New To The Anxiety Support Community? Introduce Yourself Here!

Hello, I'm a trained listener here at 7 Cups. I believe 7 Cups is a very good place for people to come chat with REAL people who will willingly and compassionately listen to their emotions. It's very beneficial for both the listener and the person.
I've struggled with anxiety almost my entire life. It started out as social anxiety. It was very hard being in public school and having so much anxiety piled onto my shoulders. I was too scared to do anything for myself and any time I publicly humiliated myself, it was the worst most painful, sinking feeling in the world.
I've come to good terms with my anxiety after dealing with it for so long. I've found that whenever I begin feeling anxious in public, if I focus on my breathing, in and out, in through the nose, out through the mouth, it really does help. Regardless of how silly and simple it sounds. When you breathe, your lungs oxygenate the blood that pumps all over your body, and when you're getting plenty of oxygen in all of your muscles, (and your brain!) it makes you feel a lot better.
Another thing I've been focusing on is maintaining a healthy lifestyle. This includes dietary changes, sleep cycle changes and exercise. I used to be completely sedentary. My schoolwork is all online, so we all just sat at our desks all day and when I got home, I did the exact same thing. I had little to no physical activity. I'm working on becoming more physically fit, not just to lose weight, (just an added bonus) but to maintain a healthier lifestyle. I also switched out all of my junk food cravings for healthy foods instead, like fruits and veggies. If I want chocolate, I opt for some strawberries. If I want something salty, I might have some celery and peanut butter. There's so many little changes you can make in your day-to-day life that will really help combat anxiety. A healthy body is the key to a healthy mind! And it makes you feel good! Exercising releases endorphins which are the "feel good" hormone in the brain. You also get to feel proud of yourself afterwards. :)

I have Social Anxiety Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Trichotillomania.

Hi I'm new here. I have General and specific anxiety as well as OCD. I have a very nice therapist and she understands however my Mom does not believe that I have OCD. She says I overreact and I need to have more compassion. I try to keep my compulsive routines in check but she doesn't seem to see this. I feel so alone sometimes and it makes me very sad. I'm too shy however to really try and explain. I really think this site is helpful, thank you guys so much.

Hi everyone, this is the first time I have joined a site for support. I have a very bad case of social anxiety disorder that has been going on for over 8 years now. As a child I was very shy, making friends was pretty difficult, but somehow I managed to do it. In middle school, because of my shyness I got bullied a lot and my anxiety started to grow more and more. But after finishing middle school, before and after I got into highschool, there has been a period of time, almost 2 years maybe, when my life turned from ugly to awesome. I became so sociable, I loved going out and meeting new people, making new friends, it was like the best time of my life. But at the end of my 2nd year in highschool, someting..."broke" in my head. I was in the middle of a class presentation when I had my first panic attack and since then, my life turned completely upside down. The anxiety took over me very quickly. I became afraid of having another panic attack, and because of this I was having more panic attacks. Soon enough I became again a super shy person, only this time with the anxiety symptomps along. And it completely ruined my life. Couldn't finished school, couldn't get a job, making friends became very hard again with the panic attacks... so yeah. This is my life now.

Hello I'm Torin
I've been a member of this community for a while now and just haven't posted yet. I'm also a member of the depression community and feel that I have a better understanding of that part of me, so thats probably whats kept me from posting here. I've recently been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and have only just started sorting through feelings and emotions. So before this year my: depression, anxiety, OCD, and emotional instability has been a pile of hell. With my recent diagnoses I feel better about seperating symptoms and focusing on each as individual symptoms rather than a lump. So I hope to get some understanding from others that have more experience in this challenge and also if I can I always like to offer a different perspective on something you find challenging.
Much love
Torin

Hi to whoever is here.

My name is Amanda, and I've been dealing with Generalized Anxiety since 2012 after loading weight and starting a healthier lifestyle. With that, I constantly worry about the worse case scenario from what will happen with work projects to social interactions relating to spending money, what I eat while in those situations and how large I look (though people compliment on how fit I look). I skin pick, eat similar meals at constant times daily (OCD-like tendencies, then get irrationally anxious when my schedule is skewed because of someone else), workout every day, have to coupon and check prices, and get drained the more I'm with people for long periods of time and daily.

My most recent worry is the fear that my current work protects are going to fail because of my doing. I worry I'm going to disappoint my team and look like I don't care. I can't read what others are really thinking about my work. I'm willing to do anything for my employer, and I don't look for praise, just confirmation that things are going according to plan. I know what I can do to cope, but I can't bring myself to do always do it.

I hope this community reminds me I'm not alone and that I'm reminded to rely on my coping mechanisms that do work; maybe I'll learn more effective tatics to overcome my anxiety.

Hello! My name is Newt and I'm a listener on here (7 Cups). I use to have anxiety and now it's leveled down to some stress over classes. I love writing and reading. I hope you all have a great, stress free day/night!

Hi all, I'm new here. I worry a lot, i have anxiety, depression, and just overall low self esteem. It really makes life tiring. Looking forward to the discussions on this forum, and hoping it helps me. I really do want to get rid of my anxiety and just live "normally" if that's even a thing.

Hi, i am 27 years old and I currently live with my parents and my brother. I am new to this forum, I have joined it to seek help and advice from other people. I have had a traumatic time at the my school period due bullying and because of the fact that I didn't do well academically because of my aspergers and very poor self-esteem. I have been to see a CBT therapist more than several months, for assessment on what he thinks I suffer from and he has come to come to a conclusion, that he thinks that I most likely have ptsd. I have a tremendous amount of support from a support worker from a trust I use to work with several years ago, for confidence building and help with my Anxiety from a really good psychologist I use to see. I have also only just been diagnosed with high functioning autism, almost two years ago.

I will a bit into my education, I did a NCFE level 1 art and design back in 2008 after being out of education for a while. I then did a BTEC level 2 diploma IT, after completion I went onto doing an HE access to art design course at my local college and completing I then went on pursing my career plan, by doing a course in Fda the art of games design, but left after i finished year one, as the course wasn't right for me. I have recently applied do a concept art course at the Teesside University for a concept art course, for this September, and have now got a interview for February 18th

Never be stressed. If you ever feel stressed, think of positive things and always have a smile on your face. Even faking a smile will eventually turn into a real smile. Also, take deep breaths and do breathing exercises or meditation <3