But! Atleast we have each other to share it with.. From a distance 🙂
You are right Tamara. But it is so hard facing this. Better that agoraphobiatic, this is being under government support... here in my country Philippines, it is not. Better that I am working online. At least, I am not bothering anyone from feeding myself.
My panic attack and agoraphobia started when have this shortness of breathing and back pains. From there, I become agoraphobiatic.
I work only because I have to.
I made it a priority to myself.
But it's really hard.
I work as a cashier but I don't do my job right because I have to interact with people and that causes trouble for me.
I might get fired if I keep not doing well on my weekly evaluations.
It's hard working with such a debilitating disorder.
But, it's better than being on disability.
If I was on disability, I wouldn't have enough money to live.
My mom is on disability and she only makes $580 a month.
She also has to split that between food, bill's and four kids.
Plus, If I claimed a mental disability, they wouldn't let me have control over my own money.
Someone else would have to control my money for me.
I definitely don't like that idea.
So, yeah...
I work because I have to.
I can work but I feel very stressed. I fear the higher powers, I fear talking to them scared if I do something wrong I could get fired. It doesn't help that they usually pick on me.
I feel my social anxiety is much worse than everyone elses.
I feel my social anxiety is very extreme and I possibly have AVPd
I feel nervous and self conscious even while walking down the street. I cant even maintain a job or go to school because im too nervous and uncomfortable
Can u hold a job or attend school? Do u get nervous on buses and trains/
How bad is your social anxiety because im even nervous around freidns and family sometimes that i've known for years
Yes, i can relate to this, i also have severe social anxiety, have done since childhood. I also feel very nervous when walking outside, hate having to walk past people/groups of people. Also get anxious having to walk past traffic on the road and waiting at traffic lights to cross the road. Can't get the thought out of my head that people are looking at me because i look so nervous. Used to get very nervous on buses, have at least made progress with that. My SA is so bad, i find it very difficult to interact with people, it's not that i don't want to though, i just get so stressed. I'm unable to work because of my anxieties although i do a little voluntary work (gardening), only manage this because i hardly need to speak to anyone where i volunteer.
I am being forced to find work only because I keep my issues a secret, for good reasons. No one in my family knows that I struggle with multiple things. I don't drive either because of my issues and you can imagine how that can make getting to where you need to be a bit more difficult despite public transportation and so forth.
For the moment i am recovering from my psychotic break and this will lead time but i guess it would be very difficult for me to get used to work, to normal life.
In some ways, my SA is not too bad. I have worked at the same place for 26 years, but I avoid social settings at work (group lunches) and having to go to meetings makes me so nervous. I have very few close friends at work because I am just so uncomfortable.
I don't drive. I've tried it but it's so nerve-wracking, with people coming at you in all directions, and having to watch all around you. If I lived in a small town, I could do it, but my town is too big.
I do a lot of volunteer work, which is okay, since it is outdoors (horse shows), and I can escape to a solitary spot if I need alone time. I only get really anxious if I'm doing something where people are watching me. I hate knowing that everyone is looking at me. I did get invited to the annual awards banquet (I got an award for a lot of volunteer hours), but I didn't go.
Situations like dinners, weddings, funerals, visiting people in the hospital, parties....I avoid these like crazy. I feel very uncomfortable, and I cry very easily, which makes it worse. Many times, people judge me about this and it only makes me feel worse. :crying:
For a long while I 'couldn't' work, not because of how severe my fears and anxieties were, but because of how I reacted to them. Eventually, I had to step up my game and challenge myself, otherwise you're making it worse and lessening your chances of normalcy.
My boyfriend is in Australia working, and is desperate for me to join him. I thought I'd do so on the one/two year working visa, but all of these jobs are terrifying. Bar work, sales, promotions. The things that sound less scary, fruit picking etc., well I never hear back! What is a socially anxious person supposed to do? He's just out there waiting for me... my anxiety has never made me feel more ashamed...
My SA presents some huge obstacles that get in the way of job success. I am a senior in college finishing a finance/accounting degree and I have been quickly realizing how important social skills are to get a job and be successful in that job. Not having many friends and being awful at making friends makes it very difficult in the business world.
So, I can work, but it is pretty miserable. But I've invested a lot of time and money in school and have done well grade-wise...so that combined with not wanting to be alone or unemployed definitely overrides the part of me that fears going into work.
Definitely makes me wish that I had chose a field of study where relationships were less important to your career.
The anxiety that I'm experiencing (I never say 'my' anxiety as to claim ownership of it) isn't as bad as you describe. I can maintain a job, drive, go shopping, and go pretty much anywhere else in public. In short, I can get out of the house like most other people. However, it doesn't mean I don't experience any anxiety when I do these things. For example, sometimes I feel anxiety at the check-out counter when shopping.
Anxiety sometimes causes me to rub people the wrong way. Like at my job I have right now, a coworker wanted to fight me and then ended up quitting because of how he perceived my stand-offish behavior. I know it's because I just came off cold to him since he was a high-energy, high-social person who was always trying to talk to me and I have been more low-energy and shy. Thus, I wouldn't reciprocate his interest and I came off a little bit unfriendly, but of course he didn't know the truth. I didn't talk to him much simply because I don't know what to say a lot of the time.
Also, sometimes when I make eye contact with people it comes off as hostile or weird because it just makes me uncomfortable. So, because of my behavior, he's not the only one at my job who thinks I'm weird or mean (though I talk a little bit to some people there who think I'm a nice guy). Anxiety causes difficulties, but I have to work. I have to have a job so there's really choice but for me to go to work. I'm glad I have a job that at least forces me to be a little bit social. It's in a restaurant environment. I interviewed for a waiter position at first and I didn't get that because I think my manager obviously saw the lack of social skills or shyness. Might've been too much for me at the time anyway.
I'd definitely agree with what a poster above said about social skills being important for succeeding in your career. Obviously, you can do well without social skills in a job like computer programming, but social skills are a bonus for any job. The more likeable you are to people, the more they want to help you and see you succeed. You have a better chance of promotion, for example. With social anxiety, obviously people tend to not like you as much. And if they don't dislike you, at best they're neutral towards you, meaning they don't have much of an opinion of you other than maybe you're quiet. I'm not saying this is always the case, but oftentimes it is.
Yes, i can relate to this, i also have severe social anxiety, have done since childhood. I also feel very nervous when walking outside, hate having to walk past people/groups of people. Also get anxious having to walk past traffic on the road and waiting at traffic lights to cross the road. Can't get the thought out of my head that people are looking at me because i look so nervous. Used to get very nervous on buses, have at least made progress with that. My SA is so bad, i find it very difficult to interact with people, it's not that i don't want to though, i just get so stressed. I'm unable to work because of my anxieties although i do a little voluntary work (gardening), only manage this because i hardly need to speak to anyone where i volunteer.
U should give medication a shit if you haven't already..I think a benzo addicted life would be better than an anxiety filled life
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