[danney44]

The last couple months a lot of things have been brought to my attention. Im 14. Lately I've been reasarching a lot of mental health issues. Its really weird because every time I read something I feel like the symptoms fit me perfectly. For example I've been reading about OCD. I feel like I have this because I constantly wash my hands. Almost every time I touch something I wash my hands. And every time I wash my hands I get out a new towel. I never can use one twice. Another thing is showering. Everyday I take a shower in the morning and then at night I have to take a bath or else I feel disgusting. Another thing I think I have is anxiety depression. I don't know a lot about this but I constantly think about embaresment. I'm so afraid of being embarrassed that I think of every move I'm going to make so that it doesn't happen. And every time soething happens embarrassing or I'm talking to a cute boy my face gets really really hot and red. This also happens when someone is yelling at me or I forget soemthing like homework or my books. Its hard to explain what happens but I get really paniced and scared. My heart races a lot and I get all flustered. I also have a really big problem with eye contact. I can never look an adult in the eye. I've also become very shy this year. Like abnormally shy. I can't even go into a grocery store anymore by myself. I hate talking to anybody on the phone so I don't even pick up. And I have a lot of issues with friends. Every time someone invites e over to their house I say yes and then like an hour before I go I make up an excuse like I'm sick or tired and I never go. As a result of this I always invite other people to my house. Another thing is my paranoia. I get so paranoid about cetain things. Like spiders one day I acually thought I was having a meltdown because there was a spider in my sheets. It took me over 15 minutes to calm down and I couldn't go in my room for that whole day. I also think that I'm going to get murdered. When ever I'm home alone I get so freaked out. I go crazy I hide in my room and if I hear any sound I absolutely freak out. I feel like someone is going to break into my house an second. I have no idea what's happening to me lately? I have all these mixed emotions and I'm really scared? I'm not sure if I really have an emotional disorder or I just think that everything is wrong with me and I'm just making these things up? Somebody please help me!! :confused:

[ajr2295]

Alright - wow. It seems like you're going through a very tough time!

I am about your age, so I'm just going to tell you what I would tell one of my own friends.
It sounds like you might want to speak with your school guidance counselor, as well as your parents. They probably have some suggestions on how to deal with the issues you are facing.

Another thing you may want to try is affirming. I learned about affirming at my church. It is a process where you think of a phrase of a sentence or a few sentences or something of the sort and repeat it every day. You look yourself straight in the eye and repeat it at least 10 times, in the morning and before you go to bed. Eventually it will begin to manifest in your life. For example, I've heard of people who had cancer and affirmed that they were healthy. Every day they would look themselves straight in the eye and say, "I am healthy. I am healthy. I am healthy." etc. A few months later, they went to the doctor and their cancer was actually gone. Completely gone. This proves that affirming will indeed work in the long run.

I hope this helps! Please let me know if you decide to try affirming, and if it helps a little.

Good luck!

[N0help4u]

That is called being a hypochondriac.
Get to really know your aches and 'symptoms' and write a list of when you actually feel every thing and
Then compared to the chronic symptoms of the particular symptoms to various things you will see that more than likely
You are experiencing ALL the diseases you read about.

[simoneaugie]

Keep an eye on it. Make charts if it helps put the symptoms into perspective. I had many of the same problems when I was 14. The graphs I made taught me a lot. I grew out of it. Most of it, anyway.

You could start reading scientific journals about archeology or space travel, or fashion magazines, or classic writings like The Iliad by Homer. That way your mind would be directed towards things other than symptomatic disease processes.

[peggyhill]

I think you should have a talk with your parent(s) about how you have been feeling. If that isn't an option, talk to a teacher, school counselor, or trusted adult. It is good to be in touch with your body and aware of what is going on. However, sometimes we can take it too far.

For example, a while back I had a breast lump. It turned out to be nothing. But I read so much on the internet and thought about it so much, that I started wondering if other things were wrong. I was 100% convinced that I had cancer, and I was fine! So it was good I went to the doctor, but I shouldn't have freaked out until I knew for sure, you know what I mean?

I think a counselor can help you work thorough some of these things. It is important not to try and diagnose mental illnesses, like OCD yourself. I think you should go to your GP doctor and tell him/her what you just told us. He/she can determine if it is OCD or something else. If it is, it can be treated. But don't convince yourself that you have something yet.

As far as being home alone, that bothered me when I was younger too. Is there a way you can go to a friend's house until your folks get home? Do you have a home security system? Perhaps taking a self-defense class will help you feel more confident and safer.

It is normal to feel a little stressed about social things during teenage years. But when it starts affecting your day-to-day life, that is the time to seek help from a counselor or doctor. I'm sure everything will be fine for you. I think that talking to your folks about seeing a counselor might really help.

[Princess-IMYM]

I'm 15 and a hypochondriac, I go looking at symptoms of illnesses too.
I spoke to my teacher about it and he told me that you shouldn't pay attention to everything the internet says, about 3/4's of the time it really is nothing.
I think I have ADD, PCOS and Bi-polar disorder mainly, but I'm working my way out of it.
Two of my friends are seeing counselors and its frustrating no one will talk to me, is that how it is for you? (oops, off topic)
Anyway, I think you should talk to someone about it, it's better to talk than keep it to yourself if it's bothering you.
( talk too much, so it's not really a problem, but it may be harder for you.)

[wewed100606]

Danney44! Holy cow bud! Seriously, calm down for a minute and listen to me... breath... breath... breath... OK... CONGRATS!! YOU ARE A NORMAL 14 YEAR OLD!! Hey, don't worry so much. If I were to make an educated guess by your posting I would say you are a normal kid who is trying to find reason why they are feeling a certain way because they don't understand it is normal! Stop looking stuff up and just relax! Your worrying, your "stage fright", you getting embarrassed... all NORMAL!! Just relax and try to remember that a lot of what you are feeling is normal and the other things are arrising from a little pseudo hypochondriac. If you can't calm down yourself and snap out of it go to a counselor. You don't need to be embarrassed or feel dumb about going... it will help you and nowadays almost everybody has been to a counselor!

You aren't weird or different... NORMAL!!

Drop me a line if you want to talk anymore!

[kathy davids]

I don't agree that you are a hypochondriac,I feel that it is normal what you are going through but it has grown into something big because you only have your own perspective on it.When we don't speak to others about feelings and get others input small feelings and fears can manifest into big things.I hope you will feel better from reading other peoples thoughts on what your going through but I also urge you to talk with someone you trust.You will probably find after talking that your anxiety will lesson,although not disappear completely as we all get anxious at times but we just learn different ways of coping.I wish you the best of luck.