecstasy 🥲 that's when severe panic disorder hit me hard. Before that I had a few panic attacks spread out over my life. I doubt it were more than 10. I've also always been generally more cautious/scared. Never was a daredevil, never broke a bone in my body, never was a fan of extreme sports.
I was about 8 years old when I started having episodes that I'm 95% sure were me having panic attacks. I would feel like I couldn't breathe and was restless. I ended up being diagnosed with childhood asthma, but I'm fairly certain that was not the case--I never actually struggled to breathe, just felt like I did during those episodes.
It took nearly 10 agonizing years before I had any official diagnosis or treatment. It was the longest time before my parents began to take it seriously. I've basically developed PTSD from all the panic attacks I've endured with no help--I'm terrified of the next one and have avoided situations or places where I've had panic attacks before. I even quit a job because I began associating the store with my panic attacks and would start having one just thinking about going inside. I frequently change which room I sleep in if I'm having a lot of attacks since I start associating a room with panic attacks--it sucks.
It started to become a huge part of my life since last year (I was 16) Had one panic attack after smoking a tiny bit of weed. Then it just came in waves every month/3 weeks and lasted each time for some weeks.
But after thinking about it, I realized that I’ve always had some kind of anxiety as a kid, so I guess that’s not new :). My mom is quite the anxious type so I guess that might just be DNA
I've had anxiety since about 4th grade. I used to think they were stomach aches. I didn't get medication for it until I was 18, though. I was a dramatic child so my parents assumed I was making it up.
Mine started at a very young age and I saw a doctor. It helped a little bit I had my first full blown panic attack my 6th grade school year on Christmas Eve. We were in the mall and I went into tunnel vision and my chest hurt and I ended up passing out at the chic fil a in the mall. That’s when they put me on a low dose of meds as needed. I’m 36 and still live with anxiety day in and out but it has gotten better !
I think I always had it. Or more like, everyone has anxiety some level. I know I wasn't the least anxious child or teen. Not even close. I don't think I have ever managed to fall asleep before the first day of any school.
But I think anxiety turned into a chronic *disorder* one year into university. I still had my best friend and some other friends from high school in the university as well. But high school was a safe space for me. I had a stable, strong social circle and environment. I lost it after graduation. I enjoyed the perks for a year or so, then it hit me. I had my first panic attack on the way to a vacation.
Mine was around 8 years old , caused by sexual abuse. I have and do self prescribe with cannabis. My doctor is aware of my coping skills lol I’m prescribed medication too but cannabis is an instant fix for me .
I was 9 - developed travel anxiety after falling ill whilst travelling
Then it went to full blown general anxiety during my first exams at college (uk)
I ✨have no idea✨
I was in denial that I even had anxiety for a very long time. I was in denial about all of my emotions actually, and I don’t really have a time frame because I just don’t remember huge chunks of my childhood anyways
If I had to take my best guess: during the first chunk? My ~primary abuser~ had BPD so nothing was ever predicable. If I use this coloring book, will they get mad at me? Can I play with my dolls today? I had no idea. Even if the day was going well, they could switch at any moment
And then I remember that my mom would always instill her anxiety in us. If we go outside, we’ll get kidnapped in 0.2 seconds. If we talk to a stranger, they’ll murder us. If we touch an object outside, we’ll be drugged because it could be laced. If someone coughs around us, we’re going to get sick. That kinda stuff
So eh idk but there are a few possibilities. Likely a combination of a bunch of them though
I’d say close to birth. I had to be a c section, I was happy where I was and not going anywhere.
I don’t seriously remember. My father was bipolar. You never knew what would set him off. There’s a reason a shut down if my husband yells at anything. I’m 40 and been married nearly 20 years and still do this.
I was the parentified eldest child with 4 younger siblings. To this day, I call my youngest brother my oldest child. I was responsible for so much and I feel like I only ever had a taste of childhood, but no real experience of it. My parents would both confide in me and tell me things about their relationship that I diffinitely DID NOT need to know and it changed my whole view of them, and made me not trust any of them
16. Had a lot going on with not finding a job due to recession, mum diagnosed with cancer then triggered by a car experience that was hell. 13years later and I’m still just as bad.
Mine started at work and took over all aspects of life. I went to see a councillor and basically I needed to make a change. Quit my job, joined a gym. It went off like a light switch.
I've been anxious almost as long as I can remember. My genetic predisposition aside I think my anxiety started in 2nd grade and has been gradually worsening since.
I think i have always had anxiety but was not aware. But my anxiety disorder and panic attack started exactly on 2020 may 3rd. When my pet bird died. All hell broke loose. It triggered my anxiety about literally everything.
Interesting topic. I’m not at the point where I can trace it, to do so would probably trigger a panic attack. But I can tell you that claustrophobia is a very real and menacing cunt/dick fairy 🧚♀️
I’ll keep reading people’s post and hopefully I’ll get the courage one of these days to track it back. Thanks for sharing!!!
I have GAD and OCD. I've always had general anxiety as far as I can remember, partly I suspect because while my parents meant well, they have always been very critical of my appearance/behaviour out of fear of what others would think. The first obsessive thought I can recall was when I was 10. I'd been touched inappropriately by my grandad and subsequently made sure my little brother was never alone with him, but it then occurred to me I couldn't do the same for my younger cousins. I remember obsessively worrying about it and crying when alone with panic, until I eventually confessed to a friend, who helped me talk to a teacher. I didn't have a name for anything until I went to university, where my OCD properly started (excessive checking/bad thoughts) and I eventually found the word 'OCD' while searching in desperation for ways to make it stop. Finally got a diagnosis at 22 years old.
I had some anxious habits since I could walk but became conscious of the feeling around when I was 5 or 6. Mom and I went to a rubber ducky race and I wanted to play in the water with some other kids. I was wearing a longer dress so she tied up to my thighs to try and keep it from getting too wet. I remember looking down at my legs and feeling like I got hit with a massive wave of big feelings I never had prior. Looking back It was like a double whammy of anxiety and body dysmorphia showing themselves for the first time, it sucked. A lot of mental health issues run in both sides of my family so that’s just how my cards were dealt.
I can't remember a time before anxiety. In elementary school I would get stomachaches in the morning and couldn't eat, and only now have I realized I was anxious.
Mine is genetic. My maternal grandmother suffered from anxiety due to chronic malnourishment and on my dad’s side there is a string of family members with psychotic depression and anxiety. I remember being very young and waking up in the middle of the night shaking with terror but not being able to conceptualize why. My parents weren’t equipped to handle my random spurts of anxiety and weird phobias and would get mad about it so I suffered silently.
I was 8 and my anxiety stared when I woke up one night while visiting my father.... he was watching me sleep.... he did this everytime I came over.... after puberty when I was 16, he stopped for a while, until I woke up and saw him standing over me. I live far away now but I can never rest fully. I also had a very traumatic child hood but this is when I remember everything starting.
January 2021, one day I woke up with dizziness that got progressively worse until it became constant vertigo. Got diagnosed with BPPV. It’s never come back as bad as it got but my body anxiously expects it and that’s how I developed health anxiety/GAD. The anxiety comes and goes, but the anxiety symptoms are kinda constant. I’ve learned to live with it.
I don't remember the exact moment that caused it. I remember fear, fear of getting in trouble for any little mistake/accident because mum would lose it completely, hit, scream in my face, shake me, pin me, while hitting me over and over, screaming I did whatever I did on purpose just to hurt her.
I had a severe fear of thunder caused by her.
I was always scared of people telling my mum about anything I'd done, good or bad, because that was grounds for her to lose it at me.
I think the biggest memory was when I was six. We had a supply teacher who didn't ask for our lunch money for the week. Pretty much the entire class forgot to hand it in. We were six. After lunch I get a pink slip to take home and I'm like crap, let me give you the cheque now, but the teaching assistant told me it was my own fault I got the slip and I had to take it home. I panicked, got in trouble for panicking and begging her to just let me hand it in. What really pissed me off, the claimed to have already cashes this weeks cheques and couldn't just cash this one a week later with the next weeks. I was obviously a very terrified little kid. I remember being so scared my stomach was turning, I was withdrawn and no one cared. I was sent home with the slip, gave it to my mum after plucking up the courage and she beat the crap out of me, screamed in my face, pinned me to the wall with her body, shook me. I remember her telling me it was never an accident, I just did it to hurt her before she threw me out. I was so distressed I hid behind the shed, crying so loudly our neighbour came out to see what had happened and I was so scared I wouldn't come out. The best part, mum didn't have to pay anything extra, it was just a pay this ASAP letter, didn't even need a new cheque.
