Hey guys!
I feel I've been slacking a bit on my posts lately and I haven't had the chance to buy many beauty items lately, there won't be a review for a week or so yet (sorry!) but I do hope you've all entered my giveaway to win a gorgeous bridal/prom tiara!
This post will be written entirely from my experiences with anxiety and panic attacks throughout my school and college life. So in November I actually wasn't able to deal with my panic attacks and anxiety in college and ended up dropping out 2 months in, so this post may seem a bit hypocritical, but I survived 5 years of high school at least!
My panic attacks really kicked in when I started my new high school in year 8, my mum took me to the doctors and the woman thought I just had really bad asthma (any good doctor would be able to tell, that was not the case).
I actually went through school without telling my teachers anything about my social anxiety and panic attacks (although I'm sure they'd already noticed) until maybe, end of year 10 when my attendance started getting so bad, I'd make up any lie to make sure they weren't aware of what was going on because at that time I felt alone and ashamed about what was wrong with me, I felt weird. I went to countless amounts of attendance meetings with the heads of the school and the school governors and it wasn't until they threatened my mum with court that I finally went to the deputy head (who always ran the attendance meetings) and told her what was happening, that just made school 50% easier, I didn't have to worry about my attendance as much as I was, I had a reason for walking out of lessons mid-way through when I felt panicky and the school did so much to try and support me, I no longer had to go to assemblies (that was when my anxiety was at it's peak, sitting on the floor in a crowded sports hall with a couple hundred people just scared the shit out of me basically) so my form tutor and deputy head found a way for me to still do something during form time when I was meant to be at assembly, I'd go and see the school counsellor lady and she'd work on helping me with my panic attacks and she'd help with any work I was struggling with. The one thing I was so appreciative of, I realised the November before my exams when I was doing my mock exams that my panic attacks was worse in exams than ever, I was able to sit in a classroom with about 10 other people (which was sooo much better than sitting in room with a hundred or so kids.)
Now, the social anxiety side of things wasn't so fun either, I found it really hard to talk to anybody outside of my friendship group and then, even talking to people in my friendship group at the time was pretty hard, it wasn't until I'd fully learnt to trust my friends that I was completely comfortable talking to them. I was unable to work with other people in the class, I was quiet and just sat at the back in most of my lessons, I wouldn't dare participate in lessons which often got me in trouble.
Sometimes I don't know what I'd have done without Shauna, Rachel and Karis in my final year at school. Shauna was the one that was always there in my lessons and if I ever had a panic attack, she'd explain to the teacher what was going on if I just walked out of a lesson and if I needed to calm myself down, she was there. Rachel and Karis were always there for me and they were the only people that knew about what was going on that I didn't feel were judging me for it, they're the most understanding people. I know I'm not easy to be friends with but they were there for me when my anxiety was at it's worst and I couldn't be more grateful.
Unfortunately I failed all of my exams and it's probably to do with the fact I had about two panic attacks in each exam, but hey, I tried my best!
Tips for college/school:
I feel I've been slacking a bit on my posts lately and I haven't had the chance to buy many beauty items lately, there won't be a review for a week or so yet (sorry!) but I do hope you've all entered my giveaway to win a gorgeous bridal/prom tiara!
This post will be written entirely from my experiences with anxiety and panic attacks throughout my school and college life. So in November I actually wasn't able to deal with my panic attacks and anxiety in college and ended up dropping out 2 months in, so this post may seem a bit hypocritical, but I survived 5 years of high school at least!
My panic attacks really kicked in when I started my new high school in year 8, my mum took me to the doctors and the woman thought I just had really bad asthma (any good doctor would be able to tell, that was not the case).
