So I'm not sure if this is even considered anxiety. It's a bit of a long story so bear with me.

I've always gotten really bad homesickness. It started when I was very young (probably 5 or 6). I couldn't even spend the night at my grandma's house because I'd wake up in the middle of the night missing my parents. It was so bad they would always take me back home. It persisted throughout my life, well into my teen years. I'd have a difficult time spending the night at friend's houses, etc. When I turned 18, I moved out of my hometown for college. My homesickness persisted my entire freshman year. I'd never want to go do anything, worried all the time about when I'd see my family again. But it seemed to get better over the last 4 years I've been in college. I learned to become independent. And then it happened.

I recently went back home (to my original home town) to visit my family for the weekend. The moment I dropped my boyfriend off at his house, I had this feeling of despair. I went to my mom's house and I was a mess. I felt so down. My stomach was aching like no other and I even threw up. I couldn't sleep that whole night. Any time I'd start falling asleep, I'd wake up with a terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. I have a feeling it is some kind of separation anxiety from my boyfriend because the moment we saw each other again, I was fine. We have been together for 7 years, living together for 2 years. Of course I have a strong emotional connection to him, he's my person! I have since left home and am living back in my college town. Every time I think about going home, I get this feeling of dread.

I'm 23 years old. I never imaged that I'd feel this way when going home! And I feel SO guilty and embarrassed about it because I WANT to see my mom and family, but not if it means feeling like shit every time. And my guilt and embarrassment only seem to add to my worry. I just don't know what to do. Has anyone had experience with something like this before? I don't know if I should see a doctor or what.

It does sound like a type of anxiety and you should probably see a psychiatrist about it so that they can determine whether or not medication should be involved along with therapy. I'm a long-time sufferer of anxiety myself, and from experience, I can say that it's something you want to deal with as quickly as possible because it's unlikely to get better all by itself.

I've had anxiety for as long as I can remember, from my very first day of school where I cried and made myself sick because I couldn't stand leaving my home/mom up until now where I have GAD, SAD, Panic Disorder, PTSD, and Agoraphobia. It started with just GAD and SAD and I tried to deal with it by myself for a long while until I finally went on medication. Medication helped my GAD to a degree, but my SAD never got better with it. I won't go into my issues in depth unless you're interested, in which case I'd rather PM you, but the best thing you can do for yourself is to confront the issue with treatment as soon as possible.

I'm sorry that you have to deal with so many things. I can't imagine what that's like. Thank you for the advice though, I really appreciate it. Would you say that not dealing with your anxiety at first lead to more problems down the road for you?

It's difficult, but I have a lot of support from my fiance and I'm seeing a cognitive behavioral therapist to address and deal with the issues.

Not dealing with my anxiety was definitely a big part of my problems, although it's not just ignoring it that made it worse, it's more that because I ignored it, situations arose that made it worse. If I had gotten treatment sooner, then those situations wouldn't have been quite as triggering as they were, and I wouldn't have ended up with so many more anxiety issues. It's like if you have a physical wound and you decide to ignore it, but then it ends up getting infected. So not only do you have to deal with the original wound, but you now have to deal with the additional infection and any symptoms it also brings.

I hope that all makes sense, it feels a little rambly.