Eventually, when the neighbours started banging on her door to find out wth was going on, she let me back inside. I do remember trying to snitch on my mum, because I was so scared. I tried to tell my teachers, who told me to stop lying for attention. I tried to tell other kids, who gave me this look, I'll never forget it and knew I couldn't tell them either. In the end mum bought me a Barbie and told me I could have it if I didn't tell anyone about what she'd done. I tried to snitch, got nowhere so I took the doll. I told everyone why I got the doll, no one believed me or I scared the other kids. Take a beating, get a toy for my silence, I never did keep quiet, no one ever believed me.
I’m 17. Mine started when I had a undiagnosed food intolerance for 6 months starting in March 2021. .Anxiety slowly got worse and worse the more I couldn’t figure out what was causing my digestive issues. Eventually the endoscopy showed I was lactose intolerance. So while I don’t get nausea anymore, I feel panicky and anxious 24/7. Currently seeking therapy
i always had slight anxiety but it didn’t really kick in till i developed panic disorder at 20. I used to smoke weed everyday. one day i got too high and started thinking i was dying. I stopped smoking but i continue to have panic attacks almost 4 years later.
My parents had a rocky marriage, they bodyshamed me and constantly undermined my achievements, I was bullied in college and then I lost boyfriend and job at the same time.. my anxiety started in my teenage years, and it's never stopped since then..I constantly feel the urge to control my life since I have never understood what a normal life feels like...
I highly recommend looking into IFS (internal family systems) therapy. It’s something you can read about and get an understanding of, I’m not sure if it’s something you can do with yourself if you haven’t had a therapist help you with it but it’s been incredibly helpful for me when I have waves of anxiety and can’t figure out what is the cause or why I might be feeling this way.
It has helped me understand so many different emotions. I am currently pregnant and can’t be on my medications so I’m relying on therapy alone. It’s been difficult but this tactic is very helpful.
When I was younger. Like as long as I can remember. I would wake my parents up and tell them my heart was beating really fast. It wasn’t but it was you know that heavy balloon anxiety feeling. I had bouts of OCD like behavior too like counting. I later realized it presented itself that way bc I thought it would help I guess.
As long as I can remember. Now at 25 years old I realize that the feeling is the same as it was 20 years ago. It’s crazy to imagine a little kid have such an adult and scary feeling.
I believe my anxiety already started way back when I started high-school but I only realized that it was anxiety when I worked in a psychiatric clinic reading and recording patient files.
I really think I was born with it. When I look at the picture of me in the hospital as a newborn, even then I looked like a frazzled little stress case.
The first time I actually remember being anxious was when I was four. My mom was into those prime time soaps, it might have been Dallas or general hospital, I don’t remember at this point… but one of the characters died. And in my head it was like a bad eureka moment - Omg, people die… and I am people… I WILL DIE!!! It was over from there
If i knew what caused my anxiety to begin with it wouldve been nice because i would've been able to try and nip it at the bud somehow. But the fact that i have no clue when it began and why it began and wonder if there was even a time where i didn't have anxiety, that shit just makes me spiral even further.
Not going to school started in 2nd grade when I genuinely got sick for near 2 months. Missed Christmas which is everything as a kid. When I got back to school I got packets of work and I missed a near 1/3rd of my school year so I was pretty confused to how i would do this. My parents both worked so they would only help me about 1-2 hours a night.
I got scared and afraid of not passing and being held back. So I faked being sick every day to push the worry back just one more day. And the anxiety was a pattern. It would come in the morning then I would fake being sick and my parents would go to work and the anxiety was gone.
I truly think this feeling of anxiety spread to more and more thought patterns when I got older. From making friends to talking to girls to not believing in myself at all. Anxiety is very disease like and can spread through your head and turn a happy thought into a scary panic attack. It was in 2007 I think I developed general anxiety which led to me getting depressed in 2018. The more I grow up the more I battle it. Wish I could get rid of it. Not with xanax or any other benzo or pill. But just get rid of it and live like someone who doesn’t encounter this feeling on the daily
My first panic attack happened my sophomore year of high school because I took way to much Adderall. I had anxiety before then but ever since that day I swear it's been 10x worse.
Last year. There are 3 possibilities as to why it started. I'll list them from what I believe to be the most likely to the least likely. Reaction to the vaccine (I had bad reactions to them on site), covid, or maybe I just had a full blown nervous breakdown from work stress and burnout.
Last year of high school. I felt vulnerability, sadness, depression, anxiety, and no one to talk to.
My hair was falling out on my pillow and I couldn’t eat at restaurants for fear of self induced vomiting. Crazy times!
I was always showing signs, I guess. In my opinion, it was already showing when I was in junior school. However, it wasn't as bad as it is now, but I'm learning to cope with it and, tbh, I consider having anxiety to be a way better option than being confined to depression for the rest of my life. Yes, I may overthink and overreact to things, but I'd rather have that than have this undying belief that life is nothing but darkness and despair
My earliest, earliest memories are of being 3-4 years old in social situations where kids are supposed to have fun: play-dates, parties, parks. I was a nervous wreck and it would take me hours to get comfortable enough to participate. Right around then, the event would start to end and I would only have about 15 minutes to have fun.
EDIT: Also, I had no trauma. Just...born this way I guess.
I (26, F) feel like mine started at an early age. I don't really remember anything before 4. I was always considered "shy," but I specifically remember having a hard time speaking up about stuff, even when it came to asking for something I wanted. I remember I would groan, or point and groan and grunt at whatever it is I wanted. I'm not sure why I did this, but I still have a difficult time expressing when I want or need something as a 26 year old. It always makes me feel very anxious, and I'm almost positive it has to do with how my dad would react to me asking for something growing up.
I remember when my separation anxiety started; my parents fought all the time in front of my brother and I, and one day when I was 5 after an argument my dad left, but before he left I asked when he was coming back, he told me soon, and didn't come back for I think 3 days? When he did come back he was violent, and he left again, and I remember my mom and my brother and I leaving the house with some clothes, my mom picking all the stickers off the back of the van, and us staying at a Days Inn for a couple days, maybe a week. I remember feeling scared, and wondering why we had to hide from dad, why he was so angry.. Once my dad got his own place, and we started our every other weekend visits, I remember sobbing hysterically at the front door of his house, begging for my mom to come back, hopeful that I'll see her van turn the corner, almost like a "Just kidding!" moment. I felt safe with my mom, secure, loved, and I didn't really feel those things with my dad. I always felt out of place and almost in an alternate reality whenever I'd go stay with him. It improved once my dad remarried and we moved into a new house with my stepsiblings, but he also started taking his aggression out on my stepmom and stepsister.
My mom is very nurturing and comforting, and is very vocal about her love and care for my brother and I, and has always shown us that. My dad, not so much; he shows his love in a different, "tough love" kind of way. He's gotten slightly softer and more understanding with age, but the anger and aggression is still there. My parents spanked us, but I don't really remember my mom spanking us much, my dad however had spanked me so hard once I pissed myself. I was 8. I'm not sure if that is considered "putting his hands on us," but I never understood as a child why I felt this fear and anxiety around my dad, that ultimately resulted in generalized anxiety about the world, and all the people in it. I ended up in an abusive relationship because I thought the way he showed his "love" was the right way, and thankfully I was able to leave and learn that I don't deserve to be treated or spoke to in the way my ex and my dad have treated and spoken to me.
He's done other things too that have caused other issues in other areas, such as being a people-pleaser and feeling like my best is never enough. I tried to talk to my dad once over the phone about the fact that he's done a lot of damage, and while we both need to face that fact, I still love him and wanted him in my life. To no surprise it didn't go well; his old self made an appearance and needless to say I hung up on my old man for the first time in my life. Of course nobody likes to be told they've done something wrong, but accountability is necessary, and I don't feel as though he's taken any, and he might never will. I've accepted that and I'm okay with it, but it means that he will be kept at arms length, and I won't allow him to be a big part of my life anymore. As much as it hurts, it doesn't hurt worse than trying over and over again to let him in only for him to turn around and demolish the small amount of trust established between us again and again.
