Anxiety Around Family

Now that midterms are over, school is going a little but better but I still feel like a failure because I was sick during them so I couldn't study and I was not fully in it taking them so I did not do well at all. Well, I'm trying to get past that and bring my grade up before I stress myself out more.

Anyways I'm realizing that most of my anxiety is stemming from my family like it did the first time in 8th grade. I usually have a pretty long fuse but when I get around them it exponentially decreases. I have more of a temper and I am a horrible rude teenager when I'm usually quite composed at school or anywhere else. I so dislike this side of me and always go back to apologize for my behavior after, but that still doesn't help the anxiety that always builds when I hear my parents come home or when I try to talk to them or my sister. The lump in my throat doesn't subside till much later either and it just gets worse and worse as every little thing around them becomes a trigger for my anxiety. After this I waste time trying to calm down and escape when I need to do my homework. The cycle just continues when I talk to them and it needs to stop for all for the sake of my family and I.

I have not been able to go to counseling and I don't know when I'll be able to get medicine but does anyone have any tips or ideas that they could pass along that I could start using? Something to either help me cope better when i am around them and or to help be better calm down. Please help, I want to be good daughter and I don't want to make my parents upset when I am upset.

R&T,

I agree with Larry...it is those we love, trust and are closest too that we ironically at times treat with the least care.:(

I heard something a long time ago that really stuck with me. If you can learn this now...it may ensure that your future relationship with your partner and children go very well for you as well...it is this:

A family is a team, and the home should be a safe haven. Every day we go out into the world...and it beats up on us to some degree. Some days are tougher than others, but no matter what...home should be a place where we can come back to and be supported, loved and made to feel better about things...not further torn down!

This applies to everyone, from kids to parents...so be a part of your team and think about how they are feeling daily...and how your actions impact them.

Use the stress relief exercises in our Resources to help keep your anxiety as low as possible, and your moods at their best.:)

With support,

S.C.