Hello everyone! :)

[Adsterrr]

Hey everyone!
I'm Adam, 20 years old and from the north east UK.
I've joined this forum today as it's gotten to a point where my anxiety is just getting worse by the day. I'm finding social situations almost unbearable, my relationships with peers are getting weaker and i'm finding myself panicking about everything on a regular basis.

I hope to make some friends on here, just so I can feel like i'm not totally alone. i've told none of my friends about my anxiety as I am very good at faking confidence, but it would be nice to chat to people who I don't have to hide myself from :)

please get in touch x

[durhamlawyer]

Hello Adam!

Welcome! I'm from the North East too (Durham) and I know what you are going through. This is a really supportive place and you'll find loads of good advice and information to help you overcome your panic.

As I'm from the north east, feel free to PM me for a chat! :)

Alex

[Adsterrr]

Hey Alex! Thanks for the reply,
I'm from Bishop Auckland :)

[durhamlawyer]

Fanatic. I used to be in Bishop all the time. :D

[Lilharry]

Welcome Adam! You certainly aren't the only one who has felt like that, I've totally been there. Heaps and heaps of amazing advice and support on this forum, so you will never have to feel like you're alone. Just wondering, but do you think part of your anxiety could be due to self esteem issues? It took me until I turned 30 to realise that a lot of my problems were down to the fact that I really didn't like myself. Didn't even realise I was supposed to like myself in fact! I had been quite badly bullied by my older brothers when I was little, so I think a lot of it stemmed from that. If you can put some time into researching self confidence - there's HEAPS on the internet about it - you may find you start to feel better. There's even a free online course on this site that can help you - as well as many other awesome courses that i have found really great. http://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/resources/consumers.cfm May not be for you, but worth a shot. I found as soon as I started getting proactive, even though it was REALLY hard, I started to feel like I was gettign some control back.

[Adsterrr]

thank you for the website link, it looks really informative and helpful, i'll definitely give it a try! :)
I think a lot of my problems with anxiety have developed from low self esteem, I do hate myself. I was bullied regularly in secondary school as I used to be overweight. Even though i've lost the weight now, I always see myself as ugly which definitely causes my anxiety to get a lot worse. I know that I need to build up my self confidence and self esteem but it's just so hard to know where to start.
I'll definitely look at some of the courses on the website though, thank you so much :)

[Mark13]

Hello and welcome to the site, Adam. I'm sure you'll find lots of help and support here.

[ricardo]

Welcome Adam.you are at the right place on NMP and I see you already have found "a neighbour". good luck

[BobbyDog]

My son is in a similar situation to you Adam, he is 16 and was bullied both at home where we lived and at school, it was so bad we had to move house when he was 13. His self esteem and view of himself is very low. I am trying to help him through this at the moment.
Have you tried self help books, a really good one that some psychologists use alongside CBT is: The Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, by Edmund J Bourne.
You could also ask your doctor about being referred to community mental health to be assessed for counselling or CBT etc.

[Adsterrr]

thank BobbyDog, i'll definitely look in to that :)