Hello :)

I haven't used Reddit much. But I was looking through this sub, and was reminded of where I was when at my worst. Don't really like to talk about myself, but maybe a little bit can help someone else. Warning for discussion of panic attacks.

I'm Non. I was diagnosed with GAD when I was 10. Struggled really badly with intense agoraphobia and panic attacks, completely out of nowhere. A lot of therapy got me over the agoraphobia, but my disorder would latch onto new things every time I got over something else. My parents had to drag me through the school gates screaming.

I got better for a bit with lots more therapy; made it through last year of primary and first year of high school with only a few hiccups. Then it got really bad again, and I moved to online schooling. Started taking 100mg of Sertraline every day. Diagnosed with depression. The two years in online schooling weren't great. Lost contact with friends, didn't go out much. But that, with help from the medication, let me get better. I went back to mainstream schooling last year.

I'm close to graduating now. I struggled to talk to people a bit, but now I have a wonderful group of really close friends. Down to 50mg, up to 90% attendance, and getting damn good grades, even if the isolation of online schooling has left me a little socially wonky.

I haven't had a panic attack since late 2017. I made it through the worst of Australia's Covid episodes without getting worse again. I'm not 'cured'; coming off meds fully will be a long and difficult process that might not work for me, and I still get anxious. I still see my psych. But I never even thought I'd live to see my last year of high school.

I'm really happy right now. I promise you, it hurts less eventually, even if it never fully goes away. Maybe we can't be 'normal', but by god, we *can* be happy.