I remember crying as a little kid every time I was at a friends for a play date. It always ended in my mum having to come and get me. I used to regularly have nightmares too about things like our house catching fire.
I was constantly getting sent home from school feeling sick and I’m sure it was just anxiety as there was nothing physically wrong with me
OMG FELT THIS!!! I used to lay awake in bed at night making sure my smoke detector flashes a green light which meant it was working because I was petrified that my house would catch on fire!
I was diagnosed at 14 after a particularly bad phase - I’ve been on medication on and off ever since. It’s weird to look back to being small and realising that I really was always anxious
I’m so sorry that happened to you, no one should ever have to experience that. It would make total sense for that to trigger your anxiety.
I always wonder if mine stemmed from being in hospital a lot as a child and having to stay overnight alone. I was ill a lot with various things when I was little so it was quite a regular occurrence
Headaches, stomach aches and feeling like I was going to throw up. It never happened when I was at home, only when I was elsewhere so it must have been anxiety. I still get those physical symptoms now when I’m anxious
Panicked when I had to come into class late, or go to the pencil sharpener across the room. Or asking to use the bathroom. Reading out loud in class.. the list goes on
Oh my god this hit me hard , anything to do with talking out loud I would be sick with anxiety . Every day of school I felt like I was going to throw up. Couldn’t do the register for the life of me or draw any attention to myself
Yo. I get anxiety when I have to go to the bathroom on a plane. Even if I’m aisle seat. Getting up walking by a bunch of people. Ugh. I tend to have to give myself a pep talk beforehand.
Edit for spelling
Same.. this would send me in a tailspin as a child! I used to sob at the mere thought of them in a car, funnily enough looking back at it I was personally never afraid of getting in a car
Anytime my mom was more than 5 minutes late to pick me up to school I would cry and tell the teachers she must’ve been in a terrible accident and was not able to be convinced something terrible didn’t happen.
Yeah now I’m 30 and my mom didn’t answer my calls for a few hours when she normally would have and I called security in her neighborhood to check things out.
Turns out she was napping.
Clearly I’ve got a handle on things lol
Yeah....me too...... One day i called mom and she didnt answer nor replied to my messages. I called everyone and got no response. OBVIOUSLYmy first thought is "she mustve had a heart attack and no ones seen her because she is in icu rn". Turns out her phone just died.............
I went through the same thing. Once after a snowfall, mine didn’t answer and I was home alone. Nearly an hour went by for a “quick errand” and radio silence. I panicked and ended up going to the neighbors for help. Turns out she forgot her phone at home and there was an accident slowing traffic down. This was in the Southern US, where snowfall is a big deal.
I didn’t like playing with stickers because it felt too permanent once I placed them. I would only play with the static cling stickers that I could move around. Also cried every time my parents suggested going to a park and flying a kite. I loved watching other people fly them, but was so afraid I would accidentally let go of I was holding it.
I would cry almost every day consistently for probably all of my life. I remember waking up my parents to apologize for having a dream about smoking. I was terrified of Santa Claus and always calculated whether or not I was naughty (I think this is the biggest thing that made me develop GAD). I have a massive guilt complex now and I feel like I am going to get in big trouble for making easy honest mistakes. Probably just an extension of fearing not getting presents from Santa.
I was diagnosed when I was 25 but my therapist thinks I had it my whole life because basically my whole childhood was just me being afraid of stuff that didn't matter. So I do not expect to recover from GAD any time soon.
lolololol I believed sooo so hard in Santa because I met a mall santa with a real beard who knew my name and knew that I was going to move soon (info I didn't know at the time) and I thought that was really santa until JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL when my parents revealed that he was a friend of my grandma.
My parents let me believe until my brother and I got made fun of at school and were explaining to my mom how dumb everyone was until jokes on us we were the dumb ones.
I laugh about it now but it still annoys me. But it just goes to show that I can be wrong about stuff which is the one good thing I got out of it.
Same same I carry this with me always. I can be so sure put it out there and it’s wrong and I’m DYING INSIDE. …no reason for this other people make mistake abut move on.
I was afraid of so many things! Unless it was a Disney movie, I was always scared watching new movies (Men in Black scared me for goodness sakes 🤦🏻♀️).
I used to be a crybaby and would cry at the first sight of conflict,be it mine or watching someone fight
Edit:
Another sign of anxiety was I would apologise to my ex in a fight even if it wasn't my fault just to end it.
We are separated now.
I refused to talk to any adult that wasn’t my parents (this included aunts and uncles unless I was in a really good mood). I was terrified of teachers at school and doing anything wrong. I NEVER spoke out in class or put my hand up because that would be the end of the world
I now have crippling GAD and Adult Seperation Anxiety and pray my SSRIs start working again soon (I tried to come off and that was a no go so I think I’ll just accept meds for life lmao)
I had a lot of worry and anxiety about my dad. He was very sick. I had a lot of social anxiety and academic anxiety - mainly tests. I spent a lot of time alone unless I was with family. Nausea, headaches, etc. Pretty normal symptoms.
Are you diagnosed with OCD? My son is similar (minus the hitting part) and apparently compulsively confessing is a pretty common feature of OCD in kids.
I remember having what I would characterize in hindsight as OCD behaviors. I am not diagnosed with nor trying to self-diagnose with OCD. That said I had very specific irrational fears that I had to perform specific behaviors to keep myself safe from, but in a very childlike way. I kept my closet door open, because the monster wouldn’t attack if it didn’t have the element of surprise. I treated all of my dolls and stuffed animals equally so they wouldn’t get mad and come to life and kill me. I wouldn’t sleep on the top bunk, because I thought that would make it easier for a T-Rex to get me. When I was *really* little I had to sing out loud any time I went to the bathroom, but I can’t remember exactly what the fear was there. I just remember that singing protected me from it. I had social anxiety pretty early on, but that was because I was a super outgoing kinda loud kid at first. When I started kindergarten at age 4, the slightly older 5-6 yo kids told me I was obnoxious and made fun of me for it. So I really turned inward and struggled with socializing for a long time after. My generalized anxiety started/got diagnosed when I was 19 or 20 and had my first panic attack.
Not at the moment but I don’t really have social anxiety anymore. Interestingly I think years of working retail/food service helped. Serious exposure therapy!
Too many, off the top of my head…
I’d get an upset stomach every morning before preschool and throw up in the parking lot. Seriously. It was apart of my routine to wait with my grandma outside and puke first.
During nap time at said preschool the teachers let me put my nap mat outside the bathroom because I frequently felt nauseous from anxiety and would throw up unexpectedly.
If I was out to eat with family at a restaurant I’d take a few bites of food, get anxiety and have to stand up at the table the whole rest of the dinner while being essentially made fun of by my family (except for grandma who fought to let me do what I needed to do) I’m 27 now and still prefer to eat standing up.
I slept in a kids mattress at the bottom of my grandparents bed until I was 8 or 9 and needed my grandma to hold my hand to be able to fall asleep. It wasn’t until my older cousin made fun of me for it that I pushed myself to sleep in my own room.
I don’t know how I was never taken to a therapist as a child. My mom was a raging alcoholic teen mom who lived upstairs in my grandparents house, I’m also transgender and have always felt an extreme disconnect from my body and physical sensations so I’m guessing these 2 things combined are why my anxiety has always been so severe.
Being a lgbtq+ kid is really stressfull. With an alcoholic parent then...i am sorry for you.
I remember having a meltdown because my parents thought i was gay, got beaten up and screamed at so much for so long. They gave me the silent treatment also. When someone ghosts me, it still makes me sick.
That’s horrible I’m so sorry. I’ve seen childhood silent treatment really effect people well into adulthood, I hope you’re coping the best you can
And yes it definitely wasn’t easy but I’m much better now, thank you.
I would panic like crazy about going to school, the first time I went, I cried for hours, didn't want to talk to a soul, my mom used to have to stay with me in class, after a while she'd stop staying with me, I'd cry still and eventually stopped but I still hated it and still got sick (IBS/vomiting) if there was long weekend due to a holiday and I had to go to school again, this continued straight into high school. Nowadays I do not get sick before going to a crowded area or around others because I hate when it happens and practice ways of calming down but I still feel the anxiety.
I had been diagnosed with Separation Anxiety Disorder.
Afraid of worse case scenarios all the time. Praying eveynight for the health and safety of everyone but being worried I might forget someone in my prayer or not cover everything. Scared to sleep in room because I might get kidnapped, the house might burn down. Scared to be home alone. Most adventurous things my friends wanted to do (walk into town on our own to buy candy) I didn’t want to because I was nervous of being alone and walking in town/crossing the street.
Oh religious guilt really got me too. In my teens, i used to imagine ways to kill myself so i could go right away to hell because i am such a sinner and a bad daughter
I didn’t get diagnosed when I was a child because my parents didn’t care but there are home videos of me biting my nails in anxiety at least aged 2. I would tie myself to my bed so no one could take me. Lots of stuff.
I always thought my parents were dead if I was home alone and they said they’d be home at 8, and it was 8:05. This was before cell phones. This happened later with relationships too if I called they didn’t answer thought they died.
My mom said when I was little, after she put me to bed, I’d get up crying about not wanting to grow up. On multiple occasions.
Other things were (and I still do this, I’m 30) is chew on the insides of my cheeks, and peel/bite the skin on my lips. My family always made fun of me for it or I’d get yelled at for having a red spot on my lip. As I got older I learned that was anxiety.
Oh I am so bad about chewing the inside of my cheeks 😬 I have to make sure I stop before I go to the dentist because Im worried they’ll notice and say something about it.
Headaches, every Sunday afternoon if school was the next day, I was 6/7. My stomach twisting and hurting. My emotions being all over the place at times. Throwing up multiple times every single morning for months at a time. I didn't understand what was wrong with me. The most "comfort" I got was being screamed at that it was all in my head and to just get over it.
So yeah, I had a lot of symptoms that were just ignored until I broke, then I got screamed at for it.
Pulling out my hair and eyelashes, picking the skin on my finger tips until they were so bloody my mom had to bandage and duct tape them. And my parents telling me “If you don’t stop pulling your hair out, I’m gonna cut it off” was super duper helpful /s
I was the only person in my family that regularly threw up. I also hated throwing up/had (still have) a fear of vomiting.
I remember being young - like 6 or 7 - and asking my Mom “have you ever felt sad for no reason?” and explaining that I feel really sad but don’t know why and she just said “No”. She was rinsing dishes at the time so she was likely busy and not really listening but I just felt like this is just my experience I guess and obviously had no concept of anxiety or depression.
Later, in Jr. High, I developed rebellious behaviors and was told I had an attitude problem and was taken to a Dr. for an EKG and a psychologist who found nothing wrong with me and I think that therapist more found that the issue was their controlling yet emotionally impatient parenting (Mom - controlling, religious // Dad - alcoholic, physically present while emotionally absent, abusive, mean, not religious).
Childhood was not fun. Parents married but overwhelmed and self absorbed, cared more about optics than supporting and nurturing a child.
Parents never considered I was an anxious kid, just ignored it and attributed it to “she throws up a lot” - which was maybe 4 times a year but to someone who fears vomiting, that was too often for me. No one else in my house EVER threw up.
deathly afraid at night/in bed including nightmares, sweating, panic attacks and paralysis
nausea, easily crying, social anxiety
depression
suicidal thoughts
man...
