[roses4me]

I remember in primary school, the teachers had 2 group games.

The first had math questions on flashcards: like 2x4 or 5+3.
There was one line of kids against the blackboard and one line of kids against the windows. It was a race between the first kid in each line. If you said the correct answer first, you went to the back of the line and would have to have another question. If you lost, you sat down. The last one standing won.

The second was a geography game. Everyone stood up. The teacher named a country, river, etc. The first kid had to name a place that started with last letter of the teachers word and so on. If you couldn't name a place, you sat down. the last one standing won.

I remember waiting and worrying what letter I would have or in the case of math, going over and over the harder questions in my head... like 12x13.

the crazy thing is that the kids who needed the practice sat down first and could enjoy the 'show' and kids who didn't need the practice kept standing and getting more anxious

I used to go into the atlas and memorize obscure place names beginning with 'a' or 'r' in Europe so I wouldn't feel anxious waiting for my turn. It backfired on me, because I stood longer and eventually ran out of words anyway,

roses

[sundog]

Hi roses. Those games sound really stressful!! I would have been very anxious about them too.

My anxiety started way, way back. I can remember as a very young child not wanting to leave my mother for any reason. As I got a little older this developed into not wanting to go to bed, not wanting to go to school, not wanting to go to other childrens' houses etc. I've had anxiety around going to sleep (not being able to go to sleep) since early childhood. This went on until I was about 13 or 14. Then it got better for quite a while.

[lastyearisblank]

I was an anxious kid too. I lay awake at night a lot. I also believed all kinds of odd stuff, that my school was haunted (by the ghost of Anne Frank). Yeah I was obsessed with Anne Frank, we read her in 4th grade or so, that was probably why! I would try to point out "ghosts" to other people, and got into a group of girls who did a lot of seances and stuff. I got into lots of time outs for it but in my mind it was absolutely 100% real that this dead Flemish girl lived in our suburban town.

[Ambrosa]

I remember in grade 8 so i would of been 12. a boy had said something. I believed him and for days i was anxious and scared. I remember i had a mini panic attack and I told my mum and she said "don't be stupid your to young to have panic attacks". So i took myself off to the doctor and he had said it was a panic attack. Then my mum believed me.

[Cyran0]

I had an ulcer by the third grade. Yup, anxiety since birth as far as I know.

Cyran0

[Xeneon]

I don't remember when it first started but do remember my biggest fear when i was a kid. I wouldn't stay at anybodies house because I afraid that someone would come and hurt my mom. If i did end up staying I worried about the what ifs until my friends and I started playing something fun. I normally got scared in the middle night and started crying so I could go home. If i acturally made it threw the night it was a miracle.

[animasana]

I had problems with class games in grade school as well. I remember standing in front of the class and getting a multiplication problem wrong. I felt like my world just imploded and my face was on fire.

A few years later, we had a class spelling bee. The winner was to go on to the school wide spelling bee. It came down to me and one other person in the class. The idea of getting up in front of the entire school and spelling words scared me so much that I purposely misspelled a word so I wouldn't have to advance to the next level. It was the word "please". I spelled it with two e's. My teacher later spoke to me in private, stating that she thought that was out of the norm because I was the best speller in the class. I just told her I wasn't thinking right and it was just a mistake... haha, the rest is history I guess.

[BatsAndButterflies]

When this was first posted I started thinking about it and really couldn't remember a time without anxiety... Today, however, I think I remembered when it started becoming a more constant rather than a situational thing.

I have this dog, and in middle school, we found another dog. The second was a black lab. One day it was really really hot outside and I came home and my mother asked if I had seen Hunter today. I told her I had been in and out of the house a few times, but didn't really look over there and then I was like "Why? Is he dead?". Then she said yes. I freaked out rand into the house and started crying.

My other dog is very excitable. She had to be kept on a leash and in the fence or she would get out and run all over the place. Especially during storms. She almost hung herself a few times. This led to me having anxiety any time it was sunny, stormy, or anywhere in between combined with a fear of death. I think this on top of a constant worry that I was going to be in trouble for something led to my current anxiety.

[arcangel]

Some mild to moderate separation anxiety as a child. The serious anxiety began when I was about 17.

[disguise123]

i think i must have been about 4 years old

[HappyInMisery]

I remember vivid events from early childhood, as early as 2 years of age. It only progressed from there, and became all buy uncontrolable by age 18. almost 13 years later, various meds and doctors and therapists have put a dent in it, but I still feel stuck on a hamster wheel.

