10 Embarrassing Things About Being a Teenager With Anxiety

As if being a teenager isn’t hard enough, fighting two mental disorders doesn’t make it a walk in the park. I’m writing from my experience, just so other people don’t feel alone. I more than often feel like a burden to my friends. And it leaves me feeling embarrassed. I don’t often speak about my anxiety or depression because some days I feel ashamed to be living with it. I have thoughts in my head saying, “Why can’t you be just like a normal person?” “You’re a burden to everyone.”

Well, I want to talk about it now. Here are some things I feel embarrassed about:

1. My fear of big crowds. Not knowing if you will be alright or not. Not knowing if you’re able to make it out of a room before you start to panic.

2. Making my friends walk a different way so I don’t panic in the hallway at school or college.

3. Asking my friends to walk me to class because I’m scared of walking in and everyone staring at me.

4. Random outbursts of panic when I’m in a relaxed situation. When my mind feels at rest, but it certainly isn’t.

5. Asking my friends if I can sit in a certain place so I don’t feel attacked by random people, who haven’t even done anything wrong.

6. Hiding my food in the canteen because I’m worried about people seeing me eat a burger for lunch.

7. Asking my friends to meet me because I can’t walk around school or college alone.

8. Asking for support and reassurance from friends. I find that this can make me feel embarrassed, because I feel like I shouldn’t have to ask them.

9. Having panic attacks in public. This makes me feel as if everyone around me is judging me because I’m panicking.

10. Asking my friends to make sure they ring me so I don’t panic when walking home alone.

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Thinkstock photo via Bruno Monteny