how do I tell my mom I think I have anxiety?

[Lexihood]

it started last year, it was late and everyone was asleep, when all of a sudden i had this overwhelming feeling of panic, and worry. noting that big was happening, at least nothing I should be freaking out about. i couldn't breathe, i felt like i was gonna throw up, i was shaking and sweating. me being me didn't want to wake anyone up so I tried to calm myself down. an hour latter I was calmed down for the most part. I tried to ignore the entire situation, and I need... until it happened at school 2 weeks latter. It was the end of my sixth period when I started to get the feeling of panic. I managed to hold it in, until a friend of mine asked if i was okay on our way to our last period. at that moment i just broke and the anxiety took over. I spent the next half hour hiccuping for breathe while my friend held me, trying to calm me. after i was calmed down and everyone was working, my teacher came up to me and started talking about anxiety disorder and that i looked exactly like she does when she gets an anxiety attack. latter that day i tried to talk to my mom abut it, but she just brushed it off as something everyone goes through. I tried to believe her. school started about a month ago and my anxiety has gotten a lot worse. I cant walk into my English class with out freaking out in the back of my mind that he's gonna call on me and i'm gonna mess up and look like and idiot. i had to drop a class with my favorite teacher cause there were so many people and it was a presentation based class. i'm losing sleep because of this. and now open house is this Wednesday and i may have told one of my teachers that i'm diagnosed with anxiety and have a therapist- which i don't. I need one but i don't have one. i need to figure out how to tell my mom before then. which is really just making me more anxious. I don't know what to do.
HELP!!!!

[Celyn]

Hey there,

Really sorry to hear that you are dealing with anxiety! It's a horrible feeling, having a panic attack, I know. Perhaps you can practice some deep breathing exercises? It might also help if you try to focus on what's going on around you, rather than the panic attack as it may help to pass quicker.

I'm sorry to hear that your mum didn't seem too supportive of you. Would it be worth trying to talk to your mum about it again? Or writing her a note instead? If not, what about going to that teacher-the one who talked about anxiety disorders- and asking her if she could help explain it to your mum?

As you have realised, anxiety affects you physically, but it also affects your thoughts- you believe that others will judge and criticise you and that you will be embarrassed in front of others. It can be helpful to remember that we aren't mind readers so we don't know what others think of us. Most of the time, people are thinking about themselves or what bothers them. Perhaps if you notice the negative thoughts, you can try to challenge them instead? Make them seem less scary and maybe you wont feel so anxious?

Does your school have a school counsellor? If they do, it might be worth talking to your school counsellor as they should be able to help you learn techniques to calm you down and prevent further panic attacks. If not, is it possible to go to visit your doctor and talk about anxiety and ask for a referral to a therapist?

Hope this helps and that you are able to get the help you deserve!