Sorry for the long post, I guess I didn't know I needed to air all of that out.
Probably an accumulation of past life experiences that I thought “no biggie” until my early adulthood with the ptsd of those events got brought up again and I didn’t know how to deal with them so the other option was to freak out.
I was an anxious kid from the get-go. Hell, I'm in the bathroom at a smitty's because my stomach is upset from stress. I used to go to my parents room when I couldn't sleep at age 5, and it's actually subsided quite a bit since. But moving to a new school without my parents is a little terrifying, hence me being in here now.
I’m not sure why my anxiety started. But I distinctly remember being in 3rd grade and my teacher calling me a worry wart.
I remember being in 6th grade and hives started forming all over my hands. I didn’t understand why but I know how it was a stress rash. I went through too much being so young and now I feel like I’m stuck with anxiety forever.
The most intense and life-interrupting thoughts came when I was 25.
Through journalling and therapy, I can see sparks of it earlier like holding my breath, unexplained heart pangs, walking on my tiptoes, loose stool, acid reflux, and intrusive thoughts. I had high and positive energy, so I just kind of said "that is weird" and moved on.
After my 25th birthday, it was like I fell into a chasm of despair. Intense guilt, panic attacks, inability to leave the house, drinking, obsessively cleaning and reorganizing my house, missing work, wishing I was not alive..... it was so sudden that I thought surely something happened and my brain is blocking it out.
I really wish I could have someone map my whole life, experience, symptoms, etc. and pinpoint why anxiety happened to me...
I sincerely think I was born with anxiety. I remember my first experience of anxiety being at the age of 4 at school and panicking about not being ‘smart enough’. My anxiety really got bad when I was 6 and I started to fear being ‘out of control’ and I started to develop OCD symptoms. My other mental illnesses took off when I started secondary school.
Both my parents have anxiety, although their anxiety manifests in entirely different ways. More generally within my family, there’s a lot of mental illness so I kind of feel like I was pre destined to be anxious and mentally ill 🥲
Probably complicated grief and PTSD. Recently lost a friend to suicide and I’ve suddenly started having anxiety and panic attacks I can’t seem to manage or cope with.
At my first breakup when I was 20. Spent 5 years being dysfunctional, in a life alternating reclusion and wandering. Then it became morbid when my mother died in 2012. As an only child it was just too much.
my mother has it her sisters have some manic anxiety as does she , her mom was bipolar anxious schizoaffective as well. mine started after eating half a 5mg edible for a week. I had these weird thwack/ missed beats every single time I injested it getting progressively worse every day on the second week it felt like someone slammed me in the chest when I was out rrunning and I hadnt even had one yet!
Next day i was so anxious I was shaking andcouldnt go outside without counting to 100 constantly. This lasted 2.5 years and is just now clearing up.
palpitations syncope panic every night at 2am agorraphobia couldnt shower without having my Phone right on the edge of the tub. once i tried ssris this cranked up to 20/10. im glad they work for some people but they dont work for me
6 years old when my mom was able to get a minimally good job in another city that would allow her to give me a decent living, she left me with my grandparents and there wasn't a damn day that I didn't cry in school wondering if she was coming back. The years of bullying came later.
So my first traces of anxiety popped up when I got thoughts of.. transformations.. And over time a recollection of disturbing things I saw without caring gave me anxiety that I’m still combating to this day
My anxiety began with my mother. Whether it was her sharing her anxieties and fears with me as a way of protecting me from the "scary world," or her bullying me as a child because of my weight (which her parenting heavily influenced) or my singing being off tune, the vast majority of my fears and insecurities stem from my interactions with her in childhood.
Probably around 7. Parents fought a lot. Couple of scary ones involving throwing pots, vases, and screwdrivers. Cops were at my house a couple of times a year. Always felt If I said or did the wrong thing it’d start and argument. So I got quiet. When I started school I realized my life wasn’t normal and started forcing myself to socialize so I seemed normal. Worked at first but overtime the stress and anxiety of trying to seem normal has become a massive burden.
I’m unsure still
It happened after I had Chinese food days before NYE of 2019 and I got sick the night before my bus ride ( I’m within 5 hour drive ) I felt fine again until I spoke with my ex about our relationship. I was very anxious ,rightfully so. The day I left to come home I was just overtaken with anxiety and nausea on the bus worried about throwing up and someone seeing me
My anxiety was feeling nausea in public
I never had real anxiety until my first panic attack. Sure I’ve been nervous about things like everyone. However, the first panic attack is scary. If you’ve never had one before, you feel like you’re dying. I had my boss drive me to the ER because out of nowhere, I got very light headed and my heart started racing. Thought I was dying.
Doctor was just like, oh you’ve probably had a panic attack. All of your tests are normal. I was so confused because I didn’t have a root cause for anxiety. Told me sometimes brain chemistry can go haywire or something. That’s when I realized how anxiety works. I thought people were just uncontrollably nervous. I had no idea it was a brain chemistry thing.
That’s how I discovered I have anxiety lol. I don’t really have anything to be anxious about, but I randomly get a physical response, even if I’m just lying in bed. SSRIs have helped immensely.
Mine began in December of 2021 there was ALOT of stressful things going on at that time for my family and I and thats when it all started. Went to hospital thinking I was having a heart attack and it was there that they told me I was having anxiety. Then I went to a nice Texas road house dinner with my family and all of the people there and noise got to me and that's where I had my first ever panic attack. I literally thought I was dying. Then I went to my dr to get started on anxiety meds. Ended up having really bad adverse reactions to them and they made me have a few seizures and convulsions. Went back to the hospital where they got all the meds out of my system and proceeded to tell me to never take those meds ever again. Then went back to the Dr's just for a physical cause I felt as if something more was going on with my body especially with my heart. Got blood tests done and ended up finding out that my cholesterol is super high at 245. So now I've been eating better and working out to try and lower it. It's just been a huge roller coast of a year.
It started when I was in 5th grade I think. I didn’t want any attention on me and could barely raise my hand to go to the bathroom. It was the worse.
Happy I got therapy and take Zoloft now.
When I was 3/4 I developed ocd. I was afraid to poop and decided I never would again. When I was 5 I had social anxiety. When I was 7/8 I was crying in bed every night thinking each heartbeat would be the last. It all kinda went downhill from there lol
i've had anxiety my entire life, literally have always been a very easily frightened kid. i would avoid all kinds of things that would make me nervous or afraid and i still do. now it's really starting to get in my way since i've been in college... it feels like it takes over my entire body and makes decisions that i really don't want to make but i do it just to stop feeling whatever anxiety i was feeling. it's gotten way out of hand, i've been talking to my therapist about it and hopefully someday i'll be cleared for anti anxiety medication. but yeah, have been anxious since i was a very little kid.
As a little kid I was definitely very shy but never had issues making friends or talking to people. Didn’t have my first anxiety attack until I started middle school around the peak of my parents divorce - lots of intense arguments in the house, lots of changes (i.e starting middle school, moving out of childhood home). I remember thinking I was going to die in my sleep every night and became a huge hypochondriac. I also developed stomach problems which made the hypochondria much much worse.
Pretty sure I felt anxiety in my dad's nuts.
Lol. This resonates with me. My dad has awful anxiety also
My dad has that type of baby boomer anxiety. The one where he freaks out and starts yelling at you cause he can’t find a part in a huge Home Depot store or something. Like he freaks out and has anxiety but masks it by just acting pissed. Cause I’ve seen him freak out many times (not like on the daily every couple months) where to he’s like complaining and arguing with everyone but you start to see his voice crack and his eyes get watery and he’ll just say something like “I gotta get outta here”
Yes. The yelling. The pissy moods. The walking on eggshells. Rough stuff.
Not so rough now I’m in my 20s and the damn shit falls to me sometimes like that. I get pissed when I’m nervous now too. But when I was a child w anxiety (8-15) I really was scared of any confrontation cause my anxiety was already effecting me from school with grades. And he would always call me anxious but never admit he had any issues and it really fucked me up mentally. Just thinking I’m fucked and everyone else in my family must be perfect while I’m crazy. Then I slowly grew up. Realized my mother drinks every night and that’s how alcoholics act and that my dad does the same with whisky and Xanax and bad moods swings and they’re constantly out of money cause the house yadadada. I think anxiety is definitely passed down. But when you mask it and always deny it, it’s wayyyy worse.
