In the principal’s office at Standard Middle School, my chest contracted, my heart raced, my body shook, and my mind raged with endless possibilities. The fear of the unknown, the fear of failure, and the fear of the possibility of me being in trouble all contributed to having my very first anxiety attack. Anxiety can slow down adolescent development mentally and socially because teens alienate themselves from the surrounding people them.
After my first anxiety attack, I began to get them every day at random moments and could not figure out exactly why, and I was not sure who to talk to about what was going on with me. After a few months of me having these attacks, I made the choice to go talk to the counselor at school. We talked for weeks and came to the decision to talk to my mom about it. This made me more anxious than anything else. That night, sitting at the dinner table, thinking about what to say to my mom regarding the
attacks. My mom and I don’t always get along, and we tend to fight almost every day, and I didn’t know how she was going to react. The moment she got home, my chest contracted, my heart raced, my body started to shake, and my mind raged with the endless possibilities of what my mom would say. She came home, and we talked. My mom told me that I was too young to feel this way and that it was just a phase, and from that point on I never talked to her about how I was feeling and kept to myself. Years went by, and I continued to get worse until I hit an all time low. When that did happen I was 15 and that was when I was officially diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression.
Over the years my personality has changed a lot. Before my anxiety and depression got bad I was extroverted and outgoing. I used to love being around people whether that be at a party or at a school event, but now I am more introverted. I would much rather be alone or with one or two people now. Usually I do not talk much anymore, and I deal with all my problems by myself. Although I am introverted. I love to do sports like volleyball and swim. Sports keep me distracted from my anxiety and depression.
According to Healthy Children there are 3 stages to adolescence. There is early adolescence which ranges between eleven to 14 years of age, middle adolescence which ranges between the ages of 15 to 17, and ;finally, late adolescence which ranges between 18 to 21 years of age. Within those 3 stages teens go through physical development, intellectual development, emotional development, and social development. During mid-adolescence is when a teen’s physiological growth is complete. Usually at the time teens are or close to adult weight and height. Which makes them physically ready for kids. Teens that are in early adolescence are still perceiving the world around them which explains their inability to think about the long term consequences according to Healthy Children. When teens are in late adolescence capacity to solve problems and sense of emotions increase drastically but may still act without thinking.