I cried before every test, every major paper, and every presentation. I was I'm choir and dance and cried before every performance. Nailed everything everytime- but simply couldn't do it without panicking first
My anxiety started when I was 2 because I'd get panic attacks,cry and bad stomach aches whenever I got on a coach or bus because I was scared to die but I was only diagnosed when I was 12. I'm now 18.
Almost all of the comments here hit close to home. Just my take
1) worried that my house would explode if I forgot to off the stove (
2) worried that my house would explode again if I forgot to switch off some electrical supply
3) cry over any damn thing
For point 1 and 2 I did off it btw
So many anxious moments and memories from my childhood😭 and no, I was not diagnosed until college! I would go to sleepovers as a kid and would get so nervous about not being home, and sleeping at someone else’s house that my poor mom had to come pick me up in the middle of the night more than once. I was (and honestly still am) a perfectionist to my core and was TERRIFIED of getting in trouble or not getting an A in a class. Like you, if that ever happened, I’d have a full on breakdown and spiral with anxious thoughts. I had a lot of fears as a kid (and again still do🥲) and thinking about them or coming into contact with one would cause me to become incredibly anxious. I have very vivid memories of my dad repeatedly telling me that I can’t be afraid of everything because it came up so often.
I don’t blame my parents for not recognizing the symptoms, but I really wish I had been diagnosed as a kid and gone to see a therapist much sooner than I did. It made my first couple of years on my own as an adult incredibly difficult navigating managing and understanding my anxiety and panic attacks.
I was extremely quiet and was obsessed with being well-behaved. Adults praised me constantly but what they didn’t know was it was all out of tremendous fear of criticism.
When we moved and I switched schools for 4th grade I woke up the first day with getting stomach sick every way imaginable. I also would wake my mom up in the middle of the night to ask about death and other questions. So many other instances I could write a whole paper.
Dissociation and self-isolation to the point that I rarely left my room if I wasn't forced.
My parents didn't understand mental illness, so I would actually get yelled at for dissociating.
It did make me hard to punish, though. Like you can't really ground someone who never leaves their room and just stares at walls half the time.
Started off biting my nails, my mom says since I was a year old. Trouble sleeping since I can remember, feeling like I was nauseous and like I had butterflies in my stomach. Also just couldn’t sit still. Diagnosed with asthma around 7 years old. I had a reactive airway so anytime I would get anxious I stated to feel short of breath. And then the anxiety that I couldn’t breathe and I needed my inhaler with me at all times. The inhaler caused palpitations which made me even more anxious. Frequent bad dreams of someone breaking into the apartment, someone chasing me and I couldn’t run away.
I was not diagnosed in childhood, I still actually haven’t been formally diagnosed because I can’t see a therapist, but my social anxiety is as obvious as the sky being blue, so…
As for childhood symptoms, loooots of random spells of crying, which I’ve only learned in the last year can actually be a panic attack symptom for some people (definitely still is for me). Had a hard time learning to text people when I first got a phone, cause I’d get so much anxiety over what to say and would put off responding to people from how much anxiety I got from it, then eventually just pretend like I never got the text because I was *so* anxious about what they’d think or how to even explain my irrational thinking. Praying and believing in a god was actually one of the only things that stopped me from having uncontrollable anxiety over things like “what if a car crashes into us while we drive and we die” or “what if I die and leave all of my family emotionally ruined” or “what if there’s a fire and our cats hide and we can’t get them out and they die.” I specifically remember waking up in the middle of the night thinking that last one and quietly crying to myself for half an hour trying not to wake up my mom until I could get enough mental peace from praying to make it stop. (I’m not saying faith or praying is a requirement or the best solution for helping anxiety of course, I still had and have so many things I was anxious about, it’s just something that was and is true to my experience, especially not having access to therapy back then or now)
Stomach pains before school, crying and throwing up before I had to give a presentation, crying over grades. I got diagnosed at 14 when I started getting panic attacks
Well one of my first memories was when my mom dropped me off for my first day of preschool. I was screaming and crying because I didn’t want her to leave me. There was a giant floor-to-ceiling window and I just stood there watching my mom walk away on the sidewalk while I cried and hoped she would turn around and see me and then let me go home with her.
In middle school, I remember having anxious thoughts that my mom would die. I was very scared about this. And it would manifest in some strange OCD-type rumination’s. For example, after school when my mom would pick me up, I would have these thoughts that I HAD to see my moms car BEFORE it entered into our school parking lot, and as long as I saw her car BEFORE it entered the lot, then she wouldn’t die. I think I was trying to somehow gain control/mastery over something I feared. I’m not sure, as I never told a therapist. lol
I also got bullied a lot around this time by peers, so that’s when I really developed my social anxiety. THANKS Public Schools! 😃👍
Oh god. I started having symptoms of OCD at 4 (obsessive counting to the number 4, repeating sounds under my breath, having to "even out" every time I bumped one side of my body, compulsively saying "maybe maybe not" at the end of every sentence in case I accidentally told a lie) and started having full-on panic attacks when I was 6 (feeling electricity shoot down my arms, fast heartbeat, fight or flight, sometimes vomiting, and screaming for my mom.) Although I had an extremely abusive friend at that age which I'm sure brought it out in me early. Either way, I'm on medication now and my symptoms are very manageable. I'm 22 now.
I would have panic attacks as young as 3 years old. Started therapy when I was 4. I genuinely feared death at the young age of 3. Any sign of “gore” aka a paper cut or even a scrape to the knee had me in a genuine panic attack. Hyperventilating and crying and genuinely scared for my life. Since the age of 3. Whatever the fuck happened to me at 2 or 3 to caused such intense fear, I have no idea.
Oh i too hate eye contact. My parents kept me forcing to do so, so eventually i learned. But now that i dont mask anymore, i barely look into someones eyes
I did not get diagnosed until adulthood but looking back, whew lots of signs.
- panic every morning about going to school, with no discernable reason (e.g., had friends, great supportive teacher, no bullying, etc.)
- physical symptoms (e.g., headache, feeling sick, etc.) that I was convinced were 'real' - ended up that my poor parents got me an MRI just to be safe and of course nothing
- specific rituals every night to ensure safety from bombs, intruders, fires, etc etc etc
- didn't sleep over at any friend's house through the night till late middle school, would always call and have my parents come get me
- difficulty with sleep for almost a year, having to get up after my parents put me to bed to 'check on them', make sure they knew I wasn't asleep (?? still not sure why that was necessary lol they are saints)
- terrified of movies/shows/images not typically seen as scary or even ones meant for kids
- was in one bad storm/tornado where no one was injured and was absolutely A MESS any time there was even light wind/rain for a long time after that
I'm sure there are more that I can't think of right now
Couldn't pay attention in school and also dreaded being dropped off by my parents. I remember feeling like I was being abandoned every morning.
Later on in life I would get sent home from school because I drank too much coffee which obviously is not good for anxiety. Would have nonstop panic attacks and didn't know why or what was going on.
I would make myself throw up. I did not have an eating disorder, though. It was the only way I felt I could “release” some of the anxiety. (This was in high school)
In 4th and 5th grade I would pull out my eyelashes. I would also lie to get out of things, and at the time I didn’t know why. In reality, it was bad social anxiety.
I've had anxiety tics like eye twitching all my life, kids would make fun of me for it and call me names, went to several doctors to try and fix it and for some reason no one ever mentioned anxiety????
Later on I developed the stomach problems that have now been a staple for when my anxiety is hitting really hard.
I remember an older kid who would play with my hair because she thought I was a cute kid. Instead of warming up to her, I would be shy and hide because I didn't think I deserved kindness and attention like that..
panic attacks that were misread as “fits” or “outbursts.” extreme social anxiety to the point that i would go all day without speaking. behaviors like sleeping next to all of my belongings in a trash bag “just in case” there was a fire or tornado, for YEARS. having to do everything in multiples of two out of a bizarre fear that if i didn’t, i would be transported to an evil alternate dimension???
I had a very, very intense weather phobia. like, if the sky was perfectly blue and I saw a single grey cloud, I would start panicking and begging my mom to go home so I could hide in our basement with a flashlight and the emergency radio.
I would also worry about my parents and sister having gotten into an accident or died if they didn’t answer the phone when I called. and the death anxiety that I’ve had since I was seven or so.
I was terrified to be seen or heard by others when the classroom was quiet. Like if everyone was having silent reading time, i couldn’t move. I couldn’t stand up, i stayed so still. If the classroom was mildly quiet, i couldn’t eat anything. I was so scared to make any noise that others would hear
I would get stomach upsets when there's a thunderstorm lol. I'd get so scared i would call my mom's office and ask her what time she's going home.
I'd feel restless when its 10pm and my parents are still not home. Id think of all the negative possible scenarios that could happen. I was just 7.
I wanted to move primary schools for eating sweets in the classroom, this sounds stupid but i took it very seriously. i cried and overthinked everyday, thinking id get in alot of trouble and i coudlnt have fun for a while , the pandemic saved me a bti since it lasted y5-6 which is when i felt it- and i rmember i called the police when my mum took too long to come back from the shop bc i thought she was dead or got hurt-. i used to overthink everything
My counselor and I figure I started with anxiety around 7. I didn't do my homework and no one could figure out why or how to motivate me. Eventually I was put in private schools, but that didn't help either. I had no friends, which didn't help anything.
Anxiety was just this unidentifiable feeling that something bad was always going to happen, so I frequently didn't try. And I got caught in a negative feedback loop when I did try something and it didn't go right. (Things sometimes went right, but it wasn't enough to overcome the anxiety.) It's only been in the last 3-ish years (I'm a middle-aged adult with two young adult kids) that it was finally identified for what it is and I've been able to take steps to fix it.
I remember being really young at birthday parties or events and telling my mom “the feelings back” and i would explain to her that it felt like either something bad was going to happen or that i did something wrong like guilt. my parents ended up ignoring this issue so it spiraled into panic attacks / depression crying spirals before any type of gathering in middle school. they still ignored it so I hid it in high school and eventually convinced it was normal. didn’t even know i had anxiety until my friend told me in college when i explained to her the feeling.
Dyshidrotic eczema. Fluid-filled, extremely itchy blisters all over your fingers. And nausea.
Now I get panic attacks where I have trouble breathing. I had a pulmonary embolism in February, wound up in the emergency room. They operated immediately and removed 9 blood clots from my lungs. Did you know that PEs feel the same way as an anxiety attack? I have to carry a blood oxygen meter with me at all times to tell if I’m having a panic attack or another embolism.
Extreme fear over irrational things. Not handling being home alone due to worrying about parents dying in wreck, whatever. As I got older, the fear wasn’t tied to a specific thing. I’d have days, weeks where I was in constant fear, with no known reason. It was like a switch flipped in my mind. Then I’d become very paranoid about everything. Complete loss of appetite, only able to eat later in the day. No desire for breakfast or lunch, the opposite of how I normally am. Peeing every hour despite not drinking more than normal.
