Hi Mollie

I'm Myinah and I am 23 now. When I was 13 my phobia and anxiety were so bad I left my school and had to be homeschooled too so I know what a tough time you must be going through at the moment. Well done for coming on to the forums and sharing with us.

When I left school i felt sick all the time and I was so scared I would always be asking my mum to take my temperature and asking her if I looked sick and for a while I stopped eating because I was just too scared. You arent alone in what you are feeling, lots of us here have been through what you're going through and come out the other side.

Your post sounded to me like you're feeling a bit hopeless at the moment and I just wanted to know if you would feel comfortable sharing a little more about yourself. For instance does anyone in your family know about your phobia or do they just think you have a general anxiety? Have you spoken to a doctor or health professional about how you are feeling? There are lots of options for people with anxiety and plenty of help around so some of us might be able to point you towards something helpful.

I know how bad I felt when my anxiety was at its worst 10 years ago, being your age and not having the right support at the time. I didn't think there was anyone else like me in the whole world and I never thought my life would ever be anything like what "normal" looked like. I got so bad with my anxiety I would stay up all night having panic attacks and I refused to leave the house. I was afraid of leaving home, even just walking to the end of my driveway, as well as being s*. I don't know if this is what you feel but I know for me it was hard because I couldn't tell my friends what was going on and I just felt very isolated once I was out of school even though I got bullied a lot there too.

I want to reassure you that things will get better, not right away necessarily and at times you may need to work hard at overcoming things, but you can recover to a point where it isnt controlling your life anymore. I was the most anxious, nervous person in the world back then. My mother would come on the forum and agree too as she was the one person helping me at the time! But today most people would think I was normal. I go out all the time, I have friends and I managed to go to college and have jobs and boyfriends. I never thought I would be able to do any of those things when I was 13. I thought what I felt then was what I would feel forever and I couldnt imagine my life being any other way.

I think it was brave of you to come here and start a thread and want to encourage you that you can get through this. I hope you are feeling a bit better and look forward to getting to know you on the forums. If you ever want to message me on here feel free ok.