Reader’s Question

I’m 13 years old, and I live in China. There are no psychologists in my area who can see me. I believe I have an anxiety disorder. I frequently get scared that I will lose my mind or start having a heart attack in class. I get dizzy if a teacher asks me a question, I feel short of breath, and my heart pounds really hard. I also have some sort of tune running around in my head, and I often find myself muttering the lyrics for it under my breath. If I walk around in a busy street or market I often feel like people are watching me, and I feel really uncomfortable. Sometimes I will daydream for hours, or have staring spells, and I have a lot of trouble sleeping. I just don’t know what to do.

Our Clinical Psychologist’s Reply

You definitely report some signs typically associated with anxiety and panic. But you also report some things that might be associated with an attentional deficiency. Even if there is no psychologist in your area, a general medical professional could likely help you and help ensure that there are no other issues complicating your difficulties.

Even without formal medical or psychological help, there are several things you can do to make your situation better. With respect to your anxiety symptoms, there is good news and bad news. The bad news is that the symptoms are distressing and nobody likes to feel them. They make you wonder if you’ll ever be okay or if you’ll eventually lose your mind. That’s a common complaint. The good news is that although they are distressing, anxiety symptoms are not dangerous. Once you tell yourself that over and over again, you can begin to break the vicious cycle between the symptoms you get, the danger you might attach to them, and the increased intensity of your symptoms. You can learn what professionals call “cognitive” and “behavioral” strategies to lessen and eventually rid yourself of anxiety symptoms. You do this by changing the negative thoughts that accompany the symptoms (e.g., “there’s something really wrong with me,” “I might go crazy,” “I have to get out of here,” etc.) with positive thoughts such as “these feelings will pass if I don’t regard them as dangerous or permanent,” and “I can function even when I have symptoms.” On the behavioral side, instead of withdrawing from situations in which you experience anxiety and instead of spending inordinate amounts of time in your head, you gradually and deliberately make yourself stay in the uncomfortable situations until the level of discomfort diminishes.

So, take heart and have hope. Anxiety is no fun, but it can be overcome in a relatively straightforward manner. In the end, many people emerge from their struggles with anxiety with an even greater sense of personal competence and strength.