Severely worried about having Schizophrenia? PLEASE read

Hi there...

I'm new to this forum and sorry if i sound frantic. So...long story short (as short as i can), I've been battling anxiety/panic attacks now for about three months and it's just been exhausting and frustrating. (im a 20 y.o. female). The past two weeks, I haven't experienced any attacks but have felt sooo......soo out of it. I don't feel like myself at ALL. I don't really have any specific thoughts about anything, and sometimes when I'm out with friends, I have to force myself to smile and talk along with the conversation. i also have no desire to go out but force myself to in order to not let the anxiety win. Side note, I was always an extremely social person and that girl who got everyone together. But lately, I feel nothing with my boyfriend, I feel nothing with my friends, I don't want to be with my family, and at night I feel very panicky. After doing stupid self diagnosing online, I recently had a panic attack about having schizophrenia because of the flat affect symptom. I need to know if this is anxiety (depression?) or if it sounds like i'm developing schizophrenia???

Hello:

It sounds to me that you have been overwhelmed with fear at times in the last few months and when we are overwhelmed, experience too much of an emotion, more than we can handle, we automatically dissociate, go numb. It is the body's way to protect itself from perceived danger, something that feels dangerous. Other animals do it, it is genetic and automatic. That explains to me your numbness and can very well be what it is.

What happened a few months ago to trigger all this FEAR? What changed? Think even about small changes, anything different that came to be three months or so ago...?

atina