Panic Attacks I Hate Them

[Deleted member 1860]

The disability laws in the USA allow for reasonable accommodations....if your doctor says you need time alone to calm down, you are entitled to it by law. Your school may not know this as you're in the 8th grade, but yes, it is law that schools must provide accommodations for those who are disabled. (As in, they may not know the extent to which they must provide accommodations.) It doesn't matter what grade you are in. I know that every college in the USA must make accommodations for students under the disabilities act. If a school doesn't make accommodations for a student, they are breaking the law. And in your case, simply asking for a time out is in no way, shape, or form an unreasonable request.

We can't ask for unreasonable things, like the ability to skip every class, but a time out is definitely something that the school/instructor can give us, and in most cases, it doesn't interfere with the rest of the class (or even the instructor).

I know it is really hard to ask for these things. I know it is probably going to be hard to even walk out of class because everyone is going to look at you. But for me, the alternative, having an episode in class, is a heck of a lot worse. A few weeks ago I walked into class only to have a DUH! moment when I realized what the topic of the day was (reproduction) only to walk out 5 minutes later when I felt myself zoning out. I didn't go back to that class at all because I knew I couldn't handle the topic and had a final just a few hours later.

The other thing is that its oftentimes easier for me to take a break and divert from the worst of it rather than to try and force myself through the moment. I can remove myself from the situation and calm down, and when I come back, I am able to function better than if I white knuckled through it all and stayed put.

 

[Nicole0317]

You see about the kids worrying about their own issues well in one class I have had quite a few panic attacks in and the kids in that class only seem to care about the other kids issues for example the kid behind me sleeps all day during school everyday and they always mess with him about sleeping in class and I always ask the question why in the world are you so interested or fascinated with sleeping habits plus they don't know is living or home situation which could totally be the reason y he sleeps at school and I ask them why do you care about his issues or whatever and they say well if he gets to sleep in class or leave class skip class etc... Then I want to know why so I can do it to or becashe they don't have their own issues and I mean a partial reason why I have panic attacks so much in that class is because okay well this is kind of confusing to explain but basically in the last one or two months we have had like what 14 lockers/water fountains replaced from kids punching them when they got mad or angry at a teacher and for some reason that always happens during that class period and I can't stand random loud noises and then you and the kid that sits in front of me who knows nothing about personal space boundaries so Point of all that is the kids at my school really don't seem to care about there own lives only others and trust me I know it's none of their business but still dosen't mean they won't ask

 

[joeylittle]

@Nicole0317, are you in a situation where you could maybe home-school the rest of the year? Or just do the end of year testing and be done with 8th grade?

It's hard to juggle school and therapy. But if home isn't a safe place for you, have you thought about doing some time in a residential program for young women like you?

 

[Nicole0317]

Well first of all my home is the safest place I know just for the record. And I couldn't do home school my mom isn't really qualified to be a teacher and my dad in an engineer and I really would rather not do home school I just wish the kids at my school were less of idiots and the panic attacks would be less often and it dosen't help when I walk into class and we're talking about a specific topic and I'm like crap this is gonna suck basically knowing I'm going to have a panic attack but that dosen't happen to often

 

[joeylittle]

I'm glad your home is safe for you.

And I also just want to say that my answer to having my world fall down when I was 13 was basically 'I'm gonna pretend this didn't happen and also drop out of everything'. So whether you know it or not, just the fact that you are trying to solve this school thing, and go to therapy - it's massive, and you are a superstar.

About handling the nosy classmates - well, you can go with something like "I've got a medical condition that causes me to suddenly breathe too fast and get dizzy. When it happens I need to leave until it passes."

Or, something like "I'm sick and sometimes need to leave"

Or, the straight up "I have panic attacks".

Your age group is a tough one. No boundaries, really, and can be mean. But what you are dealing with is big, and it's ok to put yourself first.

 

[Nicole0317]

Yea there is no way I'm going to tell even one person anything about panic attacks or disease etc.... Or the whole school will know by next class period no joke and people at my school are terrible I mean I know kids who have cut themselves because of kids at school there have been kids who have done even worse for example one girl was being bullied at school I don't remember why but she got so mad about it she tried to burn down the school but she only burned a bathroom thankfully anyways back to the point no way and I have about gave up on everything I used in enjoy even though I can't do half of it right know due to the fact I just recently had lateral ligament reconstructive surgery on my ankle and I have been pretending nothing happened for 8years and that didn't work and when it continued to get worse I finally sort of said something. And I think it's gonna take a while for therapy to actually start helping because I'm still going in what I like to call a down spiral when comes to panic attack nightmare flashbacks and everything else that come with this.

@joeylittle

 

[joeylittle]

School is brutal sometimes. It sounds really tough.

Even talking about this stuff, or writing like you are here, can take some of the inner pressure off and make things a little easier. Doesn't fix things, but helps it not be as bad as it would be without ever talking or sharing. And that counts for things like panic attacks and school, as well as for the bigger things that cause those problems in the first place.

One foot in front of the other, one day at a time.