Auburn University has a really awesome program called Student Counseling Services. The people that work there are beyond helpful and concerned about working with the students to better themselves. They deal with everything from eating disorders to stress management to aiding gay/questioning youth and everything in between. My personal struggle deals with severe anxiety and depression. Almost every symptom box that you can check, the intake therapist checked it. This has been a running theme in my life and I'm finally trying to get it under control so that I can be the best person I can possibly be.
I should probably start with the beginning, right? I've always been a very shy person (which doesn't really matter yet), but as I grew so did my anxiety, and then the depression came into play. The older I got the worse it got. I always thought that no matter what headed my way, I would be able to handle it on my own. Boy, was I wrong! Here I am in my second year of college, and my grades are slipping even further than they did the year prior. Halfway through the second semester, I had a very sudden realization that something terrible was going to happen if I didn't get help. It was a Wednesday night and I was lying in bed with thoughts spinning. I couldn't sleep to save my life. Then, slowly, the anxiety attack formed and worsened as the minutes ticked on. I finally got to calm down a little and get some sleep. The next morning I woke with the same impending doom feeling. I tried to get on with my day as usual but I just couldn't. The anxiety and panic I was feeling worsened as the day went on. I was just about in tears by the time my last class was ending. I knew something had to change.
I finally got home and immediately called SCS. I was seen as soon as I could get there because I was considered an emergency. I walked into the office a nervous, sweaty, near-tears mess. The intake therapist, Ann Marie, was more than comforting and helpful. She calmed me down and set up an appointment for the next day to be seen to start medicine. It all happened very quickly, but I wouldn't trade a second of it. I began 20mg Citalopram, which is a non-addictive anxiety med that takes a while to get into your system, so it's safer and slower to make changes. Now, if you know me, you know that it's hard to get me to take any sort of medicine -- even Advil when I'm in pain. I was anxious about the side effects, long term effects, and everything I didn't know about this type of medication. I only had one symptom and it wasn't enough for me to really bat an eye at it. I'm really glad I started taking it and I absolutely wouldn't give it up to go back to where I was. It has made such a difference in my life.
This morning at 10 a.m. I embarked on my brand new journey of healing. I began the therapy side of all this, since I've been on the medicine for almost three months and some appointments opened up now that it's summer. I plan to continue to chronicle my story here and share what I learn in hopes that it will be familiar or help someone else.
Until next time!
I should probably start with the beginning, right? I've always been a very shy person (which doesn't really matter yet), but as I grew so did my anxiety, and then the depression came into play. The older I got the worse it got. I always thought that no matter what headed my way, I would be able to handle it on my own. Boy, was I wrong! Here I am in my second year of college, and my grades are slipping even further than they did the year prior. Halfway through the second semester, I had a very sudden realization that something terrible was going to happen if I didn't get help. It was a Wednesday night and I was lying in bed with thoughts spinning. I couldn't sleep to save my life. Then, slowly, the anxiety attack formed and worsened as the minutes ticked on. I finally got to calm down a little and get some sleep. The next morning I woke with the same impending doom feeling. I tried to get on with my day as usual but I just couldn't. The anxiety and panic I was feeling worsened as the day went on. I was just about in tears by the time my last class was ending. I knew something had to change.
I finally got home and immediately called SCS. I was seen as soon as I could get there because I was considered an emergency. I walked into the office a nervous, sweaty, near-tears mess. The intake therapist, Ann Marie, was more than comforting and helpful. She calmed me down and set up an appointment for the next day to be seen to start medicine. It all happened very quickly, but I wouldn't trade a second of it. I began 20mg Citalopram, which is a non-addictive anxiety med that takes a while to get into your system, so it's safer and slower to make changes. Now, if you know me, you know that it's hard to get me to take any sort of medicine -- even Advil when I'm in pain. I was anxious about the side effects, long term effects, and everything I didn't know about this type of medication. I only had one symptom and it wasn't enough for me to really bat an eye at it. I'm really glad I started taking it and I absolutely wouldn't give it up to go back to where I was. It has made such a difference in my life.
This morning at 10 a.m. I embarked on my brand new journey of healing. I began the therapy side of all this, since I've been on the medicine for almost three months and some appointments opened up now that it's summer. I plan to continue to chronicle my story here and share what I learn in hopes that it will be familiar or help someone else.
Until next time!