Reading Comprehension

The passage below describes how the writer, Reena deals with stress in her life

Paragraph 1
Dont lose yourself, the old, bedridden man said. I was five at that time, and my family was visiting him. Honestly, I cant remember how we knew him. But two decades later, this words haunted me as I lay on my bed and struggled to come to terms with my life.

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For years, I had been under a lot of stress. I remember clearly an incident that took place when I was 14. As I walked home from school one day, I was overcome by the urge to sit in a corner and weep. I barely managed to reach my flat before bursting into tears. These overwhelming, unexplained feelings frightened me.

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By the time I was 16, these outbursts were happening more often. Initially, the outbursts happened for no reason, but now everything became a reason-a stern look from a teacher or even a long queue at the canteen stall. It did not matter whether the situations were happy, sad or indifferent, all would be twisted by my mind resulting in an unpleasant feeling.

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One incident I recall vividly was a call from Maria. After a short chat, she said she had to go because her mum was calling her. I spent the next two days feeling terribly upset. Meanwhile, a little voice in my mind kept telling me how incompetent and hopeless I was. Most of the time, I kept everything a secret because I was both scared and confused. The only comfort was that I wrote about all my feelings in my journal.

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Some of my friends were aware of my problems for they tried to talk to me about my difficult domestic life. My father always scolded my two younger sisters and I and my mother did little to support us. I now realize my family problems were a major contributory factor for my high stress level. However, at that time I denied anything was wrong.

Paragraph 6
When I turned 17, I concluded that the only way to stop my suffering was to simply not to feel anything. It was not difficult as I was bogged down with my studies as well as looking after my siblings that I had no time to think, much less feel. The numbness was a huge relief from my mood swings, but soon I felt a great emptiness in my heart. Thus, I forced myself to go out and make new friends.