About
You want to know about me, huh? You may regret that.
In life, everyone has to deal with their own share of adversity—challenges that seemingly no one else has had to face. When facing these challenges, it is easy to believe that it is impossible to overcome these situations.
I am no different.
My story is unique, one in which adversity seems to run rampant.
To start, I dropped out of school in the 6th grade. Yes, I dropped out of school at the start of middle school. Then, following dropping out of school and perhaps part of the reason for dropping out, social anxiety took control of my life. It took such strong control that I was unable to leave my house for many years.
Today, however, I am in college and I am maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
This blog will be my attempt to inspire others, to document my life, my observations, and my insights. Neither fame nor fortune are my motivation; instead, I wish to touch others–perhaps even you.
Please stop back!
Measurement
I have a son who is 12 in 6th grade middle school. He’s a high acheiver in the honors program. He’s a really good student and good kid in general.
This week was his 1st week back from winter break and he is totally freaked out. He doesn’t want to leave my side. he hates school. he’s says that he feels like giving up. I won’t let him stay home but he’s crying hysterically before he leaves for school. the look in his eyes is like a frightened puppy and I’m sending him off to fight the devil.
There’s no bully or anything like that. I believe him. It’s a major anxiety problem….I think. Do you have any advise?
Maria,
I really appreciate you trusting me enough to ask me for my advice. Although I am unsure how helpful I will be, I am hoping that I will be able to provide you with some information that will potentially ease the anxiety in your mind and your son’s.
First, you need to sit down and have a thorough discussion with your son. Pry and pry deep to try to find what the basis of his anxiety might be. I understand that you may not be a psychological professional, but no one knows your son better than you. Anxiety can manifest itself in a variety of ways with a variety of underlying causes; it is possible that you may be able to find those underlying causes and help him come up with a solution.
Perhaps it is anxiety over his grades and his performance, or perhaps he perceives pressure from you or someone else to do well in school. This is not an attempt to point fingers at you or to diagnose his issues, but rather a potential starting point for your discussion.
If none of that works, I would suggest you immediately contact his school’s school psychologist or guidance counselor and see what they suggest. They may be able to refer you to a therapist or someone else that may be able to shed some more light on the situation. Keep in mind, I am not a licensed psychologist; I am merely a person who lived it and dealt with the same anxiety your son is experiencing.
Thank you very much for this blog. I too suffer from anxiety and it has crippled me socially. I’m trying to be better. My driving exam (second time after a first failure) is tomorrow. It’s so weird that I found this blog tonight. I think I was supposed to read this, as weird as that sounds. I feel more confident than I was before I visited here. I hope that means to you that you are accomplishing a small goal of your blog.
Thanks so much for writing about your experiences and safe travels to you in all further ventures,
Joshua
Hey, where did you go? I miss reading the updates on this blog.