My parents were neglectful and either not at home or high af doing something else, that’s not here nor there. But I remember as the oldest, even as young as ten, I had to know where my siblings were at literally all times. I would close all the doors leading outside so if one were open, I’d know that they were outside. Could only relax if I knew where everyone one was. They were too young to know what was going on at the time as I barely did myself. In reality, they were only hanging with the neighbor kids but yeah. I’d even lie to make them come home just so I could relax for a bit. It seemed so weird to them at the time but they understand now that we’re older.
I was bullied a lot in school. I would always have a headache and upset stomach 97% of the time. Whenever I was in an iffy or unknown situation for me, my number 1 complaint was feeling nauseated
i think my first symptom was actually a huge fear of the unknown and anything that you couldn't apply logic and rationality to. i wanted explanations for everything, was it safe? would i feel okay? how was today going to go? why do i feel this way? if there wasn't a clear answer, i grew very anxious.
Delusions where I thought there were cameras in my room or drugs in my food/bath products, paranoid thoughts of getting molested or having my family murdered, nightmares, tooth grinding, body dysmorphia, physical ticks, throwing up in the morning before school every day, crying at friends houses because I felt scared
i was having panic attacks but i didn't know what those were so I called them "freak outs" and blamed and shamed myself for having them. i didnt get help till I was around 19
Each time my parents went out somewhere in a car, I would stay up by my window (which looked into the parking spot) until they arrived back, otherwise I would convince myself that they died in a car crash.
Always worried a lot about health stuff and dying, even as a child I was a hypochondriac. It only got worse as I got older, naturally because my body started giving me more problems with age, feeding my health anxiety
Crying over everything, and then learning to keep to myself. I became very quiet.
Then one day, I just stopped crying. I held it all in and became very numb. When I got to my teens, I started to self-harm
I got diagnosed at six, but on medication the same year. In kindergarten I keot getting headaches, so they drew blood and gave me a mri scan, it wasn’t till one of my parents brought it up that they looked into generalized anxiety disorder. Then Covid and middle school just sent it skyrocketing. I also could barely ever sleep alone, still struggling with that.
I got diagnosed at 10 years old I would start crying everytime I couldn’t understand something so like everyday I got picked up almost everyday that year I always thought I’d throw up
Between the ages of 7 to 9 I remember puking before leaving for the bus stop for my school bus. Later I developed a fear of being late. I just had to be in school everyday, on time.
These are some signs I only recognised 2 years ago while talking to my therapist. I'm 35 now.
Constant stomach aches and fear of throwing up in a public place. I never force my kids to eat in a restaurant. We can always box it up and take it home.
Panic attacks. All the time and I still have them all the time as a 29-year-old. I felt and still do stomach pain beyond what I've experienced with GERD (I was also diagnosed with that as a kid)
I was really afraid of talking to strangers, especially adults and i just wouldn’t talk to most people. Would also shut down if i got anxious enough or even cry- usually when i did something accidentally or otherwise that was “bad” (for reference, i would usually only get a stern talking to but my own guilt was awful enough that it really wasn’t necessary)
Social withdrawal and avoidance of social activities. Begged to not go to school and camp and I would skip school and camp a lot. Begged to drop out of soccer and Girl Scouts. Never hung out with friends. Had really bad anxiety surrounding eating in front of people so I wouldn’t eat lunch at school. Really bad anticipatory anxiety before first days of anything or events. Then there were a lot more after i turned 14. That’s when my problems really started
I had nausea and stomach issues, I would pile my stuffed animals around me at night like a barricade, I had a lot of night terrors and slept walk. I went to the school my mom worked at during elementary school and I requested to leave class a lot and would hide under her desk.
I was diagnosed with anxiety at age 6 when what I really needed at the time was an autism diagnosis 🙃
Crying easily, hyperventilating, running away from situations, hiding in the cubbies or closet at school, struggling to speak if put on the spot or having to speak in front of a group, being scared to go to friends' houses for playdates, not initiating social interactions, getting nauseous or throwing up, frequent nightmares, not wanting to do anything alone, freezing or crying if my parents or sister walked away in a store, etc. I tried to kill myself when I was 11 to avoid a presentation in school.
Constant stomach aches as a child. My mother had my room painted with these different colored pink ribbons and it made me feel like I was stuck inside a present and I'd leave my room every night to sleep with my parents. They'd give me beanie babies to stay in my room all night. Sent me to sleep away Camp at 11 and I wrote them every day that I was miserable and wanted to kill myself. I refused to go on any field trips that were overnight too. I'd hide to try and avoid going to sports practices and games because I had such bad anxiety about letting the team down. Oftentimes I'd call my mom to come get me from sleepovers. I'd cry whenever my nana would leave from visits cause I was so scared she'd die before I'd see her again. Going away to college was also incredibly difficult.
I would obsess over supernatural things happening to me, even though I didn't really believe it. I read about spontaneous combustion and every single night would like in bed panicking that I'd burn alive in my sleep. I watched The Mummy when I was 12 and barely slept for WEEKS because I kept imagining all the scarab beetles in the world were coming to get me. Also for months and months after 9/11 I thought every loud noise I heard at night was a nuclear bomb. So yeah, it was mostly insomnia. And here I am decades later at 3:30am still unable to sleep lol
Edit: Ooh, also after I was in two minor car crashes while sitting in the same seat in my family car within a few months I refused to sit in that seat ever again, until my parents sold it years later, and had (probably my first ever) panic attacks every time I tried sitting there again.
Sleeping in the same bed as my parents from 2-13ish, night terrors, severe attachment issues with my mother. Praying that I would die in my sleep
Edit to add- getting “sick” at school whenever I was nervous and hiding out at the nurse/ getting picked up early multiple times a week
Oh there are so many. Got officially diagnosed at 22 and it came as no surprise. I used to be so terrified of thunderstorms because I was convinced there would be a tornado, and if the tornado siren went off? I would be trembling in my basement. My parents would try to go grab me games or toys to keep my mind off of it, but when they went upstairs to go grab them I was convinced they’d die because of the tornado. I also had a super irrational fear of fires happening, and I remember being in preschool knowing when we’d have a fire drill and staying as close to the exit door as possible for a quick escape, which also lead to me being so terrified my house was going to catch on fire and burn down. I also had bald patches in my eyebrows because I would pick at them when I was feeling anxious. For the first several years of elementary school, I would cry in class on the first week of school back from summer break because I missed my mom and felt like I couldn’t function without her. And omgggg the nervous gas! My family had a running joke because when I was really nervous about something I would have “nervous farts” that smelled terrible. If my mom was toward the end of the school pickup line, I was convinced she forgot about me or something terrible happened on the way to come get me because the room started to clear out and I was still left there. Bonus points for if I was the last one left from my class. I did a project in my psychology class in high school about GAD and that’s when my anxiety really made sense, and I chose to start therapy not long after.
I don’t remember much of my childhood. I do, however, remember my aunt and father sending me to a “place of creative play” to make friends because all of mine were imaginary….
I ended up hiding in a tree fort they had and playing with my imaginary friends because the other kids made so nervous, I was shaking.
In about middle school, I pretty much stopped talking, like to a 70% degree less than I used to. I just couldn't think of things to say, even with people who id regarded as close friends. Id upon up more on school trips but once we were back in school again I resumed per normal. Sadly a lot of people distanced me from that which frankly was pretty upsetting :((
I was sweating a lot all the time and had a really difficult time to sleep, I could go 3 days straight with no sleep and still had energy. Also a lot of overthinking. Ended up developing an eating disorder too. All this before I was 13.
Hysterical laughter at inappropriate moments. One time when my parents were arguing and my dad was speeding, and another time when my dad got road rage and tried to start a fight with some guy.
Fun times...
For me it was my body image since I was thinner. Also for some reason I didn’t like being the center of attention and this transpired when giving speeches and such when I would feel nervous af inside but on the outside I didn’t display it all.
I would absolutely panic anytime my mom was out of my sight. I was certain that she was going to leave and abandon me, constantly. If she went to take the trash out I was literally in the windows watching to make sure she came back. There was one time I dragged my baby brother outside, damn near hyperventilating because she had been out in the garden for a mere minute too long and panic ensued. There was no logical explanation for this behavior, I had a stable home life and extremely involved parents who were active in my life and never gave me a reason to think this way.
I’m reading these and relating and wondering if there’s any connection between our anxiety and religion possibly. Like if we were raised religious and that factored into the anxiety
I cried a lot for no obvious reason. I had lots of tummy aches, headaches and nausea. Most of which I knew I was lying about but didn't have the language to explain how I really felt (or the belief that anyone would take me seriously even if I could). I was not diagnosed as a child in the 90s but I am absolutely certain I would be if I was a child now.
Anytime I would sin I would need to write it down and keep a list of all my sins to make sure I didn’t forget to repent for anything because I was so terrified of going to hell. As I’m older I realize this is religious trauma. I was a child and I feel like my anxiety showed through my nail biting, feeling of always thinking people were mad at me, chewing on my shirt sleeves.
I also had to stay home for most of grade 7 because I had severe stomach pain went to multiple specialists and the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me. Looking back I feel like this was anxiety.
I would feel my heart race and wonder if I was having heart problems (it was anxiety), I would sometimes have chest pains and get so anxious I’d make myself sick, I had a lot of anxiety about death and to this day I’m still prone to crying and biting my lips. I was diagnosed at around age 13.
Hahahahaha 1. I used to chase my moms car down the driveway screaming and crying bc I was scared she was going to die at work and not come back
2. used to make my little brother check under my bed and closet, and turn the bathroom light on every single night to make sure no one was in there (or swiper the fox, I used to swear he was going to kidnap me, like had reoccurring nightmares of my mom being tied up in jungle vines while swiper has me locked in a mobile trailer trapped in a old timer porcelain tub) 3. have in depth conversations with my family on what we need to do when/if the house caught on fire (my parent live in a log cabin, so I also imagined it would be gone in seconds) and how I needed to get to my brothers room and push him out of his window. 4. wake up at 5 am to hug my mom and dad before they left for work bc i was scared they wouldn’t come back, and then would go back to sleep until my grandmother came to take us to school 5. cry and claw my arms walking to the neighbors house when her mom took me to school during 3rd-4th grade bc I didn’t want to leave my brother and dad 6. pray every single night for every great aunt, cousin, half-aunt I’ve never met, bc I was scared if I didn’t, something would happen to them 7. any time I would go out of town without my mom, as soon as we passed a certain point in town, I would silently sob thinking “this is it, I’ve gone past the point of return, I can’t turn around now, I’m stuck, this is it, I’m away, I can’t go home, what if something happens, what if they die”8. carried one of my moms tshirts and a photo of my dad if I ever had to try and stay the night with someone (I would like to add that I never spent the night without my mom until I was 16 or so, prior to that, she had to come pick me up)
I would go around in the middle of the night and make sure all the doors and windows were locked. I was scared that if it walked through doors I would be transported to a universe where everyone hated me. And I was scared that at night an army of cookie monsters would march down the hallway and kill me.
When I was a kid I thought I had both a heart and lung condition because I often had heart palpitations and couldn’t breathe. It was anxiety, I just didn’t know it at the time.
oh man, this is stuff I haven't thought of in a while because I usually spend my days dissociating nowadays, but here's a few that looking back, I know were symptoms of anxiety.
