Finding calm in chaos

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Last year, I couldn’t face school. Every morning, the thought of walking through those gates made my heart race. I’d feel this tightness in my chest, and the idea of being around people, even just for classes, was overwhelming. Some days, I’d pretend to be sick just to stay home, away from the pressure. I felt trapped in my own mind, suffocating under a weight no one could see.

One day, my mam noticed how hard things were for me and suggested I try writing down my thoughts. She said it might help clear my mind. At first, I was skeptical. Writing seemed so strange—like putting all the chaos in my head onto paper. But I downloaded a journal app on my phone, and something shifted. It felt weird at first, but as I wrote, I could feel the noise in my mind start to quiet. The more I wrote, the more I found ways to cope, piece by piece.

It wasn’t an instant fix, but it made facing school and everything else a bit easier. Writing helped me organize my thoughts, understand my feelings, and see things from a different perspective. It didn’t take away the anxiety, but it gave me a way to breathe through it. And now, I know that even on the hardest days, I have a tool to help me cope.