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Thread: Seeking help

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    nemmm3's Avatar
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    Seeking help

    I'm Emily and I'm currently 17. I suffer from generalized anxiety disorder and social anxiety.
    Over the past year or so my anxiety has gotten worse and I feel as if I need to tell my parents and ask for counseling.
    The problem is I'm too anxious to bring it up with them. They don't seem to take my anxiety seriously and think that it is nothing major when it is.
    I thought my dad would understand because he has anxiety too, but he thinks that the solution is to 'toughen up' because that's what he had to do when he was a kid.
    I have had anxiety for around 11 years now and it's only getting worse.

    I need some tips on how to confront them about this?

  2. #2
    Skippy's Avatar Pickin' and Grinnin'!
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    Welcome!

    I think one of the worst things is when people say 'toughen up'; It's sorta a cop-out for me. For some reason they tend to assume that because something worked for them it should work for you too, but everyone is different, yet enforcing such a belief can make things worse.
    The important thing is what you feel you need, if you think anxiety is proving to put a burden on your life, then by all means, you probably need counseling, and parents should really be supportive of that.

    I'm not too sure tho what else I can say about it, but there's no need to feel bad or afraid to let your needs and feelings be known. If nothing worked for 11 years, it's obviously time to try something new. I wish you the best of luck. =]

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    nemmm3's Avatar
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    thank you so much skippy!

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    Otherside's Avatar
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    I'm guessing you're still in school. You may be able to get help there. Or I don't know what the laws are in Australia. You may be able to get councilling without your parents support or knowledge.

    Your dad's behaviour...not saying it's right or anything, but it could be denial on his part. He has anxiety, and he doesn't want you to happen. It happened with my mother. She suffered from depression, and she denied all possibility that I had anxiety/depression/any sort of mental illness and that she had passed it on. It's taken a while. It was tough at the time, but I can pretty much see why she did that, and why she didn't want to get me help. It was easier for her to accept that I was being over-sensitive and needed to, as your parents put it, "toughen up", than accept that I had a mental illness. Again, not excusing it...but sometimes it helps to understand what could be the motivation behind your parents actions. I certainly know that if I had kids, I would do everything I possibly could to keep them mentally healthy, and there's no way I would want to be responsible or partly responsible for the cause of MI in one of my children. Do you see what I mean? It could be that he doesn't want to accept that you too have something that he finds pretty horrible.
    I'M GONNA FIGHT 'EM ALL
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    Welcome to the forum. It's hard when people who are supposed to help you, try to ignore it when you say you need help. Don't give up though. It sounds like you got some good advice Otherside and Skippy. Hopefully, you'll just keep talking here and asking for help until they get it that you want help.
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    nemmm3's Avatar
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    Thank you otherside and chantellabella!

    I will try to reach out to the councilor at school. One of my friends suggested it but I am just so so nervous about confronting her. I'm not good with confrontation.

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    Ironman's Avatar
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    Hi, Nemmm3!

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    nemmm3's Avatar
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    hi ironman!

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