Sorry you are feeling so bad lately, Opal. :sad:
It is kind of pointless for me to say "hang in there" as I can totally relate to what you are experiencing and I know that can inspire a "well damn, I don't know how much longer I am able to hang in there, it has been sooooo long already". :sad:
That makes my blood boil to hear that your sister has work colleagues that treat her anxiety so ignorantly. I put up with 2 bosses like that for 2 years and it nearly killed me. Keep an eye on her, that can potentially make your sister end up in a really dangerous head space. :sad:
She actually quit the same day they treated her that way. I say, good for her. I would too. No one should ever EVER stand for being degraded.
I appreciate the response Blue, thank you. I hope you are feeling well yourself?
^ I used describe a similar feeling as coughing up a blind pain. An agony and sadness beyond articulation. Once I curled up under my desk for an hour or two, I couldn't even stand up. I haven't had any episodes as bad as that like that for over ten years now.
Yeah, unfortunately I have had a LOT of those experiences over the last six years, more than I'd like to admit. And later when I feel a little better I feel ashamed for having felt that way because it seems so weak in retrospect, so emotionally unstable and it makes me sick. I'm not always like that, though - it comes and goes in waves. It's good you haven't experienced that for such a long time. It's one of the most awful feelings in the world.
Similar to you going under your desk, in high school I once locked myself in a bathroom stall for several hours while on a weekend trip for honors students because I was so depressed and ashamed of being unable to hang out with them, even though they offered to include me. They did it out of pity and that was the worst realization and I hated myself the entire weekend. Nightmare.
You have a great way of expressing yourself and such powerful emotions through words. Not dramatic at all, eloquent more would be the proper word.
That's horrible about your sister. I am sorry. I saw a great commercial about getting people to be more kind to people with issues of anxiety so I do think there is some sort of "movement" to help society. I wish it would have happened yrs ago and with more force though. So many people have suffered like she is going through, needlessly. It's a shame...shame on society, a bunch of ignorant tools with no empathy.:thumbdown:
Do you think people are really beginning to understand, though? I hope so. I think I have heard people talk more openly about anxiety in general but it can be hard to notice changes when they're subtle or small. People seem to be much more sympathetic to depression now, but then not everyone is of course, so if we're just beginning with anxiety - especially social anxiety - we have a looooooong way to go.
Graybeard, you simply can not leave us, I won't allow it! :ironicsmile: 
