My Battle with Anxiety

It’s been a few years now since I was diagnosed with anxiety. It’s not too often you read about kids battling anxiety and that’s unfortunate, because I know it’s more common than it seems. It’s time to pull it out from under the rug, accept that it happens, that it’s common, and there’s really no need to feel alone or ashamed.

My name is Tova. If you met me, you would never guess that there’s anything wrong. In fact, for most of my life, there wasn’t anything wrong. I was bullied a little when I was a kid, but nothing major; I don’t think that’s the cause of my struggle. I’m a bit of an anomaly when it comes to anxiety cases because my childhood was normal, my family was normal, but when I was 17, I suddenly had a full-blown panic attack. Completely out of nowhere.

There I was, in the lunchroom with hundreds of other students, about to eat my lunch, when suddenly I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt hot, dizzy, and sweaty. I felt like everyone was looking at me. I was sure I was going to pass out, going to die. It kept getting worse and worse, the feelings kept getting stronger.

After that, I stopped going to the lunchroom. I was too scared it would happen again.