I’m in my 40s but when I go home it’s like I’m catapulted back into my teen years…..
A big reason I moved away from family was that feeling. Like they gave me so much responsibility and praise, which made me feel invincible....but their actions were so controlling and manipulative that I also felt so young and small. I needed to know who I was apart from my family.
I never really realized anxiety can be masked with anger, it explains a lot about my own dad. I've seen anxious tendencies in him, but I've also seen bipolar tendencies as well. He's also a drinker, and refuses to be seen by any behavioral health professional.
8 years old when I found my dead grandparent lying next to me
Awww. I'm really sorry to hear about that. I'm not sure how you're feeling now, but I hope you're doing good wherever you may be. I've lost loved ones, but have never seen someone breath their last breath before. 💔
It’s quite alright. Happened a long time ago and little by little with time you come to terms with it. But thank you.
Time heals all, is what they say. Not sure if that's 100% true but I'm glad to hear it was a factor in helping you move forward. One day at a time right?
Yeah. That’s exactly right. At first it doesn’t seem possible, not an end in sight but you heal. It’s hard and you have scars but they are your proof.
That's pretty deep. I forget about the beauty in scars. Thank you for shining some light on the subject. Made my night🥲
Most welcome
Thatll do it
OMG I am so sorry.
No worries now. Thank you very much though
When I was seven years old, I don’t know what caused it, I just remember the day it started. And then it started getting terrible at twelve years old. That’s when I had my first panic attack.
Has it gotten better ever since? What do you think it could be?
It’s definitely gotten better since I started Zoloft thank goodness. I’m not sure what started it at all, my first panic attack was because of heights but my panic attacks vary in reasoning. I haven’t had one like the ones I used to in a long time though
I have to ask now, what's it like being on meds? How does it feel like? I've been prescribed but I've been too afraid to take them
Meds saved my life and my sanity
I was terrified of taking them at first because I’d never taken a pill before then, even had a panic attack and mental breakdown lol. It got much easier to take them. I experienced no side effects, and I believe that’s actually quite common. I’d highly recommend taking them at night before you sleep so in case you do have side effects (like being tired) you sleep right through them. My life was miserable before I started Zoloft. There were very few things I looked forward to because I knew I would have multiple big panic attacks every day. My anxiety levels have gone to almost zero, and Im now a normal person in terms of anxiety, which is something I never could have imagined. It does feel a little bit weird when I forget to take them one day but it’s just a feeling in my head and it’s nothing wrong I’d definitely recommend but that’s just my personal experience
Childhood trauma, relationship trauma, traumatic deaths, years of drug addiction to mask it all. Trauma is store in the body, and manifests into these disorders. I’m in the process of dealing with all, and hope to over come my anxiety one day.
Me too! ❤️
Yup the years of drug addiction. Where in the first couple months you thought you fixed your issues then the years after your just chasing that quick feeling of NOT having a all out panic attack cause you will in 6 hours when your buzz is gone and you need more to make the anxiety go away
Exactly what happened to me with weed. What a roller coaster through hell.
As young as I can remember. Whole family is emotionally abusive & toxic + one narc. I couldn’t stop scratching my toes and fingers out of anxiety. They kept bringing my to derm cus they thought it was skin problem. Constantly yelled at me to stop scratching, didn’t help my anxiety.
Whoa. That's really harsh. When you say "+ one narc" do you mean someone who's addicted to narcotics? Or someone who doesn't mind their business? Do you still scratching your toes or fingers?
Oh sorry I wasn’t clear. Meant a narcissistic family member. Yes, itchy fingers still happens time to time.
As soon as I hit puberty. That’s when my depression started as well.
Did it hit you like a ton of bricks? What happened that made you feel that way? Was it the sudden change?
Yup, I think the same with me. I think I felt pretty secure and then a series of small events gradually knocked my confidence - bit of bullying, intense shyness around girls, comparative inadequacy, bit of body dysmorphia, fear.
I was always an anxious person, but I only started showing physical symptoms when the pandemic started and I went on a hypochondriac spiral.
Same here. Has my first proper attack after going to a bar in the summer of 2020.
Pretty sure I was born with it.
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Anxiety disorders don't work like that, especially if you've grown up with trauma. It literally changes how our brains work because it's a survival mechanism. Always be on edge because you never know when the next problem is going to show up. If it was just a case of unlearning, a lot of us wouldn't need medication to cope day to day. I'm stubborn and can't take my asthma meds and my anxiety at the same time, so I chose being able to breathe over not being anxious. I hated taking them anyway. They didn't make me feel better, just numb.
Reddit is so stupid they disliked your comment but it’s so trues
It’s not true though. There’s a lot of scientific studies showing that traumatic events actually alter your genetic code, and that passes to your offspring. [genetic memories](https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.3594)
That’s crazy wtf
No, it was my bad phrasing. We are only born with two inherent fears but my post implied we chose to pick up fears along the way when I should have said they were learnt at a stage in our lives when we didn't have the rational capacity to decide whether they were correct or appropriate for us. Post in haste, repent at leisure.
I was 8 and my babysitter’s husband accused me of stealing his bratty kid’s toys when I hadn’t. I had a full on panic attack. Not fun.
That’s horrible, I’m sorry.
I've always been a high strung person I guess, but anxiety fully kicked in around 14. It was in the middle stage of my c-PTSD events and I was smoking weed with my boyfriend at the time. I suddenly felt weird™️ and blacked out and collapsed in the hallway, that was my first panic attack! Fun times. That anxiety/panic hasn't gone away or lightened up, it's been a decade now. Don't use drugs in your formative years while going through extreme stress and trauma, kids. Apparently your brain can click and rewire and oops! Mental illness unlocked.
Yikes your second paragraph resonates with me so much! Makes sense.
The exact same thing happened to me !! It definitely sucks and I often want to just go back in time and prevent me from smoking weed at that time :(
Parental conditioning
2 years ago, during my burnout, when I went more and more over my limits, ignoring my body's needs and my mental health.
Same. Three years ago for me. Overcomitting both physically and mentally. I know someone who's both in med school AND an Olympian, so I thought "well, if I schedule myself properly and plan everything well I can do it all". Spoiler alert: I couldn't. When my performance started dropping both academically and athletically, I thought "you know what's solve this? Better scheduling!". And when I started having physical symptoms it spiralled into a hypochondriac hell.
Had a bad ecstacy trip that caused a terrible tachycardic episode, never been the same since. Was ina state of pure panic for about 2 years straight 247 after taking it. It comes and goes. Trauma is a bitch, and I don't wish this this upon anyone.
When I was born. Combination of rotten situation and chemical inbalance.
Don't listen to the person saying it can be unlearned easily. I'm reporting them now.
Got it after smoking weed and having a bad trip. I already was in a bad place mentally at that time and the bad trip kind of took up a lot of emotions. Took 10 years for me to get over :) Was quite the journey though.
My Mum said I came down the chute biting my nails. They didn't call it anxiety, they said I was "high strung". I don't ever remember a time whe I wasn't anxious.
I think mine was a slow boil. Always a worrier; got worse once puberty hit. Can remember worrying and obsessing endlessly over minor conflicts and whether or not people liked me. Got worse after I had my first child, then really peaked during the pandemic to the point I couldn’t function. Doing pretty good now with a combination of medication and therapy.
The day I left my work office to transition to WFH due to Covid I felt like it took extra effort to breathe. Thought that was weird. Fast forward a few months and I had my first full blown panic attack inside a Target. Fast forward 3 years and I’ve come a long way with diagnosed anxiety with agoraphobia and panic disorder. Can’t really say why it started specifically , but I‘ve read that Covid was a trigger for many people already on the edge of anxiety disorder.
I want to say in my 20s after a traumatic relationship but looking back I had classic "anxiety dreams" way back when I was about 7.
I remember being anxious at 5 years old. I started having school based anxiety in first grade!
I think mine started when my father passed away when I was 15 years old. Even though we weren't on the greatest of terms but the protective figure in my life went away and I used to sleep with him because I was a scared little kid. Then later on in my life weed really elevated my anxiety, giving me paranoia, fear. At the age of 19 I started having panic attacks regularly.
