It was coming towards the end of high school when I realised I had anxiety. It was after talking to family members and professionals about how I was feeling that I knew I had this within me. I had my first panic attack when I was 11 years old. I had no idea what was happening to my body and neither did my parents due to no one really talking about mental illness back then. I’ve had many panic attacks since the first one, but that one will always stick out to me. I still remember exactly how terrified I felt during that attack 10 years ago. There were days during middle school and high school when I would feel physically sick at the thought of attending. I missed quite a few days and people did question why I was always ill. In my mind, I just put it down to a sickness bug or flu, it wasn't until later that I found out it was anxiety.