[Dani]

I don't really remember exactly when it started because when I was a teen, I mainly suffered from depression with a little bit of anxiety, but I didn't really recognize the anxiety because I didn't know anything about it. But when I was 21, I started having a lot of anxiety that turned into panic attacks when I was around people, so I stayed home a lot, and then the anxiety got worse and I would have panic attacks if I left my house or got in the car. It wasn't until I was 28 when I finally sought help for the anxiety and it has decreased immensely.

[Chefguy]

I second Dani's post, fits to a T

[with or without you]

Hiding behind my mom everyday when she would take me into Pre-K (I was 4.) That's when it started.

[rjdaws]

There are a few times I remember having panic attacks, each happening when I was 9. I don't know what happened before that to trigger the attacks. But I've always been anxious and afraid of socializing. I was one of those kids who clung to her mom's leg. I had to have her by my side at all times. I was always just described as a shy kid so no one really thought anything more of it.

[kaliope]

When I was 5 or 6. I remember lying very still in bed, not wanting to breathe, lying very close to the wall, hoping to slip away in the crack between the wall and the bed worried that my dad would come in and I would be beat. I would pray to dissappear. The anxiety would keep me up for hours. I also worried about being "found out". The priest would come over for dinner and I would just make myself sick with worry that he would discover we werent really a good family like we pretended to be. I had the same feeling when the photographer came to take the family picture. He was going to know we were faking it.

[saphirrain]

I was about 4-5 years old. My earliest memories are of sitting on the porch obsessing about all the ways my parents could have been killed if they were even 5-minutes late getting home.

[His_FriskyBrat]

For me when I remember anxiety becoming a problem was during my first divorce. I felt as if I had everything and then the rug got jerked out from beneath me. My physical/mental reactions were quite involuntary. I remember telling my boss that I felt like I had "lost it". I didn't know anything about anxiety disorders at the time but 8 years later during a second divorce I sought counseling do to suggestion from my then boss. I was diagnosed with mod. Depression and Severe GAD. I also have HTN and ITP ( idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura).

My second husband has an anger management problem and OCD. Do to his childhood abuse he has a volatile temper and yells and throws things, as well as , road rage. I have a general anxiety that permeates every facet of my life. Its debilitating. Previous employers have accused me of being on drugs related to symptoms of GAD.

[jofomodosho]

For as long as I can remember daily tasks such as not being able to find my sock made me extreemly anxious. my reactions to things have always been extreame. I have very early childhood memories of panicing when my mum left me or was drunk or her shouting. one of my worst fears would have to be people being angry. my anixity has gotton worse i recent years.

[madisgram]

as far back as i can remember, about age 5.

[siljie]

I guess I'm naturally an extremely paranoid and careful person so when one thing makes me uneasy or nervous or something goes wrong, it all kicks in. So I'd have to say since...forever?

[suicidalparanoia]

It started in early childhood, as far as I can remember. It got worse with time, though.

[gatorgirl1980]

I remember when I was very young always having stomach aches. The doctor told my mother to give me "tums." I was about 6 or 7 at the time. I remember not wanting to go to school at that age and my parents fighting a lot.

[Kashia]

this is a good post question . I thought my anxiety was related to a situation but as I look back maybe it has been going on in milder form until something made it surface.

I remember starting kindergarten- I was so freaked out at my mother leaving me, but to young, or I blocked it out. I just remember feeling so afraid and abandoned crying in hall
hoping someone would save me< that never happened :-)

[LittleForgetMeNot]

I don't remember to be honest. I remember when I finally accepted that I had it, and that was a few months ago. I didn't realize that I've had anxiety for a long time until then. The earliest form of anxiety I can remember is having odd dreams/thoughts. I never used to feel nervous but I remember a particular night when I was maybe 5 years old where I felt like my insides were going faster than I could possibly go and it felt like voices inside my brain (not outside real voices) were screaming at me to go faster and faster and faster, and when I shut my eyes all I could see were shapeless colours flying by really fast. From this, and being awake, I was scared out of my mind. I wasn't consoled either, just told to shut up and go back to bed. I called those things nightmares and I've had three in my entire life, and they are extremely scary.. Though nothing about them is particularly frightening?

I know I had separation anxiety, and my personality in general has always been worried if we are aloud to do things or if it's okay or if we're safe and what not. I was always scared of being alone, and being in trouble.