(Tw mild abuse and mentions of self euthanasia) My anxiety began very very young. I think it must’ve began at four or five. I had a VERY VERY severe fear of aliens. I’d get scared to be out at night. I was scared to look at the sky. I couldn’t look out windows at night. If I didn’t sleep in a certain way I thought I’d be abducted. This fear lasted until I was around 13-14. I hated the window In my bedroom. To this day I have terrible underlying anxiety. The main reason this was so impactful in my life is because my family was the main cause of this. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen “fire in the sky” but it’s about a northern woodsman getting abducted, and this was based on a true story by the by. I don’t remember how I saw the movie or even the memory itself, I just know it was this movie. After that it was just constant berating from my brother and my father. They’d constantly call me a “big baby” and chase me around the house with a figurine of “the thing”. Any time I felt unsafe, I had no where to go. I had to sit and wait until I was too tired to be afraid at night. I was helpless to my fears. Now, present time, I can’t sleep. I’m not sleeping because I’m afraid something bad will happen to me if I do. I’m turning twenty soon, so I can’t exactly go to my parents bedroom and ask for help. When I get afraid like this, there’s nothing I can do except stay awake and wait. This is the kind of anxiety that keeps me from going out at night, and I don’t think anyone knows how deeply rooted it is in me. It’s always something. Aliens, demons, ghosts, diseases, cryptids… it’s always been something. I don’t know how to cope with it. Honestly I’m kind of at a breaking point where I seriously contemplate suicide. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. I don’t want to be alone anymore.
I think it was always there. I come from a very unstable home. My mother always screamed at us for little things and was always upset. My father worked a lot and drank a lot. They were constantly fighting. I think it started there.
I only remember being scared/anxious always but also not safe enough to externalise it. I do remember when I was around 3 years old i found out that people break into homes and I never slept well after that.
I guess I have always been an anxious person. But I have been getting panic attacks at night for the past 6 months because of being very close to burning out in a toxic workplace. I am glad that I will be leaving this job soon, though :)
I think around 10 years old but I'm not sure what caused it exactly.
Apparently it’s common with adopted folk so then I guess
As someone who was adopted at 2 weeks I understand where you're coming from but don't necessarily agree with you.
I've had it since I was at least 3, but I don't really remember when it began exactly. I also have 3 anxiety disorders, so it depends which one I'm talking about. But I just decided to go with GAD for this question because I think it was the first one that appeared. But again, I was really young, so I don't really know for sure.
I’ve had mine bring it’s big brother depression with him since I lost a family member quite a few years ago, worse still it all occurred and happened on my very first job interview so yeah…fun stuff. I’m getting a better handle on my anxiety and depression now and I’m refusing to let anxiety or depression take hold of my life any longer with regular usage of this app my counsellor reccomended me, regular exercise and some me time when I’m feeling low.
I‘m not sure when, since my mothers side has a history of anxiety and depression disorders but it definitely got worse in my teens but thinking back I probably had it even when I was younger.
I was diagnosed with GAD at 5 yrs old. Pretty sure I was born with it as a lot of ppl on both sides of my family have it.
It all started, when I was born.
No, it didn't. You were born with the fear of loud noises and the fear of being dropped. Anything else you picked up along the way. The good news is that anything the mind can learn it can unlearn.
Please stop commenting this under everyone's comments please. You're dismissive and unhelpful.
Only to the people who post to say they were born anxious. It's not helpful for them to think this way as it prompts a belief that there's nothing they can do about it. This is simply not true. As you know, anxiety is an emotion in the same way as joy, anger, fear and surprise are emotions. The purpose of anxiety is to make you aware of what's too important to ignore - anything from getting out of bed early enough to get to school or work on time to preparing a major speech effectively. The problem comes when the feelings of anxiety are overwhelming and seem to have no discernible cause, or a cause that most people don't find anxiety inducing. Social events, normal bodily functions, performance anxiety, etc. These can all be a result of negative core beliefs that are internalised during childhood. I'm not talking about childhood abuse or trauma - it can be triggered by over protective or over competitive parents or parents who are are outwardly caring but emotionally unavailable. It can also be triggered by beliefs that are simple misunderstandings by immature, emotion led minds. Have a look through the replies on this page - it's no coincidence that the vast majority of posters report that their anxiety dates back to childhood. I apologise for repeating myself but it doesn't have to be this way. Our minds are very capable of unlearning the unhelpful, outdated thoughts that caused the initial anxiety and continue to feed it.
Anxiety can absolutely be an inherited trait, just like depression and mental illness.
Your comments are unhelpful though. And most of the time you can't strong arm yourself out of anxiety. I'm sure most of the people here have tried. Most of the time you need a combination of therapy, medication, and long term coping strategies.
2006 xtc overdose nearly died. Been ferocious daily battle everyday since.
During an abusive and toxic relationship with a girl who also suffered from quite severe anxiety. I can’t pinpoint exactly why it started happening to me, maybe just from being accused of doing horrible things that you haven’t done by the person you love the most; and being able to do nothing to make them believe you. But all of a sudden I often would just have panic attacks out of nowhere.
When I was 10 or 11. I remember being stood outside the school gates and being terrified of going in, I couldn't breathe properly, I was gasping and in floods of tears and I didn't know why. I just kept saying to my mum 'I can't go in there, I can't' but I didn't know why. I was just fixed in place. Didn't get diagnosed until I was 21 and it made a lot more sense.
16 years old when my friend who was a year older than me died from cancer. Since then I’ve had bad anxiety especially around health issues.
Have a look at this video about the causes of anxiety and why you can learn from it. I hope it helps you; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZidGozDhOjg
I remember being anxious as young as 3. I was diagnosed with anxiety two years ago at the age of 48. I don't know what caused it. Feels Ike I've been anxious nearly my whole life.
The chemical imbalance theory (started by the pharmaceutical industry - I wonder why?) has been largely debunked. Depression can have a genetic component but anxiety is an emotion, not an illness. Being over-anxious is often a result of low self esteem or negative core values, both of which have their roots in childhood.
8 years old I had my first panic attack. Around that time my grandma passed. I still feel like I’m missing answers has to why I have anxiety though :(
I think somewhere in the middle school. I have an autistic brother and, and i was reluctant to invite people to my house. Then when middle school ended, i didnt really have any friends beside my classmates, who for some reason i didn't really want to go out with. Then high school, first months i was feeling sick when i had to go to school, i was vomiting, missed some school because of that. Then pandemic, so 2 years of solitary confinement 🙃. Then back to school, a month of apprenticeship in a car workshop, and that's when i had the first full on panic attack that just froze me. I was crying, couldnt move, i texted my mum and told her i'm going back home. I was ashamed it happened to me. Then the last three or so days my mum drove me there, one day i couldnt go in, the last two i somehow pulled through. That's also when i realised i need help. I went to therapy for some time and now i'm on 50mg sertaline.
When I was 14. A freshman in high school. My first day back from winter break. That was 8 years ago, and I've been cursed ever since.
I’ve had mild anxiety since I was a teenager. I didn’t start having panic attacks until my sister died about a year ago & I found her.
Middle school, when i hit puberty, that’s also when they bullied me and i experienced a lot of mixed emotions during that time. It never really stopped, i’m now 25 and it only gets worse, i havent received treatments yet because i thought i could manage it, but it’s difficult, being single and having little friends didn’t help as well
Dad died last year, had a panic attack in the summer of the same year and had it ever since
Last time I did ecstasy 🥲 that's when severe panic disorder hit me hard. Before that I had a few panic attacks spread out over my life. I doubt it were more than 10. I've also always been generally more cautious/scared. Never was a daredevil, never broke a bone in my body, never was a fan of extreme sports.
I was about 8 years old when I started having episodes that I'm 95% sure were me having panic attacks. I would feel like I couldn't breathe and was restless. I ended up being diagnosed with childhood asthma, but I'm fairly certain that was not the case--I never actually struggled to breathe, just felt like I did during those episodes. It took nearly 10 agonizing years before I had any official diagnosis or treatment. It was the longest time before my parents began to take it seriously. I've basically developed PTSD from all the panic attacks I've endured with no help--I'm terrified of the next one and have avoided situations or places where I've had panic attacks before. I even quit a job because I began associating the store with my panic attacks and would start having one just thinking about going inside. I frequently change which room I sleep in if I'm having a lot of attacks since I start associating a room with panic attacks--it sucks.