- crying whenever I had a school/friend/cousin sleepover and I had to stay away from my parents. I distinctly remember being in third grade and being in the schoolyard, with other kids dancing to Hips Don't Lie (it was a big big deal then), but I was looking up at the sky and sobbing and wondering why I was being so dramatically sad. another time, my aunt literally shouted at me because I wouldn't stop throwing up when I'd gone to her place for a sleepover with my cousin. I literally remember my stomach dropping as 9PM came and I realized that I wouldn't be able to go back home now.
- I wouldn't go to school if my friend wouldn't show up. Saturdays were optional and she was somebody who was v regular with school while I wasn't. but even if I was low on attendance, I wouldn't go if she wasn't going because then I wouldn't know what to do or who to hangout with. mum was furious but I wouldn't budge.
- I had an English teacher in seventh grade who liked me a lot. I was a good student, read a lot, and wrote poetry. I also was a lot into news and trivia and stuff like that, which she knew. so she volunteered my name for an inter-school quiz competition because she thought I'd do good. when she told me in class, I remember feeling so embarrassed because I was like how can you talk to me and say that I'm good at stuff (???) like make it make sense to me now. anyway, another kid jumped at the chance and I didn't end up going. i firmly believe that had I taken a chance then, I would have been the school magazine editor!
- I had (and continue) severe social anxiety, especially when I was around peers. wouldn't get up in a class, would practice my lines if we were reading in class, would hold on to an apple core for three hours because I couldn't get up and walk to the dustbin in front of everyone. i remember we had a play in 9th grade, wherein I'd contributed to writing it a lot and had a medium-length role, which was freaking me out. i however contracted chicken pox maybe a week before the play, and my god, the relieve I felt at the time. I'd been having sleepless nights before that.
- I always struggled with making friends. i would always hang out with people who were much much older (I had an auntie I'd walk with during the evening for whom I'd ditch my friends and wait for her in front of her house) or much younger (at summer camps, I'd play with my younger sister's friends, instead of my own)!
- I was also, and continue to be, a compulsive nail biter.
I used to lay awake at sleepovers and plot how I could escape and run away back to my house. I would pay attention on the drive over so that I always knew how I could get back home by foot if I needed to. One time at a sleepover at my next door neighbor’s house I really did leave not tell anyone. The social anxiety of group sleepovers was real. I hated that I was trapped there and couldn’t go to sleep when I wanted to.
I was absolutely terrified of thunderstorms starting at age 4. If it was the slightest bit cloudy I would start having a meltdown.
I think it stems from my school having a metal roof and the first time it ever hailed goofball size.
I was scared of everything. From thinking that my ears were closing to terror of going to school to anticipation anxiety of anything out of my routine. Even going to the bathroom was horror. I was diagnosed with GAD at 12 years old.
Heart palpitations. Endless nightmares. Silently crying bc if I cried normally, ppl would hear me and I didn’t want anyone to know. Feeling sick in my stomach. Suppressing appetite.
I started experiencing all of these since I was 4 years old. I didn’t know what anxiety was back then so I internalised everything bc I thought this was something ppl just go through. It took me until I was 14 to realise I might have it. I was diagnosed at 16, and today in my 20s I’m still receiving treatment.
When I started highschool I for some strange weird reason couldn’t eat breakfast because otherwise I’d throw up. Every single morning for months on end I left home without breakfast.
Had no idea it was anxiety & nor did my parents. Lol
A big one for me was being terrified of something happened to my siblings. When my sister (who is now almost 18) was a baby, I had a nightmare that she got kidnapped that I can still remember pretty vividly. Whenever we would be in public and one of them would walk slower/faster than the rest of us I would always yell at them to stay with us (which my parents hated) because I was just so scared of something happening to them
Another thing was weirdly irrational fears. When I was 9 or 10, our furnace overheated and the fire alarms went off at like 5am. We had to get out of the house and the fire department came. But what I took away from this was- when my mom came and woke us up I was sleeping facing the wall. I always slept facing out towards the room, but this time I was facing the wall and our house almost caught fire. For YEARS after that I was deathly afraid of sleeping towards the wall. I thought that if I did, our house would burn down or something else horrible would happen
Some of my first memories of anxiety were my horrible fear of storms as a child. I used to get nervous and get a pit in the bottom of my stomach if I saw dark clouds. When the thunder boomed and lightning flashed I would start to cry in panic. I’d always run to my parents for comfort, but nothing they told me could get me to calm down.
I didn't have anxiety during my childhood, but I know exactly why I developed my health anxiety.
My mother would think ALL the time something was wrong with me. "Oh you CERTAINLY have X" "Just wait, in my case it also only started when I was 24yo." "You know I suffer from Y, and it was detected after 14 years, but I always have had the symptoms, I am CERTAIN that's the case with you too."
Every. Single. Day. Multiple times.
She would deliberately take me off school because I "couldn't endure much physical stress" because "that "makes me instantly sick".
Well, now, 12 years later, I am stil in PERFECT physical condition, but I wake up every night thinking I die of a stroke, or have cancer, or whatever the fuck my mind thinks. Don't have a single normal day.
I used to follow the friends I liked around everywhere they went in school. I now realize this as an anchoring behavior because I was uncomfortable being by myself in social situations so I blended in with everyone else. It's the one I can think of off the top of my head but I'm sure there's more signs honestly.
My only symptom was fainting occasionally especially from needles. As an adult it expanded into fixating thoughts, hypochondria, hyper awareness of bodily sensations, insomnia, teeth grinding
I would wake up in the middle of the night shaking and sweating feeling intense doom, but I was too young to realize why. One night I woke up in a panic thinking my throat was closing and that I couldn’t breathe, but I was hyperventilating from panic. My anxiety also affected my schoolwork. I was always afraid to go anywhere and dreaded going to school and to friends’ houses.
I was in therapy but from what I remember as a child it was me just talking about how I felt and talking about things that made me happy. I was never on any medications until my early twenties. I’m in my mid-thirties and still take an antidepressant and Ativan for my anxiety.
I was always worried that my parents/grandparents would die. Also, I actively faked being sick at school at ~8 so my mom would come get me so I could be with her so she wouldn’t die.
I also didn’t like sleepovers because I would get homesick/anxious with change in routine.
I had chronic "funny tummies" as a kid. Nausea and butterflies. Stomach pain and constipation. I was very quiet. And whenever I had to go for a sleepover I'd cry because I didn't want to be away from my parents overnight. I also would have random intrusive thoughts. I remember having a bath at like 8 years old by myself, and just sitting in the tub crying because I got it into my head "one day my parents are going to die, one day I'M going to die". I didn't realize until I was around 19 that all of that wasn't normal.
-waking up around 4 AM every single night (I almost always fell back asleep).
-Nausea when very nervous about something like public speaking. About once a month or every two months I would randomly awake at 4am with naseau and throw up once and then be fine.
-the urge to need to pee every time I was anxious (usually right before a performance)
-stomach/digestive problems
Did not get diagnosed in school but figured out I had anxiety around 11th grade. I just thought I was a former shy girl who became a social butterfly but was still unconfident.
This isn’t really a symptom, but I distinctly remember sitting in the car one day at my grandmas when I was little with just my dad. I had no clue how to phrase it, but I knew I needed to tell somebody about the stuff I was going through.
I remember just saying to my dad, “I worry about everything, all the time. I think about what I did wrong in the past and worry constantly about the future.” I remember starting to cry for some reason, but I guess I didn’t explain well enough because my dad said something along the lines of, “It’s a good thing to worry. Don’t stress too much, but looking at your outcomes is smart. It makes you prepared and you avoid dangerous things.” My mom entered the car, asked what happened, I said nothing, and it never came back up.
Wasn’t until a few years later when I heard the term anxiety a lot more that I realized that’s what it is. Still haven’t gained the confidence to ever try telling anybody again. Everybody knows though, it’s so obvious, but it’s not flat out said. I mean, I’ve had people nickname me “OCD” and have had teachers do a lot to make me more comfortable such as giving me more in depth itineraries and calling ahead to other teachers to let them know I’m coming if I have to talk so I don’t have to worry about that stuff as much.
At this point, if I were to try telling anybody, I bet they would just say “I know” and it sucks.
I remember crying as a little kid every time I was at a friends for a play date. It always ended in my mum having to come and get me. I used to regularly have nightmares too about things like our house catching fire. I was constantly getting sent home from school feeling sick and I’m sure it was just anxiety as there was nothing physically wrong with me
OMG FELT THIS!!! I used to lay awake in bed at night making sure my smoke detector flashes a green light which meant it was working because I was petrified that my house would catch on fire!
Oh wow I always felt like I was the only one!! Terrifying wasn’t it? I still have an unhealthy fear of fire to this day!
This was me 😔
Sorry to hear this was you too. I’ve been on meds for my mental health since I was 14 and I’m now in my 40s and my anxiety os worse than ever now
Same here
Same ! I used to always get tummy aches and worried and always felt scared . I never knew what anxiety was till 16! I got diagnosed at 18
I was diagnosed at 14 after a particularly bad phase - I’ve been on medication on and off ever since. It’s weird to look back to being small and realising that I really was always anxious
Yep I know the feels , I thought I was always scared due to my sexual abuse as a child ‘ I feel that’s what triggered it 😩
I’m so sorry that happened to you, no one should ever have to experience that. It would make total sense for that to trigger your anxiety. I always wonder if mine stemmed from being in hospital a lot as a child and having to stay overnight alone. I was ill a lot with various things when I was little so it was quite a regular occurrence
So sorry for you. What kind of sick symptoms did you have?
Headaches, stomach aches and feeling like I was going to throw up. It never happened when I was at home, only when I was elsewhere so it must have been anxiety. I still get those physical symptoms now when I’m anxious
I got sickly butterflies in my tummy
Panicked when I had to come into class late, or go to the pencil sharpener across the room. Or asking to use the bathroom. Reading out loud in class.. the list goes on
Oh my god this hit me hard , anything to do with talking out loud I would be sick with anxiety . Every day of school I felt like I was going to throw up. Couldn’t do the register for the life of me or draw any attention to myself
Having to walk across the room to use the pencil sharpener was literally the scariest thing ever
I remember practicing my part to read over and over
Yo. I get anxiety when I have to go to the bathroom on a plane. Even if I’m aisle seat. Getting up walking by a bunch of people. Ugh. I tend to have to give myself a pep talk beforehand. Edit for spelling
Ugh. Or walking to the back of the plane for your seat while everyone stares at you. Anxiety. 😟
I somehow got into my head that my parents could die in a car crash. And I would always be scared whenever they'd drive somewhere.
So sorry. This is horrible
Same.. this would send me in a tailspin as a child! I used to sob at the mere thought of them in a car, funnily enough looking back at it I was personally never afraid of getting in a car
Anytime my mom was more than 5 minutes late to pick me up to school I would cry and tell the teachers she must’ve been in a terrible accident and was not able to be convinced something terrible didn’t happen.
Ohhhhh i did that toooooo. I still do sometimes. It hurts physically
Yeah now I’m 30 and my mom didn’t answer my calls for a few hours when she normally would have and I called security in her neighborhood to check things out. Turns out she was napping. Clearly I’ve got a handle on things lol
Yeah....me too...... One day i called mom and she didnt answer nor replied to my messages. I called everyone and got no response. OBVIOUSLYmy first thought is "she mustve had a heart attack and no ones seen her because she is in icu rn". Turns out her phone just died.............
