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Topic Terrified 

Question

To Sam 

17/01/2011 10:23pm 

Terrified 

I'm a fifteen year old girl, who is feeling VERY messed up.

Ive been having really weird things happen to me for I guess a few months. Firstly, I struggle with sleep. I could be tired to the point of tears, yet as soon as I get to bed I find it imposible to sleep. Or, I have really vivid, and strange nightmares. Or, I sleep, but wake after a few hours, tired, but unable to go back to sleep.

Secondly, I am very irritable a lot of the time. I snap at the tiniest thing (my dad has a cold, he coughs... I shout at him). Its really out of character for me as Im normally a very calm person.

I also find it hard to concentrate. I had a spanish spelling test last week. I knew all my words, yet as soon as the time started my mind went blank. The same has happened in maths, science and history.

Also, recently, I've foudn myself seeing and hearing things. Like, I was in my room, and saw spiders on my wall. I turned to look directly at it and saw nothing, I turned round and saw them scuttle off, but there was nothing there. I also heard voices behind me at school on the stairs, I turned round to a deserted staircase.

Finally, I have extreme mood swings. When I say extreme, I mean extreme. I can go from on top of the world, to suicidal and back in the space of 30 minutes. This is really scaring me as there so random and so extreme. Like, I can be sat and feel fine then its like a switch is flicked and I'm thinking of ways to hurt myself. Then another switch is flicked and I'm ecsatic.

I tried talking to my friends, but they all  brushed it off as 'normal ... for you' but I know this ISNT normal. I talked to my mentor and she's arranged for me to see the school nurse, I havent seen the nurse yet but my mentor thinks its just 'teenage hormones'.

Im really confused, and really scared. I think I'm going mad. I just wish someone would listen to me; without brushing everything off as 'hormones'.

Sam's answer

Sam 

28/01/2011 5:08pm 

Hi there

Thank you for your letter and for sharing your experiences with me. You have described experiencing some things that don’t seem to make any sense to you at all, so it is not surprising that you feel scared, confused, and very messed up. It can also feel that no-one else really understands what you are going through, and you can end up not knowing who can help. It sounds like mentor has tried to help, but blaming it on teenage hormones seems to have left you feeling as if she has just brushed it off as if it isn’t that serious.

Your mentor did give you some good advice, to see the school nurse, because nurses are medically qualified and trained to recognise all types of problems, and will know what to do next. It is possible to help you get rid of all those scary thoughts and feelings.

You have also described finding it impossible to sleep, and lack of sleep could be linked to some of the things you have described. Worrying about not sleeping when you go to bed can actually make it harder to fall asleep. Listening to quiet relaxing music can help to calm down the mind, and also distract you from unpleasant thoughts, and avoiding stimulating activities and drinks (for example drinks with caffeine) before you go to bed can also help.

If you find yourself feeling really scared in the middle of the night, it might help to remember that ChildLine is open all through the night every night of the week, and you can call free on 0800 1111.

I hope this helps, take care

Sam

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