hello, I am a 16 year old boy. This is my story, I have suffered on and off for 2 years with different issues and never created an account on any websites/forums but I am starting to look for answers and im tired of trying to relate to other people's posts when some things just aren't the same (it's quite long so please do read). I experimented with legal highs two years ago and it left me with mild anxiety and derealization/depersonalisation, this stayed for about 2 months before SORT OF disappearing, I still knew it was present however I was no longer scared of it and for the most part It had no negative aftect on my life, that is until February of last year when I was around friends smoking it however I didn't smoke any myself and I got a flashback, in other words I thought I was on the drug again.. this causes me a lot of distress as it had been a year and I hadn't taken anything yet I felt as though I was under the influence of the drug, this flashback occurred about 2 times before subsiding and I was back happy as Larry again, no anxiety, no dp/dr.. I remained like this for just about 11 months until another flashback occurred, this time it was in an alley talking to a friend describe his experiences while on the drug (possible set off? please let me know what u think) however I was better equipped to deal with it and it gave me not so much bother, now this is where things get sorta bad.. it was one night in March and I was lying in bed and started getting deep in thought.. I thought about life, who I am etc and this frightened me to the point I was questioning who I am blah blah blah typical Dr/Dp stuff.. ever since then I have suffered with derealization and depersonalisation all the time, I feel as if there's something stopping me connecting to the world, it's much definitely worse outside and in the house im relatively came but I have had trouble sleeping at night ever since.. i feel nervous at night due to the incident which freaked me out, I try to minimise the chance of the same thing happening again my limiting thoughts however I still feel anxious upon falling asleep and this has caused me to have serious sleeping issues (not getting enough sleep) I do sleep every night but Its like I have to wait until I can physically no longer stay awake because of I try to sleep before this stage my mind will run and I'll begin to feel nervous. now I was just beginning to cope with this until 2 days ago.. I was playing a football match and before the match I got a flashback (it startled me but I had got them before and knew it would pass so I got on with it) just after half time I began to fill dizzy which brought on panic all over my body, heart palpitations started and I really didn't feel good at all, this state of panic persisted to the point where I went to the out of hours surgery after the match, I had an ecg/ekg done the next morning at my doctors which showed slightly long QT intervals, I was referred to A&E due to the fact I was feeling dizzy and had been having heart palpitations, here I had another ecg, an x-Ray and blood tests. the next ecg came up fine, the previous ecg, performed by the doctor, was deemed 'normal' by the cardiac consultant, my bloods were also fine also and I was discharged. since being discharged I have felt very anxious and dizzy (I had several panic attacks in hospital, however im new to this whole panic attack business so im not sure if it was a full blown one but I started panicking, felt scared, felt light headed, felt anxious, overwhelmed etc) anyhow like I said the dizziness and anxiety has persisted and I don't know what's wrong with me, I also have strong pulses in my temples and they are quite tight but no pain present. btw I thought I was going to die during my match and I kept picturing myself collapsing and kept thinking of stories of sports players collapsing on the pitch etc.. this ale out of nowhere and its left me questioning my health, I thought the derealization and depersonalisation was bad enough but now I'm feeling anxious half of the time, I feel extremely panicky when outside, I feel very faint and I just don't know what's wrong with me, will someone please give their thoughts on my situation. I'm just scared really, I keep saying my prayers, that's what my mum told me to do. I'm scared to play football again out of fear Incase the same thing repeats itself, I went to watch my brothers game tonight and I was on edge the whole time, nervous, just not right really. I play football twice a week btw and this has never happened before. is this classic anxiety? if so what caused it? why am I able to feel fine for months at a time then it returns? how long will I remain ancious for? how do I manage the anxiety? btw I would just like to say thank u in advance to anyone who reads this and replies, I think it's great that websites are available for those going through rough times. although being a Google doctor is probably making me worse this whole situation is making me appreciate life more but I'm only 16 with exams coming up very soon and I just want to feel normal again, or at least, get rid of this anxiety and focus on the Dp/Dr after, it should also be noted that I had derealization/depersonalisation every minute of my hopsital visit, could this be a defense mechanism to feeling anxious and scared? any opinions and answers are welcome, thank you