Introduction, hello everyone!

[megt]

Hello, nice to meet you all.
My name is Meg and I'm 18. I've recently been diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression, I've been put on Citalopram 20mg although I don't think that it's been making much of a difference, only three weeks in though so I'm sticking with it for now, I've been experiencing a loss of appetite though, not sure if that's normal or not. I have regular panic attacks and have been really struggling recently. I joined this forum because I'd really like to be able to talk to people about how I'm feeling, my family get really angry at me because I'm terrible at doing basically anything that involves social contact because of my anxiety, which of course makes everything worse.
Sorry for unloading so much, I just feel a bit hopeless right now!

[Tia Maria]

Welcome to the site Meg. You will find this site an enormous help. I have been a member for a number of years now and have found it so helpful - especially in times of stress and anxiety. Everyone on here is so sympathetic and can relate to what you are going through. You will find lots of advice and help and, more importantly, someone is always available to chat to. xx

[megt]

Welcome to the site Meg. You will find this site an enormous help. I have been a member for a number of years now and have found it so helpful - especially in times of stress and anxiety. Everyone on here is so sympathetic and can relate to what you are going through. You will find lots of advice and help and, more importantly, someone is always available to chat to. xx

Thank you, it's great to have someone to talk to in times of stress, hopefully this forum will be a helpful resource for me.

[Granny Primark]

Welcome megt.
This site has been my lifeline for the last few years. I was loopylynn then bacame a a nanny. Hence the granny primark.
Im sure you will love the site as I do and make many caring, understanding friends.xx
P.S Love your name tia maria. Thats my very special drink and me and my beloved mum used to have a glass every Christmas eve.

[megt]

Welcome megt.
This site has been my lifeline for the last few years. I was loopylynn then bacame a a nanny. Hence the granny primark.
Im sure you will love the site as I do and make many caring, understanding friends.xx
P.S Love your name tia maria. Thats my very special drink and me and my beloved mum used to have a glass every Christmas eve.

Lovely to meet you

[Mark13]

Hi Meg. I'm sure you'll be glad you joined.

There's plenty of advice and support here.

SSRIs like Citalopram take at least 6-8 weeks to kick in AFAIK, so if the side effects aren' causing you trouble, then I think they're well worth sticking with.

To be fair to families, and friends of sufferers, if you've not had depression or anxiety yourself it's very difficult to understand, so sometimes family may come across as uncaring or think you can just snap out of it, which is impossible of course.
You're not alone.

All the best.

[Spot-the-frog]

Hi and a warm welcome to the site, you will find loads of help and support on here x