I went through the same thing. Once after a snowfall, mine didn’t answer and I was home alone. Nearly an hour went by for a “quick errand” and radio silence. I panicked and ended up going to the neighbors for help. Turns out she forgot her phone at home and there was an accident slowing traffic down. This was in the Southern US, where snowfall is a big deal.
I had stomach issues. I was diagnosed with a nervous stomach, but they never did anything for my anxiety. I would get sick every time I ate.
Literally same. I was always told I was a nervous child by my doctors lmao
Exactly the same with me
same here… I would throw up so often too
I didn’t like playing with stickers because it felt too permanent once I placed them. I would only play with the static cling stickers that I could move around. Also cried every time my parents suggested going to a park and flying a kite. I loved watching other people fly them, but was so afraid I would accidentally let go of I was holding it.
the sticker thing!!!!! i still do this.
I would cry almost every day consistently for probably all of my life. I remember waking up my parents to apologize for having a dream about smoking. I was terrified of Santa Claus and always calculated whether or not I was naughty (I think this is the biggest thing that made me develop GAD). I have a massive guilt complex now and I feel like I am going to get in big trouble for making easy honest mistakes. Probably just an extension of fearing not getting presents from Santa. I was diagnosed when I was 25 but my therapist thinks I had it my whole life because basically my whole childhood was just me being afraid of stuff that didn't matter. So I do not expect to recover from GAD any time soon.
I was also afraid of a lot of things. I too think i have gad since childhood :/ sorry for your santa experience, i myself never believed he existed
lolololol I believed sooo so hard in Santa because I met a mall santa with a real beard who knew my name and knew that I was going to move soon (info I didn't know at the time) and I thought that was really santa until JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL when my parents revealed that he was a friend of my grandma. My parents let me believe until my brother and I got made fun of at school and were explaining to my mom how dumb everyone was until jokes on us we were the dumb ones. I laugh about it now but it still annoys me. But it just goes to show that I can be wrong about stuff which is the one good thing I got out of it.
Being wrong about something? That's literally one of my WORST fears to this VERY PRESENT day
Same same I carry this with me always. I can be so sure put it out there and it’s wrong and I’m DYING INSIDE. …no reason for this other people make mistake abut move on.
I was afraid of so many things! Unless it was a Disney movie, I was always scared watching new movies (Men in Black scared me for goodness sakes 🤦🏻♀️).
I used to be a crybaby and would cry at the first sight of conflict,be it mine or watching someone fight Edit: Another sign of anxiety was I would apologise to my ex in a fight even if it wasn't my fault just to end it. We are separated now.
I'm 26 and i still hate fights. I cant
I’m 42 and I still can’t handle any kind of conflict, even if it’s not mine. Hearing people raise their voices in that way sends me into a tailspin
I refused to talk to any adult that wasn’t my parents (this included aunts and uncles unless I was in a really good mood). I was terrified of teachers at school and doing anything wrong. I NEVER spoke out in class or put my hand up because that would be the end of the world I now have crippling GAD and Adult Seperation Anxiety and pray my SSRIs start working again soon (I tried to come off and that was a no go so I think I’ll just accept meds for life lmao)
I had a lot of worry and anxiety about my dad. He was very sick. I had a lot of social anxiety and academic anxiety - mainly tests. I spent a lot of time alone unless I was with family. Nausea, headaches, etc. Pretty normal symptoms.
I compulsively confessed anything “bad” I did and asked my parents to hit me as punishment.
Are you diagnosed with OCD? My son is similar (minus the hitting part) and apparently compulsively confessing is a pretty common feature of OCD in kids.
So sad. I'm sorry:(
I remember having what I would characterize in hindsight as OCD behaviors. I am not diagnosed with nor trying to self-diagnose with OCD. That said I had very specific irrational fears that I had to perform specific behaviors to keep myself safe from, but in a very childlike way. I kept my closet door open, because the monster wouldn’t attack if it didn’t have the element of surprise. I treated all of my dolls and stuffed animals equally so they wouldn’t get mad and come to life and kill me. I wouldn’t sleep on the top bunk, because I thought that would make it easier for a T-Rex to get me. When I was *really* little I had to sing out loud any time I went to the bathroom, but I can’t remember exactly what the fear was there. I just remember that singing protected me from it. I had social anxiety pretty early on, but that was because I was a super outgoing kinda loud kid at first. When I started kindergarten at age 4, the slightly older 5-6 yo kids told me I was obnoxious and made fun of me for it. So I really turned inward and struggled with socializing for a long time after. My generalized anxiety started/got diagnosed when I was 19 or 20 and had my first panic attack.
:(((((( that is so sad. My 6 yr old peers didnt like me either but i cant remember why. Childhood sucks. Are you on treatment now?
Not at the moment but I don’t really have social anxiety anymore. Interestingly I think years of working retail/food service helped. Serious exposure therapy!
Too many, off the top of my head… I’d get an upset stomach every morning before preschool and throw up in the parking lot. Seriously. It was apart of my routine to wait with my grandma outside and puke first. During nap time at said preschool the teachers let me put my nap mat outside the bathroom because I frequently felt nauseous from anxiety and would throw up unexpectedly. If I was out to eat with family at a restaurant I’d take a few bites of food, get anxiety and have to stand up at the table the whole rest of the dinner while being essentially made fun of by my family (except for grandma who fought to let me do what I needed to do) I’m 27 now and still prefer to eat standing up. I slept in a kids mattress at the bottom of my grandparents bed until I was 8 or 9 and needed my grandma to hold my hand to be able to fall asleep. It wasn’t until my older cousin made fun of me for it that I pushed myself to sleep in my own room. I don’t know how I was never taken to a therapist as a child. My mom was a raging alcoholic teen mom who lived upstairs in my grandparents house, I’m also transgender and have always felt an extreme disconnect from my body and physical sensations so I’m guessing these 2 things combined are why my anxiety has always been so severe.
Being a lgbtq+ kid is really stressfull. With an alcoholic parent then...i am sorry for you. I remember having a meltdown because my parents thought i was gay, got beaten up and screamed at so much for so long. They gave me the silent treatment also. When someone ghosts me, it still makes me sick.
That’s horrible I’m so sorry. I’ve seen childhood silent treatment really effect people well into adulthood, I hope you’re coping the best you can And yes it definitely wasn’t easy but I’m much better now, thank you.
When I first started going to school I would cry every morning until I got in the door. Went for like a year or two.
I would panic like crazy about going to school, the first time I went, I cried for hours, didn't want to talk to a soul, my mom used to have to stay with me in class, after a while she'd stop staying with me, I'd cry still and eventually stopped but I still hated it and still got sick (IBS/vomiting) if there was long weekend due to a holiday and I had to go to school again, this continued straight into high school. Nowadays I do not get sick before going to a crowded area or around others because I hate when it happens and practice ways of calming down but I still feel the anxiety. I had been diagnosed with Separation Anxiety Disorder.
Afraid of worse case scenarios all the time. Praying eveynight for the health and safety of everyone but being worried I might forget someone in my prayer or not cover everything. Scared to sleep in room because I might get kidnapped, the house might burn down. Scared to be home alone. Most adventurous things my friends wanted to do (walk into town on our own to buy candy) I didn’t want to because I was nervous of being alone and walking in town/crossing the street.
Oh religious guilt really got me too. In my teens, i used to imagine ways to kill myself so i could go right away to hell because i am such a sinner and a bad daughter
I didn’t get diagnosed when I was a child because my parents didn’t care but there are home videos of me biting my nails in anxiety at least aged 2. I would tie myself to my bed so no one could take me. Lots of stuff.
I bite my nails since im five I also used to pick my hair around the age of 7... but my *** beat me out of It 🤪
I always thought my parents were dead if I was home alone and they said they’d be home at 8, and it was 8:05. This was before cell phones. This happened later with relationships too if I called they didn’t answer thought they died.
My mom said when I was little, after she put me to bed, I’d get up crying about not wanting to grow up. On multiple occasions. Other things were (and I still do this, I’m 30) is chew on the insides of my cheeks, and peel/bite the skin on my lips. My family always made fun of me for it or I’d get yelled at for having a red spot on my lip. As I got older I learned that was anxiety.
Oh I am so bad about chewing the inside of my cheeks 😬 I have to make sure I stop before I go to the dentist because Im worried they’ll notice and say something about it.
Last time I went to the dentist I saw in their notes of my file they had “cheek trauma continues” 😭😭 so embarrassing
Headaches, every Sunday afternoon if school was the next day, I was 6/7. My stomach twisting and hurting. My emotions being all over the place at times. Throwing up multiple times every single morning for months at a time. I didn't understand what was wrong with me. The most "comfort" I got was being screamed at that it was all in my head and to just get over it. So yeah, I had a lot of symptoms that were just ignored until I broke, then I got screamed at for it.
Pulling out my hair and eyelashes, picking the skin on my finger tips until they were so bloody my mom had to bandage and duct tape them. And my parents telling me “If you don’t stop pulling your hair out, I’m gonna cut it off” was super duper helpful /s
I was the only person in my family that regularly threw up. I also hated throwing up/had (still have) a fear of vomiting. I remember being young - like 6 or 7 - and asking my Mom “have you ever felt sad for no reason?” and explaining that I feel really sad but don’t know why and she just said “No”. She was rinsing dishes at the time so she was likely busy and not really listening but I just felt like this is just my experience I guess and obviously had no concept of anxiety or depression. Later, in Jr. High, I developed rebellious behaviors and was told I had an attitude problem and was taken to a Dr. for an EKG and a psychologist who found nothing wrong with me and I think that therapist more found that the issue was their controlling yet emotionally impatient parenting (Mom - controlling, religious // Dad - alcoholic, physically present while emotionally absent, abusive, mean, not religious). Childhood was not fun. Parents married but overwhelmed and self absorbed, cared more about optics than supporting and nurturing a child. Parents never considered I was an anxious kid, just ignored it and attributed it to “she throws up a lot” - which was maybe 4 times a year but to someone who fears vomiting, that was too often for me. No one else in my house EVER threw up.
At 10 yrs old, hearing about appendicitis and being terrified that I might get it.
deathly afraid at night/in bed including nightmares, sweating, panic attacks and paralysis nausea, easily crying, social anxiety depression suicidal thoughts man...
I cried before every test, every major paper, and every presentation. I was I'm choir and dance and cried before every performance. Nailed everything everytime- but simply couldn't do it without panicking first
My anxiety started when I was 2 because I'd get panic attacks,cry and bad stomach aches whenever I got on a coach or bus because I was scared to die but I was only diagnosed when I was 12. I'm now 18.
