Anxiety

Hey all,

For the last 2-3 months, I (18M) have started feeling anxious over everyday activities (heavy breathing, a sense of worry combined with a deep pit feeling in my chest, trouble sleeping—e.g., waking up hours before I am supposed to, being very alert and not able to get back to sleep). Though not socially, per se, I’d say that I am a very extroverted person compared to my peers. Recently, this has gotten worse; for over a month now, I have been worrying about nothing—seriously, nothing at all—yet my mind races, filled with worry and overthinking. My heart rate elevates, I feel overwhelmed, and my throat tightens to the point where I start to gag and feel like I'm going to vomit. These episodes can happen at any point of the day, even at work or while sitting on the couch relaxing, and can last for hours. They have begun to happen much more frequently, which is starting to affect my life. These episodes are more likely to occur when I am in social settings, even if it’s relaxed and I can keep to myself, like at an event where I start to over-worry and gag, which is unusual for me because I would call myself social (although I grew up as an extremely shy kid, but that suddenly went away a few years ago). During these episodes, I have been doing the standard breathing exercises I've seen online. They help somewhat, but still aren't enough for me.

In my personal life, no drastic events have taken place; actually, I’d say life is going very well. I've just finished high school with better-than-expected grades and am on summer break for a few months (I'm in the Southern Hemisphere). I have successfully enrolled in university to pursue a degree I have always wanted to do, without the stress of being able to pay for it either. To be honest, I feel guilty for feeling this way; I have everything going for me with all the opportunities I've been privileged to have while others are suffering more than me.

I have spoken to close friends about what I am going through, and they say I am experiencing standard anxiety symptoms. But what do you think? Should I go to my GP with this? (I have a new doctor I have never seen and I am afraid this will get brushed over (I also would like to keep this private as I feel embrassed to be 'broken' and that I feel like this and I don't want to talk about it with my parents)