15 year old with Panic attacks..

Hello,
My name is Kaity, and I am 15. When I was 11, I was physically assaulted and that stalked by a fellow 11 year old. Because of these events, I acquired PTSD. The kid continued to harrass me up until 6th grade. Then finally, he got kicked out for another reason. I thought he was out of my life, until last year, he came back. Now I suffer from very bad panic attacks, and I don't know what to do. Now that I am in high school, it's really hard to get the support that I need. People think that I should have outgrown it, opr "gotten over" it. I try so hard not to have them, but I still do. I get laughed at a lot by the kid's friends, and he still continues to stalk me. I have tried to make plans with the school, and they don't work. Please if anyone has any advice tell me! :(

Kaity,

Have you spoken to your parents about this?
Do you go to the same school now as the kid who physically hurt you?
If so, is he still taunting you?

If he is still threatening you, then it would be quite normal to feel panicked

Hello!
Yes, my parents are well aware of the situation, they are trying their best legally to get things straight. Yes, the kid that hurt me goes to my school, I switched to private school in 7th grade, but then he left so I came back. And yes, he still taunts me. Everytime I see him. It is really freaky. Thanks for the reply!

In your case it's so that I find you're very strong, not that you need to be, but you are.

I see a difference between what I read so far here, and your situation. It is that your fears are not irrational, but that you'd almost think it's normal that you respond the way you do, since it seems and feels a direct threat.

Still for you this is a realization process, because although this gets close to a physical level, you CAN develop self-confidence that this person is not to be feared as much as you now do. You can get ideas of how to feel less problematic with it, and you can make this more bareable by feeling more sure yourself.

You alarm level in relation to him, is now very sensitive. I am not saying that violence is any answer, but it MAY help if you get yourself on a course of self-defence, where the knowledge that you are physically capable to do the appropriate thing if you had to, will give you less reason to worry, and dropping the anxiety habit and level to something that feels more comfortable for you.

If I may say so, you are as I see it, very capable and then I didn't mention intelligent yet. The reason and motivation behind me saying so, is that in fact almost any person is very capable if they only want to, but with you I sense that it's right at the surface. Apart from that, your English is impressive, as far as I can see being a non-native 'typer' ;)

Also you might want to seek diversion, a way that makes you focus less on this issue. Not by ignoring any reality, but by cancelling out any excessive awareness and internalisation. What I might also be able to tell you, is that a panic attack is fear of fear. This may sound odd, and in fact it's not that I got this on the first reading either. I'm only trying to maybe help you seperate the REAL threats from the fears you built up.

Hope this helps. You can always contact me if you like, the MSN info and so forth is, I believe, below this message.

Hello Peter!
Thank you very much for the reply. And yes, lol, I am in all Honors classes at the high school. I haven't really heard it in that perception yet, but it really does make sense. The only problem is, I am in counseling, but the progress that I am making is so slow, and they are wondering how long it will take me, so I was looking up useful ways to speed up the process! Thank you very much for helping me understand more!

Very good advice!

Deefinitely get into some self defense course to build your confidence. Would most likely help and ensure that the panic didn't become habit forming.