(im in high school) and what exactly is anxiety? And can you get over theses without drugs?

Anyone who can tell U that another person "they have decided" is suffering from Depression and/or Anxiety and thay have NO qualifications/vast knowledge/experience on these Conditions is just plain "Kiddin" U.
Thats a Medical answer my friend, take It whichever way U want to.
I do NOT apologise for saying what I said and for disputing other answerers.
We can read up on Depression/Anxiety and learn a little about both, but to Actually SEE THE SIGNS in someone, U need to have great "vision, insight". Even some doctors need to diagnose carefully when it comes to the Depressive person.
Depression is an illness that in many people is NOT usually recognisable..thats why U often hear of people who commit suicide and U cant figure out why they did it, after IF U knew them, they usually appeared quite normal and even happy.
Anxiety often follows the Depressive person who often also attempts to disguise their Anxiety.
Anxiety by itself (without Depression) is a Physical thing causing signals from a section of the Brain that controls the chemical called Serototin. Serototin levels in the Brain are abnormal..However this in NO way means the subject is abnormal
("mad" for the want of a better laymans word)
ANXIETY sufferers have intense spasms (attacks) of irrational fear.
These attacks will cause several severe "feelings" in many parts of the Body that are ACTUALLY felt by the sufferer, BUT, in REAL Fact
are NOT medically there. The Brain signals to a part/s of the body that "something" is wrong, when in fact, it is NOT.
As an example an ANXIETY SUFFERER may feel a heavy, thick, tight feeling in the middle of the chest (along the Osop.tube) the tube that runs from the throat to the stomach..in THAT area..and think they are suffering a heart attack, Instantly they Panic,I mean instantly, and the breathing goes shallow (hyerventaltion), the heart rate jumps dramically, the blood pressure rises dramically, roof of mouth goes dry, vision may be impaired,go very dizzy,heavy headache, might tremble, shake,can vomit, but not always,feel as if they are going to "cark" it and a lot of other feelings also.(there are Many, Many) Usually the attack may last 10 mins, some last even longer like half hour or all day.
They feel woeful, a strong thought is there that bodily danger has occured when in fact NOTHING at all has occured that is bodily dangerous. BUT, and heres the BUT, the pain, the feelings of tremendous terror are actually felt..in a part/s of the body when they are NOT there at all, as I said above. This is the Nature of Anxiety and the very hard thing for "anyone" to fully understand, let alone the sufferer. U, if witnessing an Anxiety person, may simply think they are having some type of Panic thing, but U wouldnt actually understand It, unless U were aware that the person was an Anxiety sufferer (U had been told prior) Drugs initially must be administered.
Anxiety and Depression can be VERY Long term.
Depression can be controlled with anti depressant drugs.
Sometimes anti depressant drugs may be prescribed for Anxiety suffers also, but may NOT always be successful.
A Psychologist in both cases can be extremely helpful and can be of the greatest assistance to relieving the sufferers to such an extent that the symptoms may almost dissipate, and may only show themselves very seldom..even not for years.
The Person suffering Depression is at greatest risk of suicide and U wont even know it.
Some people may tell U here are certain signs of depression etc. such as being a loner,shy/timid,may even cry easily,..these type of
symptoms may describe anyone or anything.
Depressive people are, Easily Tired, sleep very restlessly,have constant thoughts about Death etc. How would U know to recognise these symptoms?? They are private personal feelings.
ANXIETY affects EVERY part of the Body from the littlest head hair to the smallest toe nail (not kidding). Anxiety, perhaps just a word, but CAN and DOES cause Hair Dandruff, Dermititis,High Blood Pressure, Back Pain, Vertigo,Ear ache, Tricks of vision (u see things that arnt there) can ACTUALLY rot your Teeth (yes, ,it CAN, even though "VERY" hard to believe)..causes itchy feet/legs,causes U to DRY Reach for NO reason at all,Makes to go to the Toilet, even when U dont want to, causes Diarrhea,causes stomach bloating,puts u OFF sex=Oh yes,
makes U angry for No apparent reason, causes U to pick on others around u to be perfect,keeps U subjected to catching common colds/flu/viruses all the time,causes stuffy blocked nose.makes u often feel your going to pass out, but U dont. Need I say More? IF U can think of a "terrible" body feeling, Anxiety will give u , at some time, the feelings of it.

Hope my answer assists U to understand what your Question asks.

i am 15 years old and at 4’11 i weigh 78 pounds.

at 4’11" i think they would try to get you to about 90 lbs. many young teen girls are just naturally very thin, so 78 lbs is not too alarming. I weighed about 85 lbs when i was 15 and i was about your height.

I’m doing a report about it and I need to find a case in which a company got sued for encouraging anorexia (and sending the wrong message to the public).

Thanks for any help!!!

Here are some links that may help (this was the only anorexia lawsuit info I could find, except for lawsuits against drug companies):

http://www.mazielaw.com/article_anorexic_lawsuit.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/09/nyregion/09suit.html?ex=1320728400&en=870627cf3c9afe9b&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland&emc=rss

Also found this:

January 26-28, 2001 — Anorexia as disability. Keri Krissik is suing Stonehill College in Massachusetts "for refusing to let her register on the grounds of her anorexia," in violation, she says, of the Americans with Disabilities Act. "Miss Krissik stands 5-feet-six-inches and weighs less than 100 pounds." ("Anorexia as a disability?", Washington Times (editorial), Jan. 18).

