Hello from an Aussie Looney.

[Wizard]

Hello Folks,

I am a newbie to this site.. I am a 50 yo male from Adelaide, South Australia.

I've had Social Phobia/Anxiety/Depression for about 30 years. Didn't always know it though.

The social anxiety came out of nowhere in my late teens.

I was a confident (maybe overconfident) kid. Then I just started getting anxious.

Originally I thought it was just embarrassment, but it was more, much more than that.

Doctors couldn't help. Back then "Social Anxiety" was virtually unheard of!

I feared certain situations all my adult life. Missed out on a lot of good fun times because of my problem.

Eventually the anxiety led to depression around 5 years ago. Major clinical depression that put me in a clinic for a couple of months.

I am on Zoloft. 150mg. Whenever I go off it, I crash! It takes a couple of months, but it always happens.

I am resigned to the fact that I will always be on it.. It does work and it does make me happier and enjoy life more.

The problem is after I've been on it for a while, I tend to think I'm okay now. I'll just stop taking it. WRONG!!

So, there you have it.. This was meant to be just an introduction, but I got a bit carried away.Sorry. It's a great forum..

Good luck to all.

John. (Wizard)

 

[garnet]

Hi there Wizard!

Welcome to the forum. Your story shares a common factor with many of us - we were aware that we were 'embarrassed' or 'anxious' but thought that was that. If only we had known about social anxiety sooner!

Not to worry...there's heaps of things we can do to help ourselves and fellow sufferers on this website. Hope you find the forum as useful as I have.

 

[sabbath92002]

Hi Wizard, welcome to SPW!