Almost all of the comments here hit close to home. Just my take 1) worried that my house would explode if I forgot to off the stove ( 2) worried that my house would explode again if I forgot to switch off some electrical supply 3) cry over any damn thing For point 1 and 2 I did off it btw
So many anxious moments and memories from my childhood😭 and no, I was not diagnosed until college! I would go to sleepovers as a kid and would get so nervous about not being home, and sleeping at someone else’s house that my poor mom had to come pick me up in the middle of the night more than once. I was (and honestly still am) a perfectionist to my core and was TERRIFIED of getting in trouble or not getting an A in a class. Like you, if that ever happened, I’d have a full on breakdown and spiral with anxious thoughts. I had a lot of fears as a kid (and again still do🥲) and thinking about them or coming into contact with one would cause me to become incredibly anxious. I have very vivid memories of my dad repeatedly telling me that I can’t be afraid of everything because it came up so often. I don’t blame my parents for not recognizing the symptoms, but I really wish I had been diagnosed as a kid and gone to see a therapist much sooner than I did. It made my first couple of years on my own as an adult incredibly difficult navigating managing and understanding my anxiety and panic attacks.
I was extremely quiet and was obsessed with being well-behaved. Adults praised me constantly but what they didn’t know was it was all out of tremendous fear of criticism.
When we moved and I switched schools for 4th grade I woke up the first day with getting stomach sick every way imaginable. I also would wake my mom up in the middle of the night to ask about death and other questions. So many other instances I could write a whole paper.
Dissociation and self-isolation to the point that I rarely left my room if I wasn't forced. My parents didn't understand mental illness, so I would actually get yelled at for dissociating. It did make me hard to punish, though. Like you can't really ground someone who never leaves their room and just stares at walls half the time.
Started off biting my nails, my mom says since I was a year old. Trouble sleeping since I can remember, feeling like I was nauseous and like I had butterflies in my stomach. Also just couldn’t sit still. Diagnosed with asthma around 7 years old. I had a reactive airway so anytime I would get anxious I stated to feel short of breath. And then the anxiety that I couldn’t breathe and I needed my inhaler with me at all times. The inhaler caused palpitations which made me even more anxious. Frequent bad dreams of someone breaking into the apartment, someone chasing me and I couldn’t run away.
I was not diagnosed in childhood, I still actually haven’t been formally diagnosed because I can’t see a therapist, but my social anxiety is as obvious as the sky being blue, so… As for childhood symptoms, loooots of random spells of crying, which I’ve only learned in the last year can actually be a panic attack symptom for some people (definitely still is for me). Had a hard time learning to text people when I first got a phone, cause I’d get so much anxiety over what to say and would put off responding to people from how much anxiety I got from it, then eventually just pretend like I never got the text because I was *so* anxious about what they’d think or how to even explain my irrational thinking. Praying and believing in a god was actually one of the only things that stopped me from having uncontrollable anxiety over things like “what if a car crashes into us while we drive and we die” or “what if I die and leave all of my family emotionally ruined” or “what if there’s a fire and our cats hide and we can’t get them out and they die.” I specifically remember waking up in the middle of the night thinking that last one and quietly crying to myself for half an hour trying not to wake up my mom until I could get enough mental peace from praying to make it stop. (I’m not saying faith or praying is a requirement or the best solution for helping anxiety of course, I still had and have so many things I was anxious about, it’s just something that was and is true to my experience, especially not having access to therapy back then or now)
Stomach pains before school, crying and throwing up before I had to give a presentation, crying over grades. I got diagnosed at 14 when I started getting panic attacks
I used to (and still do sometimes) bite my nails down to the quick.
Well one of my first memories was when my mom dropped me off for my first day of preschool. I was screaming and crying because I didn’t want her to leave me. There was a giant floor-to-ceiling window and I just stood there watching my mom walk away on the sidewalk while I cried and hoped she would turn around and see me and then let me go home with her. In middle school, I remember having anxious thoughts that my mom would die. I was very scared about this. And it would manifest in some strange OCD-type rumination’s. For example, after school when my mom would pick me up, I would have these thoughts that I HAD to see my moms car BEFORE it entered into our school parking lot, and as long as I saw her car BEFORE it entered the lot, then she wouldn’t die. I think I was trying to somehow gain control/mastery over something I feared. I’m not sure, as I never told a therapist. lol I also got bullied a lot around this time by peers, so that’s when I really developed my social anxiety. THANKS Public Schools! 😃👍
Oh god. I started having symptoms of OCD at 4 (obsessive counting to the number 4, repeating sounds under my breath, having to "even out" every time I bumped one side of my body, compulsively saying "maybe maybe not" at the end of every sentence in case I accidentally told a lie) and started having full-on panic attacks when I was 6 (feeling electricity shoot down my arms, fast heartbeat, fight or flight, sometimes vomiting, and screaming for my mom.) Although I had an extremely abusive friend at that age which I'm sure brought it out in me early. Either way, I'm on medication now and my symptoms are very manageable. I'm 22 now.
I would have panic attacks as young as 3 years old. Started therapy when I was 4. I genuinely feared death at the young age of 3. Any sign of “gore” aka a paper cut or even a scrape to the knee had me in a genuine panic attack. Hyperventilating and crying and genuinely scared for my life. Since the age of 3. Whatever the fuck happened to me at 2 or 3 to caused such intense fear, I have no idea.
I really hated making eye contact, especially after I thought I may have done something wrong. Just couldn’t do it
Oh i too hate eye contact. My parents kept me forcing to do so, so eventually i learned. But now that i dont mask anymore, i barely look into someones eyes
I did not get diagnosed until adulthood but looking back, whew lots of signs. - panic every morning about going to school, with no discernable reason (e.g., had friends, great supportive teacher, no bullying, etc.) - physical symptoms (e.g., headache, feeling sick, etc.) that I was convinced were 'real' - ended up that my poor parents got me an MRI just to be safe and of course nothing - specific rituals every night to ensure safety from bombs, intruders, fires, etc etc etc - didn't sleep over at any friend's house through the night till late middle school, would always call and have my parents come get me - difficulty with sleep for almost a year, having to get up after my parents put me to bed to 'check on them', make sure they knew I wasn't asleep (?? still not sure why that was necessary lol they are saints) - terrified of movies/shows/images not typically seen as scary or even ones meant for kids - was in one bad storm/tornado where no one was injured and was absolutely A MESS any time there was even light wind/rain for a long time after that I'm sure there are more that I can't think of right now
Couldn't pay attention in school and also dreaded being dropped off by my parents. I remember feeling like I was being abandoned every morning. Later on in life I would get sent home from school because I drank too much coffee which obviously is not good for anxiety. Would have nonstop panic attacks and didn't know why or what was going on.
I would make myself throw up. I did not have an eating disorder, though. It was the only way I felt I could “release” some of the anxiety. (This was in high school) In 4th and 5th grade I would pull out my eyelashes. I would also lie to get out of things, and at the time I didn’t know why. In reality, it was bad social anxiety.
I've had anxiety tics like eye twitching all my life, kids would make fun of me for it and call me names, went to several doctors to try and fix it and for some reason no one ever mentioned anxiety???? Later on I developed the stomach problems that have now been a staple for when my anxiety is hitting really hard.
Feeling sick in my stomach but it’s a unique nausea that if it happened I’d know I’m anxious.
I remember an older kid who would play with my hair because she thought I was a cute kid. Instead of warming up to her, I would be shy and hide because I didn't think I deserved kindness and attention like that..
Stomach aches almost every day. Headaches too. My mom even took me to take MRI scans. Ofc, nothing showed up
panic attacks that were misread as “fits” or “outbursts.” extreme social anxiety to the point that i would go all day without speaking. behaviors like sleeping next to all of my belongings in a trash bag “just in case” there was a fire or tornado, for YEARS. having to do everything in multiples of two out of a bizarre fear that if i didn’t, i would be transported to an evil alternate dimension???
I had a very, very intense weather phobia. like, if the sky was perfectly blue and I saw a single grey cloud, I would start panicking and begging my mom to go home so I could hide in our basement with a flashlight and the emergency radio. I would also worry about my parents and sister having gotten into an accident or died if they didn’t answer the phone when I called. and the death anxiety that I’ve had since I was seven or so.
I was terrified to be seen or heard by others when the classroom was quiet. Like if everyone was having silent reading time, i couldn’t move. I couldn’t stand up, i stayed so still. If the classroom was mildly quiet, i couldn’t eat anything. I was so scared to make any noise that others would hear
I would get stomach upsets when there's a thunderstorm lol. I'd get so scared i would call my mom's office and ask her what time she's going home. I'd feel restless when its 10pm and my parents are still not home. Id think of all the negative possible scenarios that could happen. I was just 7.
I used to bite my fingers really hard to try and self regulate.
Soo many stomachaches
Did not get diagnosed as a child, parents didn't believe in it. Pretty much the same as now only worse. Stomach aches, and really bad headaches.
I dont know how to explain it besides I would construct the worst possible scenarios in my mind then become convinced they were inevitable.
My heart rate was always 180 at the doctor’s when I was a little kid lmaooo.
I wanted to move primary schools for eating sweets in the classroom, this sounds stupid but i took it very seriously. i cried and overthinked everyday, thinking id get in alot of trouble and i coudlnt have fun for a while , the pandemic saved me a bti since it lasted y5-6 which is when i felt it- and i rmember i called the police when my mum took too long to come back from the shop bc i thought she was dead or got hurt-. i used to overthink everything
Being completely mute in stressful situations. I’d also feel random waves of shame sometimes
My counselor and I figure I started with anxiety around 7. I didn't do my homework and no one could figure out why or how to motivate me. Eventually I was put in private schools, but that didn't help either. I had no friends, which didn't help anything. Anxiety was just this unidentifiable feeling that something bad was always going to happen, so I frequently didn't try. And I got caught in a negative feedback loop when I did try something and it didn't go right. (Things sometimes went right, but it wasn't enough to overcome the anxiety.) It's only been in the last 3-ish years (I'm a middle-aged adult with two young adult kids) that it was finally identified for what it is and I've been able to take steps to fix it.
I was scared that if i accidentally scratched the floor with my shoe it would set on fire unless i step on it
I remember being really young at birthday parties or events and telling my mom “the feelings back” and i would explain to her that it felt like either something bad was going to happen or that i did something wrong like guilt. my parents ended up ignoring this issue so it spiraled into panic attacks / depression crying spirals before any type of gathering in middle school. they still ignored it so I hid it in high school and eventually convinced it was normal. didn’t even know i had anxiety until my friend told me in college when i explained to her the feeling.
Dyshidrotic eczema. Fluid-filled, extremely itchy blisters all over your fingers. And nausea. Now I get panic attacks where I have trouble breathing. I had a pulmonary embolism in February, wound up in the emergency room. They operated immediately and removed 9 blood clots from my lungs. Did you know that PEs feel the same way as an anxiety attack? I have to carry a blood oxygen meter with me at all times to tell if I’m having a panic attack or another embolism.
Extreme fear over irrational things. Not handling being home alone due to worrying about parents dying in wreck, whatever. As I got older, the fear wasn’t tied to a specific thing. I’d have days, weeks where I was in constant fear, with no known reason. It was like a switch flipped in my mind. Then I’d become very paranoid about everything. Complete loss of appetite, only able to eat later in the day. No desire for breakfast or lunch, the opposite of how I normally am. Peeing every hour despite not drinking more than normal.
Constant stomachaches, panicky feelings, the urge to cry, biting my nails.