I actually went through school without telling my teachers anything about my social anxiety and panic attacks (although I'm sure they'd already noticed) until maybe, end of year 10 when my attendance started getting so bad, I'd make up any lie to make sure they weren't aware of what was going on because at that time I felt alone and ashamed about what was wrong with me, I felt weird. I went to countless amounts of attendance meetings with the heads of the school and the school governors and it wasn't until they threatened my mum with court that I finally went to the deputy head (who always ran the attendance meetings) and told her what was happening, that just made school 50% easier, I didn't have to worry about my attendance as much as I was, I had a reason for walking out of lessons mid-way through when I felt panicky and the school did so much to try and support me, I no longer had to go to assemblies (that was when my anxiety was at it's peak, sitting on the floor in a crowded sports hall with a couple hundred people just scared the shit out of me basically) so my form tutor and deputy head found a way for me to still do something during form time when I was meant to be at assembly, I'd go and see the school counsellor lady and she'd work on helping me with my panic attacks and she'd help with any work I was struggling with. The one thing I was so appreciative of, I realised the November before my exams when I was doing my mock exams that my panic attacks was worse in exams than ever, I was able to sit in a classroom with about 10 other people (which was sooo much better than sitting in room with a hundred or so kids.)
Now, the social anxiety side of things wasn't so fun either, I found it really hard to talk to anybody outside of my friendship group and then, even talking to people in my friendship group at the time was pretty hard, it wasn't until I'd fully learnt to trust my friends that I was completely comfortable talking to them. I was unable to work with other people in the class, I was quiet and just sat at the back in most of my lessons, I wouldn't dare participate in lessons which often got me in trouble.
Sometimes I don't know what I'd have done without Shauna, Rachel and Karis in my final year at school. Shauna was the one that was always there in my lessons and if I ever had a panic attack, she'd explain to the teacher what was going on if I just walked out of a lesson and if I needed to calm myself down, she was there. Rachel and Karis were always there for me and they were the only people that knew about what was going on that I didn't feel were judging me for it, they're the most understanding people. I know I'm not easy to be friends with but they were there for me when my anxiety was at it's worst and I couldn't be more grateful.
Unfortunately I failed all of my exams and it's probably to do with the fact I had about two panic attacks in each exam, but hey, I tried my best!
Tips for college/school:
- Let the school/college know as soon as you feel something is not quite right or as soon as you've been diagnosed. It takes a lot to speak to someone in authority about such a private subject, but your teachers will only want the best for you and high school will seem a lot easier once you've told them.
- There's absolutely nothing wrong with sticking to your friendship group and don't ever feel like you have to mix with others in your class, if the school/college are aware of your problem, likelyhood is, they may make an exception and let you stay with your friends when doing group work.
- There are going to be people who'll ask you 'oh, why did you walk out of the lesson?', you can either tell them what happened or tell them to bugger off, it's none of their business. As long as the teachers are aware you've walked out and know the reason why, they're the only people that need to know.
- Try your hardest to participate in lessons, I've learnt that no one even cares if you get the answer wrong, you're more likely to get praised for having a go than not trying at all.
- If you need extra support, ask for it. Don't go through your entire high school life worrying about everything. If you need extensions on coursework because your attendance is bad, ask for it. If you need someone to help you with exam stress, ask for it. You're going to seem a lot more determined to get through high school and do well therefore you're probably going to be allowed the extra support. If you go to school on the odd occasion and don't ask for the work you've missed and don't complete the coursework in time without a reasonable excuse, the school/college aren't going to care, you're going to come across as lazy and they won't want to help you.
- You may not need the extra support, you may just need the school/college to get off your back about your attendance but if they offer the support, might aswell take it, it's going to help you so much more in the long run.
- Finally, if you're worried about your exams, tell someone. If you feel like you're not sure about a piece of work you've studied that's sure to come up in the exam, tell whatever teacher that teaches you that subject and of course they'll help you. Teachers only want you to do the best you can and if any little push can help towards passing your exams, they're going to take the opportunity to help.
I hope this helped some of you!
I'd love to hear about how high school was/is for you if you have social anxiety and suffer with panic attacks.
I'd love to hear about how high school was/is for you if you have social anxiety and suffer with panic attacks.
Thanks for reading,
Rachel. xo