'if you are someone who doesn’t feel OK right now, please hang in there. The storms will clear...We see you. We need you.' Read more from WatchSavannah on how her own mental health journey impacts her reporting on teens. OpEd
Savannah Sellers is an NBC News NOW anchor, co-host of Stay Tuned on Snapchat and an NBC News correspondent. She is anchoring a new special Teens Under Pressure: Mental Health & Social MediaFrom age 11 to 14, most days began on my knees on cold, hard tile with my head over a toilet. Throwing up was as much a part of my morning routine as brushing my teeth. My body was wracked with so much anxiety before school and the unfortunate reaction was constantly feeling sick.
For a long time, my family and I thought I was “nervous” or “stressed,” but it was more than that. It was undiagnosed anxiety disorder. I had an intense fear of being called on in class. I obsessively checked to make sure I remembered to bring my homework with me, even checking and rechecking my backpack before leaving the house and throughout the day. I worried constantly about saying the right thing to my peers – all people I perceived to be much cooler than me.
Then there were the phobias . The first is the wind. Yes, you read that right … the natural movement of air. It brought on a full panic attack – in fact, it still can, but I have coping mechanisms now. I’m talking heart pounding, palms sweating, body shaking, shallow breathing to the point of needing my inhaler. At least that one has a name: Ancraophobia. The other does not. It’s an irrational fear of things that move in a repetitive motion.
But here’s the thing: at the time, my parents had no idea how bad it was. It would be years before any of this was properly diagnosed, and even longer until I fully understood the extent of my anxiety disorder and the fact that this was with me for life. Part of this was because I didn’t have the words. I wasn’t used to hearing about
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