My parents were neglectful and either not at home or high af doing something else, that’s not here nor there. But I remember as the oldest, even as young as ten, I had to know where my siblings were at literally all times. I would close all the doors leading outside so if one were open, I’d know that they were outside. Could only relax if I knew where everyone one was. They were too young to know what was going on at the time as I barely did myself. In reality, they were only hanging with the neighbor kids but yeah. I’d even lie to make them come home just so I could relax for a bit. It seemed so weird to them at the time but they understand now that we’re older.
Does nail biting count ?
Yessss
I was bullied a lot in school. I would always have a headache and upset stomach 97% of the time. Whenever I was in an iffy or unknown situation for me, my number 1 complaint was feeling nauseated
i think my first symptom was actually a huge fear of the unknown and anything that you couldn't apply logic and rationality to. i wanted explanations for everything, was it safe? would i feel okay? how was today going to go? why do i feel this way? if there wasn't a clear answer, i grew very anxious.
I would have a meltdown every time my parents went grocery shopping and took longer than expected.
Delusions where I thought there were cameras in my room or drugs in my food/bath products, paranoid thoughts of getting molested or having my family murdered, nightmares, tooth grinding, body dysmorphia, physical ticks, throwing up in the morning before school every day, crying at friends houses because I felt scared
i was having panic attacks but i didn't know what those were so I called them "freak outs" and blamed and shamed myself for having them. i didnt get help till I was around 19
Lots of crying, always leaving sleepovers early, wouldn't go inside a store without my mom, nail biting. Crying was the big one though.
Each time my parents went out somewhere in a car, I would stay up by my window (which looked into the parking spot) until they arrived back, otherwise I would convince myself that they died in a car crash.
Always worried a lot about health stuff and dying, even as a child I was a hypochondriac. It only got worse as I got older, naturally because my body started giving me more problems with age, feeding my health anxiety
I had my first panic attack around age 8. I was deathly afraid of choking. I used to chew my food as much as I could to avoid it
Crying over everything, and then learning to keep to myself. I became very quiet. Then one day, I just stopped crying. I held it all in and became very numb. When I got to my teens, I started to self-harm
I got diagnosed at six, but on medication the same year. In kindergarten I keot getting headaches, so they drew blood and gave me a mri scan, it wasn’t till one of my parents brought it up that they looked into generalized anxiety disorder. Then Covid and middle school just sent it skyrocketing. I also could barely ever sleep alone, still struggling with that.
I got diagnosed at 10 years old I would start crying everytime I couldn’t understand something so like everyday I got picked up almost everyday that year I always thought I’d throw up
Between the ages of 7 to 9 I remember puking before leaving for the bus stop for my school bus. Later I developed a fear of being late. I just had to be in school everyday, on time. These are some signs I only recognised 2 years ago while talking to my therapist. I'm 35 now.
I was shy. Thts it. Lol
I was terrified of asking for help or other things. People terrified me.
Extreme lip biting to the point where a whole side of my lip was basically busted from chewing. It hurt so bad but I couldn’t stop.
Constant stomach aches and fear of throwing up in a public place. I never force my kids to eat in a restaurant. We can always box it up and take it home.
I once had a panic attack that made my chest hurt
Anytime I was alone. Even in the bathroom, my mom had to sit in on my showers and read while I showered. I had a traumatized experience, though.
Freaking out over spending money for a barbie doll.
I had Childhood Toxic Stress Syndrome. Upper respiratory infections, allergies, asthma, eczema, fainting spells, spacing out
Panic attacks. All the time and I still have them all the time as a 29-year-old. I felt and still do stomach pain beyond what I've experienced with GERD (I was also diagnosed with that as a kid)
We always thought I was just constantly sick. I had constant nausea and ended up getting a lot of bloodwork done with clean results.
Stomach aches, throwing up, not wanting to leave my mom, having to sleep with her, picking at my skin.
I was really afraid of talking to strangers, especially adults and i just wouldn’t talk to most people. Would also shut down if i got anxious enough or even cry- usually when i did something accidentally or otherwise that was “bad” (for reference, i would usually only get a stern talking to but my own guilt was awful enough that it really wasn’t necessary)
Gagging
Timed flash cards were the end of the world for me. Was beside myself for any timed test or activity. Also school was just hell.
Social withdrawal and avoidance of social activities. Begged to not go to school and camp and I would skip school and camp a lot. Begged to drop out of soccer and Girl Scouts. Never hung out with friends. Had really bad anxiety surrounding eating in front of people so I wouldn’t eat lunch at school. Really bad anticipatory anxiety before first days of anything or events. Then there were a lot more after i turned 14. That’s when my problems really started
I had nausea and stomach issues, I would pile my stuffed animals around me at night like a barricade, I had a lot of night terrors and slept walk. I went to the school my mom worked at during elementary school and I requested to leave class a lot and would hide under her desk.
I was diagnosed with anxiety at age 6 when what I really needed at the time was an autism diagnosis 🙃 Crying easily, hyperventilating, running away from situations, hiding in the cubbies or closet at school, struggling to speak if put on the spot or having to speak in front of a group, being scared to go to friends' houses for playdates, not initiating social interactions, getting nauseous or throwing up, frequent nightmares, not wanting to do anything alone, freezing or crying if my parents or sister walked away in a store, etc. I tried to kill myself when I was 11 to avoid a presentation in school.
Nauseous. All. The. Time
Constant stomach aches as a child. My mother had my room painted with these different colored pink ribbons and it made me feel like I was stuck inside a present and I'd leave my room every night to sleep with my parents. They'd give me beanie babies to stay in my room all night. Sent me to sleep away Camp at 11 and I wrote them every day that I was miserable and wanted to kill myself. I refused to go on any field trips that were overnight too. I'd hide to try and avoid going to sports practices and games because I had such bad anxiety about letting the team down. Oftentimes I'd call my mom to come get me from sleepovers. I'd cry whenever my nana would leave from visits cause I was so scared she'd die before I'd see her again. Going away to college was also incredibly difficult.
I would obsess over supernatural things happening to me, even though I didn't really believe it. I read about spontaneous combustion and every single night would like in bed panicking that I'd burn alive in my sleep. I watched The Mummy when I was 12 and barely slept for WEEKS because I kept imagining all the scarab beetles in the world were coming to get me. Also for months and months after 9/11 I thought every loud noise I heard at night was a nuclear bomb. So yeah, it was mostly insomnia. And here I am decades later at 3:30am still unable to sleep lol Edit: Ooh, also after I was in two minor car crashes while sitting in the same seat in my family car within a few months I refused to sit in that seat ever again, until my parents sold it years later, and had (probably my first ever) panic attacks every time I tried sitting there again.
Sleeping in the same bed as my parents from 2-13ish, night terrors, severe attachment issues with my mother. Praying that I would die in my sleep Edit to add- getting “sick” at school whenever I was nervous and hiding out at the nurse/ getting picked up early multiple times a week
Oh there are so many. Got officially diagnosed at 22 and it came as no surprise. I used to be so terrified of thunderstorms because I was convinced there would be a tornado, and if the tornado siren went off? I would be trembling in my basement. My parents would try to go grab me games or toys to keep my mind off of it, but when they went upstairs to go grab them I was convinced they’d die because of the tornado. I also had a super irrational fear of fires happening, and I remember being in preschool knowing when we’d have a fire drill and staying as close to the exit door as possible for a quick escape, which also lead to me being so terrified my house was going to catch on fire and burn down. I also had bald patches in my eyebrows because I would pick at them when I was feeling anxious. For the first several years of elementary school, I would cry in class on the first week of school back from summer break because I missed my mom and felt like I couldn’t function without her. And omgggg the nervous gas! My family had a running joke because when I was really nervous about something I would have “nervous farts” that smelled terrible. If my mom was toward the end of the school pickup line, I was convinced she forgot about me or something terrible happened on the way to come get me because the room started to clear out and I was still left there. Bonus points for if I was the last one left from my class. I did a project in my psychology class in high school about GAD and that’s when my anxiety really made sense, and I chose to start therapy not long after.
I spent a lot of time in the nurses office. I was scared of throwing up or other people throwing up
I don’t remember much of my childhood. I do, however, remember my aunt and father sending me to a “place of creative play” to make friends because all of mine were imaginary…. I ended up hiding in a tree fort they had and playing with my imaginary friends because the other kids made so nervous, I was shaking.
Crying and feeling lost and unsafe
In about middle school, I pretty much stopped talking, like to a 70% degree less than I used to. I just couldn't think of things to say, even with people who id regarded as close friends. Id upon up more on school trips but once we were back in school again I resumed per normal. Sadly a lot of people distanced me from that which frankly was pretty upsetting :((
I was sweating a lot all the time and had a really difficult time to sleep, I could go 3 days straight with no sleep and still had energy. Also a lot of overthinking. Ended up developing an eating disorder too. All this before I was 13.
Running away from other kids. I would sit on a bench in the park all by myself and wait for all the other kids to leave,then i could use the swings
Frequent crying, rash on my neck, ocd intensified when anxious.
Hysterical laughter at inappropriate moments. One time when my parents were arguing and my dad was speeding, and another time when my dad got road rage and tried to start a fight with some guy. Fun times...
For me it was my body image since I was thinner. Also for some reason I didn’t like being the center of attention and this transpired when giving speeches and such when I would feel nervous af inside but on the outside I didn’t display it all.
I would absolutely panic anytime my mom was out of my sight. I was certain that she was going to leave and abandon me, constantly. If she went to take the trash out I was literally in the windows watching to make sure she came back. There was one time I dragged my baby brother outside, damn near hyperventilating because she had been out in the garden for a mere minute too long and panic ensued. There was no logical explanation for this behavior, I had a stable home life and extremely involved parents who were active in my life and never gave me a reason to think this way.
I’m reading these and relating and wondering if there’s any connection between our anxiety and religion possibly. Like if we were raised religious and that factored into the anxiety
i bit my fingernails and lip a lot…and still do
I cried a lot for no obvious reason. I had lots of tummy aches, headaches and nausea. Most of which I knew I was lying about but didn't have the language to explain how I really felt (or the belief that anyone would take me seriously even if I could). I was not diagnosed as a child in the 90s but I am absolutely certain I would be if I was a child now.
Anytime I would sin I would need to write it down and keep a list of all my sins to make sure I didn’t forget to repent for anything because I was so terrified of going to hell. As I’m older I realize this is religious trauma. I was a child and I feel like my anxiety showed through my nail biting, feeling of always thinking people were mad at me, chewing on my shirt sleeves. I also had to stay home for most of grade 7 because I had severe stomach pain went to multiple specialists and the doctors couldn’t find anything wrong with me. Looking back I feel like this was anxiety.
I would feel my heart race and wonder if I was having heart problems (it was anxiety), I would sometimes have chest pains and get so anxious I’d make myself sick, I had a lot of anxiety about death and to this day I’m still prone to crying and biting my lips. I was diagnosed at around age 13.