I have severe anxiety and about a month ago my family doc switched my lexapro to prozac. Not a good outcome. I ended up in the ER this past weekend with a panic attack. So I have xanax and lexapro now. I read that xanax causes weight gain and I know lexapro caused a little in me. I am so stressed!

Klonopin maybe, ask your doctor but the generic form is Clonazepam. Its a benzodiazepine just like alprazolam or xanax and my sister used to take it for anxiety related to OCD so im just suggesting you ask about it. I dont think it causes weight gain like xanax is known to.

Say, one is nervous of LOSING excess weight, and eats a lot?
I would say the opposite of Anorexia nervosa, but that sounds stupid.

No, such a thing does not exist. The closest thing I can come up with is called ‘reverse anorexia’ – you see this predominantly in males, especially bodybuilders. It is the pervasive feeling of "not being strong enough" and thus having to consistently work out.

Her death reminded me of Karen Carpenter.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karen_Carpenter#Death

"Brittney Murphy looked emaciated"

http://omg.yahoo.com/news/brittany-murphy-looked-emaciated-at-last-public-appearance/32985

idk, i did not know her personally, but in my opinion i doubt it.
she had "flu-like" symptons before she passed.
oh and i noticed you used "wikipedia" as a source…wikipedia is a LIE.
so fail on that part of your research.

I am a financially stable 20 year old. A little over a month ago, I had an unexplained miscarriage when I was 7 weeks pregnant. My fiance and I want to try and conceive again, but I am scared I will not be able to deal with the constant panic and anxiety. I feel like everytime I go to the bathroom I will be expecting to see blood.

Sorry about your loss. I am sure it is devastating.

If pregnant again, you will most certainly check for blood everytime you go to the washroom, at least for the first trimester. There is no doubt about that (after one miscarriage, my pregnant wife still does even though last pregnancy was a success). After that you can relax. There is nothing that you can do to get around this – still need to be mentally prepare to accept that miscarriage can happen and do everything in your power to reduce risks.

Good luck.

I would like to know in which European countries the rates of Anorexia and Bulimia are the lowest and women have a normal weight, instead of being so skinny.

Thanks for your answers.

it is mostly frequent in the eastern european countries

Many mental health practitioners are promoting the notion that alcohol abuse, drug abuse, over-eating, gambling, anorexia, bulimia and smoking are diseases. By using the disease model, its proponents believe that people are more apt to seek help because having an "illness" is more acceptable than having psychological or behavior disorder. I am reminded of the effects of saying that people with emotional difficulties were "sick," and suffering from a "disease." Psychology and psychiatry moved a long way forward when we listened to Thomas Szasz declare that mental illness was a myth, to Karl Menninger discussing degrees of personality organization, and to Benjamin Rush when he spoke of problems in living. Now it appears we are moving backwards. What will be the next "disease" to appear in the news media?

Premiss: A proposition, or one of several propositions, from which an inference is drawn, or the sentence expressing such a proposition. http://www.ditext.com/runes/p.html

Take your first sentence as an example. It is not a proposition. It is a (hopefully) factual statement of journalism. Premisses are shorter, such as "Socrates is a man." It is then followed by another premise, such as "Men are mortal", or, as the definition states, an inference such as "If Socrates is a man, he should generally look like other men."

You sound as if you are writing opinion pieces for your Journalism 101 courses, not deductive (or inductive) logic. Premises and conclusions deal with deductions and inductions. You don’t make either of those. To say, "Now it appears we are moving backwards," is merely an opinion, not a conclusion that necessarily follows from what came before.

That is a condition of a conclusion: it must follow necessarily, by the rules of logic, from the premises. You are not using logic; you are using journalism.

I feel like I have what people call anxiety. My heart beats really fast when I’m stressed it feels like a freakin hummingbird is in my chest and I get shaky and have trouble breathing at an even pace. I can’t focus and I’m constantly tired. I have trouble sleeping, staying asleep, and fully waking up when I need to. I’m going to go to my doctor and find out for sure but I also want to be sure this is what I have before I bring it to her. What causes anxiety?

I have anxiety issues and they can be caused by many things. What you are experiencing sounds just like what I’ve been through. It isn’t always one thing or another that causes it but can be many things. Medication and therapy have been very helpful for me and I’m sure they would be for you too.

As for sleep issues your doctor should be able to help you with that. Everyone is different and finding ways to fall asleep at night is all about what you find most relaxing and what most helps you quiet your mind from the day.

It’s good you are realizing you have this problem now and are going to do something about it. The sooner the better. Anxiety can have affect you physically if left untreated. Besides headaches and sleep loss, I used to get sick often before getting help for my anxiety because anxiety weighs on your immune system and makes you less able to fight off sickness.

Tell your doctor exactly what you’ve told us here and I’m sure she’ll be able to help you. Good luck!