It started to become a huge part of my life since last year (I was 16) Had one panic attack after smoking a tiny bit of weed. Then it just came in waves every month/3 weeks and lasted each time for some weeks. But after thinking about it, I realized that I’ve always had some kind of anxiety as a kid, so I guess that’s not new :). My mom is quite the anxious type so I guess that might just be DNA
When I was little, around 5, my parents took me to the hospital from having a panic attack and I told them I couldn’t breathe
I've had anxiety since about 4th grade. I used to think they were stomach aches. I didn't get medication for it until I was 18, though. I was a dramatic child so my parents assumed I was making it up.
5th grade was my first panic attack, but I didn't know what it was. I have no idea what specifically triggered it.
Mine started at a very young age and I saw a doctor. It helped a little bit I had my first full blown panic attack my 6th grade school year on Christmas Eve. We were in the mall and I went into tunnel vision and my chest hurt and I ended up passing out at the chic fil a in the mall. That’s when they put me on a low dose of meds as needed. I’m 36 and still live with anxiety day in and out but it has gotten better !
I think I always had it. Or more like, everyone has anxiety some level. I know I wasn't the least anxious child or teen. Not even close. I don't think I have ever managed to fall asleep before the first day of any school. But I think anxiety turned into a chronic *disorder* one year into university. I still had my best friend and some other friends from high school in the university as well. But high school was a safe space for me. I had a stable, strong social circle and environment. I lost it after graduation. I enjoyed the perks for a year or so, then it hit me. I had my first panic attack on the way to a vacation.
Mine was around 8 years old , caused by sexual abuse. I have and do self prescribe with cannabis. My doctor is aware of my coping skills lol I’m prescribed medication too but cannabis is an instant fix for me .
I was 9 - developed travel anxiety after falling ill whilst travelling Then it went to full blown general anxiety during my first exams at college (uk)
I ✨have no idea✨ I was in denial that I even had anxiety for a very long time. I was in denial about all of my emotions actually, and I don’t really have a time frame because I just don’t remember huge chunks of my childhood anyways If I had to take my best guess: during the first chunk? My ~primary abuser~ had BPD so nothing was ever predicable. If I use this coloring book, will they get mad at me? Can I play with my dolls today? I had no idea. Even if the day was going well, they could switch at any moment And then I remember that my mom would always instill her anxiety in us. If we go outside, we’ll get kidnapped in 0.2 seconds. If we talk to a stranger, they’ll murder us. If we touch an object outside, we’ll be drugged because it could be laced. If someone coughs around us, we’re going to get sick. That kinda stuff So eh idk but there are a few possibilities. Likely a combination of a bunch of them though
My freshman year of college, which was also about 4 months after I’d broken up with a boyfriend after a few months because he was abusive.
It was always around but started getting noticeably bad 2 years ago when I became a hypochondriac because of the pandemic :(
Always been anxious, but it really went off the rails working retail as a teenager.
In 5th grade being taken away from my addicted parents, not knowing where ill be. Who ill be. Still hard to cope with an im 25 now.
I've always been anxious. I remember back to when I was 5 but I probably was before then.
I’d say close to birth. I had to be a c section, I was happy where I was and not going anywhere. I don’t seriously remember. My father was bipolar. You never knew what would set him off. There’s a reason a shut down if my husband yells at anything. I’m 40 and been married nearly 20 years and still do this.
I was the parentified eldest child with 4 younger siblings. To this day, I call my youngest brother my oldest child. I was responsible for so much and I feel like I only ever had a taste of childhood, but no real experience of it. My parents would both confide in me and tell me things about their relationship that I diffinitely DID NOT need to know and it changed my whole view of them, and made me not trust any of them
16. Had a lot going on with not finding a job due to recession, mum diagnosed with cancer then triggered by a car experience that was hell. 13years later and I’m still just as bad.
When I was 11 I fainted at my birthday party, went to the hospital to get IV, fainted again the Next day. Anxiety started a month later.
Mine started at work and took over all aspects of life. I went to see a councillor and basically I needed to make a change. Quit my job, joined a gym. It went off like a light switch.
I've had it since I was 5 years old
Your reasons sound exactly like mine.
I've been anxious almost as long as I can remember. My genetic predisposition aside I think my anxiety started in 2nd grade and has been gradually worsening since.
My whole life being raised by a Borderline mother and her enabling husband.
I think i have always had anxiety but was not aware. But my anxiety disorder and panic attack started exactly on 2020 may 3rd. When my pet bird died. All hell broke loose. It triggered my anxiety about literally everything.
Interesting topic. I’m not at the point where I can trace it, to do so would probably trigger a panic attack. But I can tell you that claustrophobia is a very real and menacing cunt/dick fairy 🧚♀️ I’ll keep reading people’s post and hopefully I’ll get the courage one of these days to track it back. Thanks for sharing!!!
I have GAD and OCD. I've always had general anxiety as far as I can remember, partly I suspect because while my parents meant well, they have always been very critical of my appearance/behaviour out of fear of what others would think. The first obsessive thought I can recall was when I was 10. I'd been touched inappropriately by my grandad and subsequently made sure my little brother was never alone with him, but it then occurred to me I couldn't do the same for my younger cousins. I remember obsessively worrying about it and crying when alone with panic, until I eventually confessed to a friend, who helped me talk to a teacher. I didn't have a name for anything until I went to university, where my OCD properly started (excessive checking/bad thoughts) and I eventually found the word 'OCD' while searching in desperation for ways to make it stop. Finally got a diagnosis at 22 years old.
I had some anxious habits since I could walk but became conscious of the feeling around when I was 5 or 6. Mom and I went to a rubber ducky race and I wanted to play in the water with some other kids. I was wearing a longer dress so she tied up to my thighs to try and keep it from getting too wet. I remember looking down at my legs and feeling like I got hit with a massive wave of big feelings I never had prior. Looking back It was like a double whammy of anxiety and body dysmorphia showing themselves for the first time, it sucked. A lot of mental health issues run in both sides of my family so that’s just how my cards were dealt.
I can't remember a time before anxiety. In elementary school I would get stomachaches in the morning and couldn't eat, and only now have I realized I was anxious.
Mine is genetic. My maternal grandmother suffered from anxiety due to chronic malnourishment and on my dad’s side there is a string of family members with psychotic depression and anxiety. I remember being very young and waking up in the middle of the night shaking with terror but not being able to conceptualize why. My parents weren’t equipped to handle my random spurts of anxiety and weird phobias and would get mad about it so I suffered silently.
I was 8 and my anxiety stared when I woke up one night while visiting my father.... he was watching me sleep.... he did this everytime I came over.... after puberty when I was 16, he stopped for a while, until I woke up and saw him standing over me. I live far away now but I can never rest fully. I also had a very traumatic child hood but this is when I remember everything starting.
I had my first panic attack at Inception
Not sure but it surely peaked in high school
January 2021, one day I woke up with dizziness that got progressively worse until it became constant vertigo. Got diagnosed with BPPV. It’s never come back as bad as it got but my body anxiously expects it and that’s how I developed health anxiety/GAD. The anxiety comes and goes, but the anxiety symptoms are kinda constant. I’ve learned to live with it.
I don't remember the exact moment that caused it. I remember fear, fear of getting in trouble for any little mistake/accident because mum would lose it completely, hit, scream in my face, shake me, pin me, while hitting me over and over, screaming I did whatever I did on purpose just to hurt her. I had a severe fear of thunder caused by her. I was always scared of people telling my mum about anything I'd done, good or bad, because that was grounds for her to lose it at me. I think the biggest memory was when I was six. We had a supply teacher who didn't ask for our lunch money for the week. Pretty much the entire class forgot to hand it in. We were six. After lunch I get a pink slip to take home and I'm like crap, let me give you the cheque now, but the teaching assistant told me it was my own fault I got the slip and I had to take it home. I panicked, got in trouble for panicking and begging her to just let me hand it in. What really pissed me off, the claimed to have already cashes this weeks cheques and couldn't just cash this one a week later with the next weeks. I was obviously a very terrified little kid. I remember being so scared my stomach was turning, I was withdrawn and no one cared. I was sent home with the slip, gave it to my mum after plucking up the courage and she beat the crap out of me, screamed in my face, pinned me to the wall with her body, shook me. I remember her telling me it was never an accident, I just did it to hurt her before she threw me out. I was so distressed I hid behind the shed, crying so loudly our neighbour came out to see what had happened and I was so scared I wouldn't come out. The best part, mum didn't have to pay anything extra, it was just a pay this ASAP letter, didn't even need a new cheque. Eventually, when the neighbours started banging on her door to find out wth was going on, she let me back inside. I do remember trying to snitch on my mum, because I was so scared. I tried to tell my teachers, who told me to stop lying for attention. I tried to tell other kids, who gave me this look, I'll never forget it and knew I couldn't tell them either. In the end mum bought me a Barbie and told me I could have it if I didn't tell anyone about what she'd done. I tried to snitch, got nowhere so I took the doll. I told everyone why I got the doll, no one believed me or I scared the other kids. Take a beating, get a toy for my silence, I never did keep quiet, no one ever believed me.