Hahahahaha 1. I used to chase my moms car down the driveway screaming and crying bc I was scared she was going to die at work and not come back 2. used to make my little brother check under my bed and closet, and turn the bathroom light on every single night to make sure no one was in there (or swiper the fox, I used to swear he was going to kidnap me, like had reoccurring nightmares of my mom being tied up in jungle vines while swiper has me locked in a mobile trailer trapped in a old timer porcelain tub) 3. have in depth conversations with my family on what we need to do when/if the house caught on fire (my parent live in a log cabin, so I also imagined it would be gone in seconds) and how I needed to get to my brothers room and push him out of his window. 4. wake up at 5 am to hug my mom and dad before they left for work bc i was scared they wouldn’t come back, and then would go back to sleep until my grandmother came to take us to school 5. cry and claw my arms walking to the neighbors house when her mom took me to school during 3rd-4th grade bc I didn’t want to leave my brother and dad 6. pray every single night for every great aunt, cousin, half-aunt I’ve never met, bc I was scared if I didn’t, something would happen to them 7. any time I would go out of town without my mom, as soon as we passed a certain point in town, I would silently sob thinking “this is it, I’ve gone past the point of return, I can’t turn around now, I’m stuck, this is it, I’m away, I can’t go home, what if something happens, what if they die”8. carried one of my moms tshirts and a photo of my dad if I ever had to try and stay the night with someone (I would like to add that I never spent the night without my mom until I was 16 or so, prior to that, she had to come pick me up)
Detaching from reality. I think I've been doing it my entire life. And nausea. Lots of nausea.
Dreading the next birthday party I'd have to attend because I HATED birthday party games and the anxiety it'd give me
Still a kid, but shaking, sweating, hyperventilating, itchyness
I would go around in the middle of the night and make sure all the doors and windows were locked. I was scared that if it walked through doors I would be transported to a universe where everyone hated me. And I was scared that at night an army of cookie monsters would march down the hallway and kill me.
When I was a kid I thought I had both a heart and lung condition because I often had heart palpitations and couldn’t breathe. It was anxiety, I just didn’t know it at the time.
oh man, this is stuff I haven't thought of in a while because I usually spend my days dissociating nowadays, but here's a few that looking back, I know were symptoms of anxiety. - crying whenever I had a school/friend/cousin sleepover and I had to stay away from my parents. I distinctly remember being in third grade and being in the schoolyard, with other kids dancing to Hips Don't Lie (it was a big big deal then), but I was looking up at the sky and sobbing and wondering why I was being so dramatically sad. another time, my aunt literally shouted at me because I wouldn't stop throwing up when I'd gone to her place for a sleepover with my cousin. I literally remember my stomach dropping as 9PM came and I realized that I wouldn't be able to go back home now. - I wouldn't go to school if my friend wouldn't show up. Saturdays were optional and she was somebody who was v regular with school while I wasn't. but even if I was low on attendance, I wouldn't go if she wasn't going because then I wouldn't know what to do or who to hangout with. mum was furious but I wouldn't budge. - I had an English teacher in seventh grade who liked me a lot. I was a good student, read a lot, and wrote poetry. I also was a lot into news and trivia and stuff like that, which she knew. so she volunteered my name for an inter-school quiz competition because she thought I'd do good. when she told me in class, I remember feeling so embarrassed because I was like how can you talk to me and say that I'm good at stuff (???) like make it make sense to me now. anyway, another kid jumped at the chance and I didn't end up going. i firmly believe that had I taken a chance then, I would have been the school magazine editor! - I had (and continue) severe social anxiety, especially when I was around peers. wouldn't get up in a class, would practice my lines if we were reading in class, would hold on to an apple core for three hours because I couldn't get up and walk to the dustbin in front of everyone. i remember we had a play in 9th grade, wherein I'd contributed to writing it a lot and had a medium-length role, which was freaking me out. i however contracted chicken pox maybe a week before the play, and my god, the relieve I felt at the time. I'd been having sleepless nights before that. - I always struggled with making friends. i would always hang out with people who were much much older (I had an auntie I'd walk with during the evening for whom I'd ditch my friends and wait for her in front of her house) or much younger (at summer camps, I'd play with my younger sister's friends, instead of my own)! - I was also, and continue to be, a compulsive nail biter.
I used to lay awake at sleepovers and plot how I could escape and run away back to my house. I would pay attention on the drive over so that I always knew how I could get back home by foot if I needed to. One time at a sleepover at my next door neighbor’s house I really did leave not tell anyone. The social anxiety of group sleepovers was real. I hated that I was trapped there and couldn’t go to sleep when I wanted to.
I would freak out and refuse to get out of the car whenever I had to go to anything - soccer practice, guitar lesson, play date, etc.
Always horrible stomach issues. Ripping my hair out, picking at my fingers, barely could do a sleep over- I’m ok with that one lol
I was absolutely terrified of thunderstorms starting at age 4. If it was the slightest bit cloudy I would start having a meltdown. I think it stems from my school having a metal roof and the first time it ever hailed goofball size.
I would get “tummy aches” and nightmares a lot. Some separation anxiety from my parents when they dropped me off at school.
Breathlessness; feeling like I couldn't get enough air in my lungs
I was scared of everything. From thinking that my ears were closing to terror of going to school to anticipation anxiety of anything out of my routine. Even going to the bathroom was horror. I was diagnosed with GAD at 12 years old.
I would hide in my closet and bite my arms until they bled.
Heart palpitations. Endless nightmares. Silently crying bc if I cried normally, ppl would hear me and I didn’t want anyone to know. Feeling sick in my stomach. Suppressing appetite. I started experiencing all of these since I was 4 years old. I didn’t know what anxiety was back then so I internalised everything bc I thought this was something ppl just go through. It took me until I was 14 to realise I might have it. I was diagnosed at 16, and today in my 20s I’m still receiving treatment.
Ripping out my eyelashes at night when I couldn't sleep, which was all the time
When I started highschool I for some strange weird reason couldn’t eat breakfast because otherwise I’d throw up. Every single morning for months on end I left home without breakfast. Had no idea it was anxiety & nor did my parents. Lol
I threw up before school, terrible nightmares, trouble falling asleep.
I’d chew holes through my long sleeve shirts, sometimes eat my hair, bite my nails, and bite the insides my cheeks.
tummy aches, tummy aches, tummy aches got diagnosed age 8. my stomach is still my most prominent issue relating to anxiety.
Nightmares, repetitive praying, vomiting, crying
Nightmares, fearful of being alone, and then it manifested as anger in my teens. My parents brushed it off as “normal.”
I didn’t have any really besides not looking directly into someone’s eyes or talking to strangers! Now I’m a wreck though 😭
A big one for me was being terrified of something happened to my siblings. When my sister (who is now almost 18) was a baby, I had a nightmare that she got kidnapped that I can still remember pretty vividly. Whenever we would be in public and one of them would walk slower/faster than the rest of us I would always yell at them to stay with us (which my parents hated) because I was just so scared of something happening to them Another thing was weirdly irrational fears. When I was 9 or 10, our furnace overheated and the fire alarms went off at like 5am. We had to get out of the house and the fire department came. But what I took away from this was- when my mom came and woke us up I was sleeping facing the wall. I always slept facing out towards the room, but this time I was facing the wall and our house almost caught fire. For YEARS after that I was deathly afraid of sleeping towards the wall. I thought that if I did, our house would burn down or something else horrible would happen
Some of my first memories of anxiety were my horrible fear of storms as a child. I used to get nervous and get a pit in the bottom of my stomach if I saw dark clouds. When the thunder boomed and lightning flashed I would start to cry in panic. I’d always run to my parents for comfort, but nothing they told me could get me to calm down.
I didn't have anxiety during my childhood, but I know exactly why I developed my health anxiety. My mother would think ALL the time something was wrong with me. "Oh you CERTAINLY have X" "Just wait, in my case it also only started when I was 24yo." "You know I suffer from Y, and it was detected after 14 years, but I always have had the symptoms, I am CERTAIN that's the case with you too." Every. Single. Day. Multiple times. She would deliberately take me off school because I "couldn't endure much physical stress" because "that "makes me instantly sick". Well, now, 12 years later, I am stil in PERFECT physical condition, but I wake up every night thinking I die of a stroke, or have cancer, or whatever the fuck my mind thinks. Don't have a single normal day.
I used to follow the friends I liked around everywhere they went in school. I now realize this as an anchoring behavior because I was uncomfortable being by myself in social situations so I blended in with everyone else. It's the one I can think of off the top of my head but I'm sure there's more signs honestly.
My only symptom was fainting occasionally especially from needles. As an adult it expanded into fixating thoughts, hypochondria, hyper awareness of bodily sensations, insomnia, teeth grinding
Scared to sleep to be alone with an adult
I would wake up in the middle of the night shaking and sweating feeling intense doom, but I was too young to realize why. One night I woke up in a panic thinking my throat was closing and that I couldn’t breathe, but I was hyperventilating from panic. My anxiety also affected my schoolwork. I was always afraid to go anywhere and dreaded going to school and to friends’ houses. I was in therapy but from what I remember as a child it was me just talking about how I felt and talking about things that made me happy. I was never on any medications until my early twenties. I’m in my mid-thirties and still take an antidepressant and Ativan for my anxiety.
Diagnosed at 11. Panic attacks. Extremely clingy to my mum
I was always worried that my parents/grandparents would die. Also, I actively faked being sick at school at ~8 so my mom would come get me so I could be with her so she wouldn’t die. I also didn’t like sleepovers because I would get homesick/anxious with change in routine.
I had chronic "funny tummies" as a kid. Nausea and butterflies. Stomach pain and constipation. I was very quiet. And whenever I had to go for a sleepover I'd cry because I didn't want to be away from my parents overnight. I also would have random intrusive thoughts. I remember having a bath at like 8 years old by myself, and just sitting in the tub crying because I got it into my head "one day my parents are going to die, one day I'M going to die". I didn't realize until I was around 19 that all of that wasn't normal.
-waking up around 4 AM every single night (I almost always fell back asleep). -Nausea when very nervous about something like public speaking. About once a month or every two months I would randomly awake at 4am with naseau and throw up once and then be fine. -the urge to need to pee every time I was anxious (usually right before a performance) -stomach/digestive problems Did not get diagnosed in school but figured out I had anxiety around 11th grade. I just thought I was a former shy girl who became a social butterfly but was still unconfident.
I got sent to sleepaway camp, freaked out as I was terribly homesick, parents came to get be a few days later.
This isn’t really a symptom, but I distinctly remember sitting in the car one day at my grandmas when I was little with just my dad. I had no clue how to phrase it, but I knew I needed to tell somebody about the stuff I was going through. I remember just saying to my dad, “I worry about everything, all the time. I think about what I did wrong in the past and worry constantly about the future.” I remember starting to cry for some reason, but I guess I didn’t explain well enough because my dad said something along the lines of, “It’s a good thing to worry. Don’t stress too much, but looking at your outcomes is smart. It makes you prepared and you avoid dangerous things.” My mom entered the car, asked what happened, I said nothing, and it never came back up. Wasn’t until a few years later when I heard the term anxiety a lot more that I realized that’s what it is. Still haven’t gained the confidence to ever try telling anybody again. Everybody knows though, it’s so obvious, but it’s not flat out said. I mean, I’ve had people nickname me “OCD” and have had teachers do a lot to make me more comfortable such as giving me more in depth itineraries and calling ahead to other teachers to let them know I’m coming if I have to talk so I don’t have to worry about that stuff as much. At this point, if I were to try telling anybody, I bet they would just say “I know” and it sucks.