For what seems like the majority of this semester, my body has been under more emotional stress than a normal teenager endures. If you heard my life story, Dr. Phil only being a leaf on the tree of crazy, you’d probably wonder how I even got this far.
No, no, no. I do not want pity. There’s a reason I am sharing this information.
In high school I had headaches off and on, but I just recently caught onto the fact that it is not normal. It feels like someone is wrapping a tight rubber band around my head and silly me just figured out what it is. I’ve been to the doctor for it, but they have simply suggested I wear my reading glasses when staring at a screen and taking Tylenol.
I”m silly because I just caught onto the fact that every time I feel an elevation in my anxiety, the headache comes on. My anxiety is causing a tension headache.
As it turns out, everyone with chronic anxiety disorders may experience anxiety in strange ways. For instance, when I was in the eighth grade I thought I was having a heart attack. I was having what I know now to be heart palpitations, but at the time I was only fourteen. I had no idea what anxiety felt like.
I thought it was the feeling you get when you’re afraid to get on a roller-coaster.
Turns out, anxiety in itself is a roller-coaster.
Anyways, I insisted to my gram that I was having a heart attack and we sat in the emergency room for hours. I left with a heart monitor and everything came back normal. It took me another year to understand why the palpitations were happening, and it took me many years to learn to cope. It feels like my heart is doing a hiccup, but if I freak out then it only gets worse.
Identifying what is causing your body discomfort is the root in understanding how to relieve the pain.
For the headaches I thought maybe I was staying up too late, studying for too long at once, or forgetting my glasses. Then I realized that once I took a break from my busy-minded schedule, the pain declined.
The best advice I have received this semester is that college is only a piece of my life. It is not my entire life. Many adults forget this as well and they make their job their entire life. Do not get into this habit, your life will pass you by quicker than this semester is going. The same is true for anxiety and other mental illnesses. If you focus too hard on the labeling, the medications, other people’s suggestions, it is going to consume your every thought.
Do not let anything hold you back. BUT… remember to give yourself a break once in a while.
Until next time,
You got this!