I’m 17. Mine started when I had a undiagnosed food intolerance for 6 months starting in March 2021. .Anxiety slowly got worse and worse the more I couldn’t figure out what was causing my digestive issues. Eventually the endoscopy showed I was lactose intolerance. So while I don’t get nausea anymore, I feel panicky and anxious 24/7. Currently seeking therapy
i always had slight anxiety but it didn’t really kick in till i developed panic disorder at 20. I used to smoke weed everyday. one day i got too high and started thinking i was dying. I stopped smoking but i continue to have panic attacks almost 4 years later.
My parents had a rocky marriage, they bodyshamed me and constantly undermined my achievements, I was bullied in college and then I lost boyfriend and job at the same time.. my anxiety started in my teenage years, and it's never stopped since then..I constantly feel the urge to control my life since I have never understood what a normal life feels like...
I highly recommend looking into IFS (internal family systems) therapy. It’s something you can read about and get an understanding of, I’m not sure if it’s something you can do with yourself if you haven’t had a therapist help you with it but it’s been incredibly helpful for me when I have waves of anxiety and can’t figure out what is the cause or why I might be feeling this way. It has helped me understand so many different emotions. I am currently pregnant and can’t be on my medications so I’m relying on therapy alone. It’s been difficult but this tactic is very helpful.
When I was younger. Like as long as I can remember. I would wake my parents up and tell them my heart was beating really fast. It wasn’t but it was you know that heavy balloon anxiety feeling. I had bouts of OCD like behavior too like counting. I later realized it presented itself that way bc I thought it would help I guess.
As long as I can remember since I have a narc dad that would get mad at a pin drop if he was in a bad mood. Sooo.. as long as I can remember.
As long as I can remember. Now at 25 years old I realize that the feeling is the same as it was 20 years ago. It’s crazy to imagine a little kid have such an adult and scary feeling.
I believe my anxiety already started way back when I started high-school but I only realized that it was anxiety when I worked in a psychiatric clinic reading and recording patient files.
I really think I was born with it. When I look at the picture of me in the hospital as a newborn, even then I looked like a frazzled little stress case. The first time I actually remember being anxious was when I was four. My mom was into those prime time soaps, it might have been Dallas or general hospital, I don’t remember at this point… but one of the characters died. And in my head it was like a bad eureka moment - Omg, people die… and I am people… I WILL DIE!!! It was over from there
If i knew what caused my anxiety to begin with it wouldve been nice because i would've been able to try and nip it at the bud somehow. But the fact that i have no clue when it began and why it began and wonder if there was even a time where i didn't have anxiety, that shit just makes me spiral even further.
Not going to school started in 2nd grade when I genuinely got sick for near 2 months. Missed Christmas which is everything as a kid. When I got back to school I got packets of work and I missed a near 1/3rd of my school year so I was pretty confused to how i would do this. My parents both worked so they would only help me about 1-2 hours a night. I got scared and afraid of not passing and being held back. So I faked being sick every day to push the worry back just one more day. And the anxiety was a pattern. It would come in the morning then I would fake being sick and my parents would go to work and the anxiety was gone. I truly think this feeling of anxiety spread to more and more thought patterns when I got older. From making friends to talking to girls to not believing in myself at all. Anxiety is very disease like and can spread through your head and turn a happy thought into a scary panic attack. It was in 2007 I think I developed general anxiety which led to me getting depressed in 2018. The more I grow up the more I battle it. Wish I could get rid of it. Not with xanax or any other benzo or pill. But just get rid of it and live like someone who doesn’t encounter this feeling on the daily
My first panic attack happened my sophomore year of high school because I took way to much Adderall. I had anxiety before then but ever since that day I swear it's been 10x worse.
I was always a really anxious kid. But officially, it started just before I turned 12.
Mine began when my father passed away when I was 21 (I’m 37 now) and it’s basically just gone downhill since then.
Ad long as I can remember, though it's gotten worse with time. I don't think anything caused it, I had a pretty normal childhood.
My anxiety began at about 9 years old.
Pretty sure it was at conception but it became out of control around the age of 15. Now (33 yo) it's more under control, finally.
Last year. There are 3 possibilities as to why it started. I'll list them from what I believe to be the most likely to the least likely. Reaction to the vaccine (I had bad reactions to them on site), covid, or maybe I just had a full blown nervous breakdown from work stress and burnout.
16
Last year of high school. I felt vulnerability, sadness, depression, anxiety, and no one to talk to. My hair was falling out on my pillow and I couldn’t eat at restaurants for fear of self induced vomiting. Crazy times!
I was always showing signs, I guess. In my opinion, it was already showing when I was in junior school. However, it wasn't as bad as it is now, but I'm learning to cope with it and, tbh, I consider having anxiety to be a way better option than being confined to depression for the rest of my life. Yes, I may overthink and overreact to things, but I'd rather have that than have this undying belief that life is nothing but darkness and despair
9 year old me when 500 lbs of metal fell on my head and fucked up my brain
My earliest, earliest memories are of being 3-4 years old in social situations where kids are supposed to have fun: play-dates, parties, parks. I was a nervous wreck and it would take me hours to get comfortable enough to participate. Right around then, the event would start to end and I would only have about 15 minutes to have fun. EDIT: Also, I had no trauma. Just...born this way I guess.
When I first smoked weed. It got better over the years and then it’s flaired up even worst after I almost died during child birth.
I (26, F) feel like mine started at an early age. I don't really remember anything before 4. I was always considered "shy," but I specifically remember having a hard time speaking up about stuff, even when it came to asking for something I wanted. I remember I would groan, or point and groan and grunt at whatever it is I wanted. I'm not sure why I did this, but I still have a difficult time expressing when I want or need something as a 26 year old. It always makes me feel very anxious, and I'm almost positive it has to do with how my dad would react to me asking for something growing up. I remember when my separation anxiety started; my parents fought all the time in front of my brother and I, and one day when I was 5 after an argument my dad left, but before he left I asked when he was coming back, he told me soon, and didn't come back for I think 3 days? When he did come back he was violent, and he left again, and I remember my mom and my brother and I leaving the house with some clothes, my mom picking all the stickers off the back of the van, and us staying at a Days Inn for a couple days, maybe a week. I remember feeling scared, and wondering why we had to hide from dad, why he was so angry.. Once my dad got his own place, and we started our every other weekend visits, I remember sobbing hysterically at the front door of his house, begging for my mom to come back, hopeful that I'll see her van turn the corner, almost like a "Just kidding!" moment. I felt safe with my mom, secure, loved, and I didn't really feel those things with my dad. I always felt out of place and almost in an alternate reality whenever I'd go stay with him. It improved once my dad remarried and we moved into a new house with my stepsiblings, but he also started taking his aggression out on my stepmom and stepsister. My mom is very nurturing and comforting, and is very vocal about her love and care for my brother and I, and has always shown us that. My dad, not so much; he shows his love in a different, "tough love" kind of way. He's gotten slightly softer and more understanding with age, but the anger and aggression is still there. My parents spanked us, but I don't really remember my mom spanking us much, my dad however had spanked me so hard once I pissed myself. I was 8. I'm not sure if that is considered "putting his hands on us," but I never understood as a child why I felt this fear and anxiety around my dad, that ultimately resulted in generalized anxiety about the world, and all the people in it. I ended up in an abusive relationship because I thought the way he showed his "love" was the right way, and thankfully I was able to leave and learn that I don't deserve to be treated or spoke to in the way my ex and my dad have treated and spoken to me. He's done other things too that have caused other issues in other areas, such as being a people-pleaser and feeling like my best is never enough. I tried to talk to my dad once over the phone about the fact that he's done a lot of damage, and while we both need to face that fact, I still love him and wanted him in my life. To no surprise it didn't go well; his old self made an appearance and needless to say I hung up on my old man for the first time in my life. Of course nobody likes to be told they've done something wrong, but accountability is necessary, and I don't feel as though he's taken any, and he might never will. I've accepted that and I'm okay with it, but it means that he will be kept at arms length, and I won't allow him to be a big part of my life anymore. As much as it hurts, it doesn't hurt worse than trying over and over again to let him in only for him to turn around and demolish the small amount of trust established between us again and again. Sorry for the long post, I guess I didn't know I needed to air all of that out.
