I've recently been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. When people hear the word panic attack, they assume it means that's it physical and can be seen.
I've recently been suffering from anxiety and panic attacks. When people hear the word panic attack, they assume it means that's it physical and can be seen. Well I'd like to tell those people that that's not always the case.
Whenever I suffer from panic attacks, they're more internal than anything else. Nobody else might realise what's happening, but I can tell straight away. For me, anxiety and panic attacks go hand in hand. I can't have one without the other.
University
This condition started for me when I started university. I began university at Bath Spa University but unfortunately, I wasn't happy being so far away from home and being in such an uncomfortable environment.
So I thought I would go to Westminster University and see if being in my hometown makes a difference. It didn't but because of the course, I wasn't enjoying what I was learning so I dropped out after the first semester.
Triggers
After all this, I found Anglia Ruskin University which does a course if you're wanting to become a teacher so I applied for this course instead. Now I've been studying Education Studies for two years but I'm still not very happy. It's not the course and it's not being away from home because I live at home and commute.
I couldn't figure out what was making me unhappy until I went to see a counsellor at the university. We figured out it's the anxiety of the work which is causing me to feel like this. We worked on improving my anxiety and panic attacks, however they still haven't gone.
I think that it's the environment of university and the pressures of going to university.
Fixing the Problem
Since all this has happened, I've come to the realisation that maybe I should take some time out from university life and explore other options. Right now university isn't me in my opinion.
I'm never going to be able to handle the work and the stress of university if I feel like I have to be there. It might be more beneficial to me in the long run if I can be away from all that stress and anxiety and then maybe I might reapply later.
If anyone is experiencing anxiety and you can't figure out why, then take a look at your life right now. What are you doing that is causing this condition and what are you going to do about it?
If anyone is suffering from anxiety, let me know because I would interested to find out how you deal with it.
[Image: Gerd Altmann, Flickr]
