<span title="Anxiety!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!?">Anxiety!?!?!?!??!?!??!?!?...</span>

Question

I'm 15 and i suffer from Generalized Anxiety disorder. I'm going back to school in about 2 weeks and i am seriously dreading it. I dread going to assemblies and talking aloud in front of people and things like that. I get all sweaty and my face goes all red and i think everybody is looking at me. My neck even starts twitching sometimes.

Iv been on 75mg zoloft for about 4 weeks now but i dont seem to be feeling a tad bit of difference. Sometimes when i smoke weed with my freinds it calms me down a lot and i feel much better and outgoing. Iv also heard that drinking some alochol can help calm you down and make you forget all your anxieties but i cant drink as im a muslim and its forbidden :( So are there any other things i could do to calm me down just before i get back to school???

Answer 1

I hear you. I am learning how to drive a standard shift car at 65 years old. This is not easy. I felt overwhelmed when I first started out. I keep at it. It&#039;s a little easier now. I have found what is called the clutch point (where the clutch engages as you let your foot back on the pedal). The one thing that seems to conquer anxiety is doing the thing you are afraid of doing. There is another quote which may help you, too.

&quot;By Enduring, We Conquer.&quot;

(Sir Ernest Shackleton&#039;s family motto.)

I was taken with anxiety while volunteering at a hospital. After I left there, one afternoon I went back into the hospital, across the bridge and into Portland on my bicycle. I locked the bike outside the hospital and walked inside and walked up and down the stair wells, taking back the parts of my Spirit which the anxiety had taken from me. In Bali, this is called the Taking Back ceremony, where you go back to where you have lost pieces of yourself and gather them back to you. It helps to strengthen your inner energy.

Answer 2

Hey. I&#039;m 15 too. And I get stressed out and anxious about stuff. The best thing you can do, are not drugs or alchahol, but get help from a person. Maybe go to a school councellor or something. To be honest, seeing the school councellor wont maybe &#039;stop&#039; your anxiety. But she/he will speak to teachers and make sure they don&#039;t make you talk allowed and speak up in front of people. It&#039;s not so much curing what you have, (that&#039;s down to the doctor- have you seen one?) but down to doing what you can about it. Speak to the school.  

Answer 3

You should call the doctor who prescribed the zoloft.  There could be a couple of things going on:

1.  You may not have been on it long enough or you need a higher dose.

2.  Zoloft may not be the right medication for you.  There are other antidepressants out there.

3.  Some people actually become more anxious when they are on antidepressants.

Your doctor may decide to make adjustments based on the symptoms you report.  

Also, if you see a therapist, please ask for coping mechanisms that don&#039;t involve weed or alcohol.  It&#039;s usually best not to mix too many things - even if they don&#039;t officially interact with each other, they can still overwhelm your system or cause your medications to work differently or not as well.

A couple of things to try:

1.  Exercise can help.  Your therapist can help you decide whether or not strenuous exercise is a good idea for your anxiety.  Some therapists prefer exercise such as yoga or walking, while others try to tire their patients out with running.

2.  Try breathing.  Inhale normally and then exhale slowly.

3.  Work puzzles or play online games.  These activities require your attention and keep your eyes busy, which can help with anxiety.

4.  Stand with your back against the wall.  Move your shoulders down and back to align them with the wall.  Try to straighten your spine from your tailbone up through your neck against the wall.  Make sure the back of your head is against the wall as well.  Relax your jaw.  Slide up and down along the wall slowly.

Answer 4

Weed is allowed under Islam? I find that very odd.

Anyhow, one to one counselling would seem to be worth a try - Zoloft will only mask the problem and appeasr to be doing a pretty poor job from what you say.

If there is an underlying cause, counsellng may help you isolate it and give you the necessasry understanding to effectively control it.  But it won&#039;t happen overnight.

Answer 5

your not suppose to be smokin weed and you do that to!!! So whats the difference if you drink! Malcom X as I understand it and feracon or great and non great leaders or any one associated with that religion is suppose to keep all toxic chemicals out of their body but hey what do I know!

What Has helped me in the past with this dilema is a quote someone once told me, FACE FEAR, GAIN CONFIDENCE and the more you do thos things when in those situations the less anxiety you will have, it all derives from fear anyway truth be told control your fear and unleash the man. asah lama lakem!  

Answer 6

I have been diagnosed with chronic anxiety disorder as well.  I used to dread having an attack in school.  But the best thing to do is tell your self.  Everything is fine..I will not have an attack. I will go to the assembly and I will be fine.  You need to control your mind in order to control your anxiety.  Also BE CAREFUL with the weed!  I used to smoke weed with my buddies but i found it made my anxiety worse after a while.  I suppose it affects people differently and if it works for you great!  But be careful your with cool people when you smoke.. it&#039;s no fun having a bad trip or an attack while your high. As far as meds go they can take a while to kick in, months sometimes. Some people swear by them some people say they never did much for them.  Most of all i recommend.. enjoying your summer watch funny movies and hang with your friends.  Exercise and eat healthy!  

Good Luck!

Answer 7

Please don’t self medicate  

Answer 8

Well for starters alcohol is actually a depressant, it makes you feel good for a while but when it wears off it puts you on a downer!. Sometimes it can take up to 8 weeks to feel your pills are working so i would keep taking them, it sounds lame but deep breathing helps. Exercise helps, avoid caffeine as it is an upper and makes anxiety worse. Just try to chill out (easier said than done) but don&#039;t think about things that may never happen! We seem to get so caught up in thoughts of what ifs.. but the real;ity is that they are just thoughts!!  

Answer 9

Hang in there.  Probably Zoloft will require a week or more before it starts to help you.  Keep your doctor up to date with how you are doing.  

Smoking weed will help but it&#039;s only a temporary &quot;fix&quot;,  like alcohol, and both can lead to further troubles.  

Exercise can help you; walking, bicycling, anything you like for exercise.

How about friends to talk with?  Maybe others who feel the way you do about returning to school.  Everyone is nervous about returning to school, even the teachers! it&#039;s just that you are more anxious than most.  Continue the Zoloft, keep your doctor informed, march ahead and think as positively as possible.  Perhaps your doctor will increase the Zoloft once your current dose has been tried for a few weeks.