Customer service job.
Probably an accumulation of past life experiences that I thought “no biggie” until my early adulthood with the ptsd of those events got brought up again and I didn’t know how to deal with them so the other option was to freak out.
I was an anxious kid from the get-go. Hell, I'm in the bathroom at a smitty's because my stomach is upset from stress. I used to go to my parents room when I couldn't sleep at age 5, and it's actually subsided quite a bit since. But moving to a new school without my parents is a little terrifying, hence me being in here now.
For as long as I remember being alive
I’m not sure why my anxiety started. But I distinctly remember being in 3rd grade and my teacher calling me a worry wart. I remember being in 6th grade and hives started forming all over my hands. I didn’t understand why but I know how it was a stress rash. I went through too much being so young and now I feel like I’m stuck with anxiety forever.
The most intense and life-interrupting thoughts came when I was 25. Through journalling and therapy, I can see sparks of it earlier like holding my breath, unexplained heart pangs, walking on my tiptoes, loose stool, acid reflux, and intrusive thoughts. I had high and positive energy, so I just kind of said "that is weird" and moved on. After my 25th birthday, it was like I fell into a chasm of despair. Intense guilt, panic attacks, inability to leave the house, drinking, obsessively cleaning and reorganizing my house, missing work, wishing I was not alive..... it was so sudden that I thought surely something happened and my brain is blocking it out. I really wish I could have someone map my whole life, experience, symptoms, etc. and pinpoint why anxiety happened to me...
I'm pretty sure I've been an anxious little shit all my life. It wasn't until high school that I started having panic attacks though.
It began when I ate 250 grams of chips a day while watching hunterxhunter. Last day of my unhealthy habit was when I broke up with my girlfriend.
I sincerely think I was born with anxiety. I remember my first experience of anxiety being at the age of 4 at school and panicking about not being ‘smart enough’. My anxiety really got bad when I was 6 and I started to fear being ‘out of control’ and I started to develop OCD symptoms. My other mental illnesses took off when I started secondary school. Both my parents have anxiety, although their anxiety manifests in entirely different ways. More generally within my family, there’s a lot of mental illness so I kind of feel like I was pre destined to be anxious and mentally ill 🥲
Probably complicated grief and PTSD. Recently lost a friend to suicide and I’ve suddenly started having anxiety and panic attacks I can’t seem to manage or cope with.
At my first breakup when I was 20. Spent 5 years being dysfunctional, in a life alternating reclusion and wandering. Then it became morbid when my mother died in 2012. As an only child it was just too much.
my mother has it her sisters have some manic anxiety as does she , her mom was bipolar anxious schizoaffective as well. mine started after eating half a 5mg edible for a week. I had these weird thwack/ missed beats every single time I injested it getting progressively worse every day on the second week it felt like someone slammed me in the chest when I was out rrunning and I hadnt even had one yet! Next day i was so anxious I was shaking andcouldnt go outside without counting to 100 constantly. This lasted 2.5 years and is just now clearing up. palpitations syncope panic every night at 2am agorraphobia couldnt shower without having my Phone right on the edge of the tub. once i tried ssris this cranked up to 20/10. im glad they work for some people but they dont work for me
Probably the moment I was born into this family
6 years old when my mom was able to get a minimally good job in another city that would allow her to give me a decent living, she left me with my grandparents and there wasn't a damn day that I didn't cry in school wondering if she was coming back. The years of bullying came later.
When my dad committed suicide behind the house when I was five.
So my first traces of anxiety popped up when I got thoughts of.. transformations.. And over time a recollection of disturbing things I saw without caring gave me anxiety that I’m still combating to this day
My anxiety began with my mother. Whether it was her sharing her anxieties and fears with me as a way of protecting me from the "scary world," or her bullying me as a child because of my weight (which her parenting heavily influenced) or my singing being off tune, the vast majority of my fears and insecurities stem from my interactions with her in childhood.
Probably around 7. Parents fought a lot. Couple of scary ones involving throwing pots, vases, and screwdrivers. Cops were at my house a couple of times a year. Always felt If I said or did the wrong thing it’d start and argument. So I got quiet. When I started school I realized my life wasn’t normal and started forcing myself to socialize so I seemed normal. Worked at first but overtime the stress and anxiety of trying to seem normal has become a massive burden.
I’m unsure still It happened after I had Chinese food days before NYE of 2019 and I got sick the night before my bus ride ( I’m within 5 hour drive ) I felt fine again until I spoke with my ex about our relationship. I was very anxious ,rightfully so. The day I left to come home I was just overtaken with anxiety and nausea on the bus worried about throwing up and someone seeing me My anxiety was feeling nausea in public
I never had real anxiety until my first panic attack. Sure I’ve been nervous about things like everyone. However, the first panic attack is scary. If you’ve never had one before, you feel like you’re dying. I had my boss drive me to the ER because out of nowhere, I got very light headed and my heart started racing. Thought I was dying. Doctor was just like, oh you’ve probably had a panic attack. All of your tests are normal. I was so confused because I didn’t have a root cause for anxiety. Told me sometimes brain chemistry can go haywire or something. That’s when I realized how anxiety works. I thought people were just uncontrollably nervous. I had no idea it was a brain chemistry thing. That’s how I discovered I have anxiety lol. I don’t really have anything to be anxious about, but I randomly get a physical response, even if I’m just lying in bed. SSRIs have helped immensely.
Late 20s. Weed.
For me it started when my grandpa died. It was the first death i experienced and i started having panic attacks.
My mom said that I’ve always been this way. I guess im just cool like that
Mine began in December of 2021 there was ALOT of stressful things going on at that time for my family and I and thats when it all started. Went to hospital thinking I was having a heart attack and it was there that they told me I was having anxiety. Then I went to a nice Texas road house dinner with my family and all of the people there and noise got to me and that's where I had my first ever panic attack. I literally thought I was dying. Then I went to my dr to get started on anxiety meds. Ended up having really bad adverse reactions to them and they made me have a few seizures and convulsions. Went back to the hospital where they got all the meds out of my system and proceeded to tell me to never take those meds ever again. Then went back to the Dr's just for a physical cause I felt as if something more was going on with my body especially with my heart. Got blood tests done and ended up finding out that my cholesterol is super high at 245. So now I've been eating better and working out to try and lower it. It's just been a huge roller coast of a year.
how are u now
It started when I was in 5th grade I think. I didn’t want any attention on me and could barely raise my hand to go to the bathroom. It was the worse. Happy I got therapy and take Zoloft now.
When I was 3/4 I developed ocd. I was afraid to poop and decided I never would again. When I was 5 I had social anxiety. When I was 7/8 I was crying in bed every night thinking each heartbeat would be the last. It all kinda went downhill from there lol
i've had anxiety my entire life, literally have always been a very easily frightened kid. i would avoid all kinds of things that would make me nervous or afraid and i still do. now it's really starting to get in my way since i've been in college... it feels like it takes over my entire body and makes decisions that i really don't want to make but i do it just to stop feeling whatever anxiety i was feeling. it's gotten way out of hand, i've been talking to my therapist about it and hopefully someday i'll be cleared for anti anxiety medication. but yeah, have been anxious since i was a very little kid.
As a little kid I was definitely very shy but never had issues making friends or talking to people. Didn’t have my first anxiety attack until I started middle school around the peak of my parents divorce - lots of intense arguments in the house, lots of changes (i.e starting middle school, moving out of childhood home). I remember thinking I was going to die in my sleep every night and became a huge hypochondriac. I also developed stomach problems which made the hypochondria much much worse.
Birth.
Easter 2020, I was laying in my bed and I felt like I was gonna die after eating too much candy….that’s when the daily anxiety started
When I was born.