Anxiety Hype (?)

I have severe anxiety and depression and Im just learning how to accept my feelings and cope with them in positive ways. I believe it is part of a process what helps me is thinking differently even if your thought is negative think of a positive point to the thought. Hope all is well.

@StephenPlath

Q: I feel anxious, in a state where my mind blocks every possible harm, and I'm oversensitive to negative words. I don't feel worry but anxiety, too much energy. Is this part of the process or do I have to find a way to let some negativity in and stabilize?

A: Some might argue that acceptance of your anxiety is key, while others might say that distractions are helpful. But personally, I believe there are many ways to go about understanding our reactions in times of high anxiety, so my answerfalls in between these two views.

My motto is: "Everything in moderation," because truly, our bodies were built in such a way that the fight, flight, or freeze system is supposed to aid us rather than cause harm at times of some perceivedthreat. Of course, in quick-paced world where all of our threats are internal instead of external, this causes serious issues -- mainly because the internal threats never end! So while part of me believes in accepting one's anxiety, another part of me believes that after a certain point, acceptance alone may not be enough. This is where distractions come into play (again, only in moderation!). I think it is healthy to distract oneself long enough to be able to breatheagain, and once you can, it's time to get right back up again.

You can do it!

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I think the worst part about anxiety and other mental illnesses is the hype around them. Many people give unsolicited advice on panic attacks, such as why don't you just snap yourself out of it, and these comments are hurtful. People commonly make it seem as though I'm not trying but, in fact, I'm trying really hard not to fall apart.

Anxiety makes it hard for me to do "normal" things, such as walk across the classroom to grab a tissue or even sneeze, which leads me down a spiral of thinking a blood vessel going to explode in my brain because of a story I heard. Even when really confused or lost in a class, I can never bring myself to ask for help because I worry so much about what could go wrong or what could happen as a result of me talking to the teacher, the ceiling falling right where she went to talk to me, etc.

One of the worst parts of a mental illness is all the unwanted remarks and teasing you get from it. For example, whenever I'm writing, my OCD makes me take out all of my pens, line them in rainbow order, all facing the same way. Some of my friends like to mess up the rainbow or make it so they are all pointing in different directions. Others just comment on it and tease me, making me very embarassed and uncomfortable.

One of the things I am worried about the most is a presentation I have in May. Last year, I had the same english teacher I have this year. On May 11th, I was forced to present against my will. Once infront of the class, I had a panic attack and could barely speak because of how stressed and panicked I was. The looks, attention, and remarks I received from my classmates made me so much more embarrased and stressed than before. Even worse, I am going to have to do it all over again this May. I don't understand why teachers can't see that you are incapable of going up infront the class and just give you an alternate assignment. They don't make students with broken limbs participate in PE and it's kind of the same thing, right?