Do I have the symptoms of anxiety?

[Scarlet]

I'm really worried about this. Ever since I was 11 I've been worrying about unnecessary things and getting worked up over them. I'm 14 now and I'm still the same. I'm really shy in class, do not volunteer AT ALL and whenever anyone asks me anything or talks to me I get really nervous and worried because I'm scared they will think I'm weird. I sometimes cannot sleep at all because whenever I go to sleep I wake up in the middle of the night and can't go back to sleep. I get really emotional at the thought of death and if I ever have a headache I get horrible ideas that it might be cancer or if I have a stomachache I'm scared its something like appendicitis, and I have headaches and stomachaches all the time. Basically, my worst fear is dying. I don't know if this is linked to anxiety, but I sometimes can't breathe and I start to feel dizzy, or my chest starts to feel like it's closing up. So far, I've had three panic attacks and my mums had to help me calm down. If my little brother who's five hides and I can't find him I think he's been kidnapped or something and before I go to bed I check all the doors are locked, and plug sockets or anything electrical is turned off because I'm scared something horrible will happen. I've talked about this to my mum, who thinks I've definitely got it. I'm going to see a physiatrist next week to see if I do have it.

I know some of you might think this is a stupid question, but it's really bothering me because it's affecting most of my life. Even trying to talk to someone makes me all worked up, and I have no confidence AT ALL.
If anyone has any tips on how I might be able to calm myself down and maybe get rid of horrible thoughts about death and thinking everything's going to end badly please put them because I can't stand it.

Thank you and please answer x

[Otherside]

It does seem like some kind of anxiety. The good news is though, that it can be dealt with.

This may sound kinda stupid, but breathing exercises can help with the anxiety and challenging thoughts (sometimes, it helps if you right it down). If you do have it, the psychiatrist should be able to refer you to a therapist that will be able to help and teach you those. As for the health anxiety, all I can say is, whatever you do, DO NOT USE DR GOOGLE TO GOOGLE YOUR SYMPTOMS. Seriously, I don't know if you do that or not, but I've done that before and it seriously does not help. Makes you jump to the worst conclusion pretty quickly.

And none of here think it's a stupid question. Heck, most people on here have pretty much done the same as you. You are not alone.

[Chloe]

im in a similar situation with you as to the bad thoughts about things, tight chested-ness and panicking. medication is something that has different effects on different people but its worth looking into and trying for yourself. keeping a journal on thinks like the situation around your panics, what your thinking and so on can be really helpful and let you try and find a common factor or cause throughout throughout all of your panics and maybe even help you try challenging that thought or belief if you feel up to it. herbal medications seemed to help me but the most impact anything has had is what otherside said about the breathing techniques, breathing and counting in 6 second gaps help. the more practice you have the more likely the impact is to be had on you anxiety. counselling can be extreamly helpful and for many it helps them cope and even discover more (as it did for me) again this is just in my case everyone is different when it comes to anxiety or panic attacks good luck at the doctors though