Private Anxiety?

[ChrisC]

Does anyone else have Anxiety and related problems "Social Phobia" in private so to speak.

What I mean by this is, even though I have suffered with all of this for years and years, apart from my GP (doctor) nobody at all knows about it, as I decided long ago to keep it a secret.

Not even my parents, and I still live with them!

 

[redlady]

Apart from my family, Dr. and therapist noone knows. Oh wait there - i told a friend once, only because he was older and mature and i knew i wouldn't get any judgement from him - which i didn't. Also i was sure he wasn't someone who would use it against me in anyway. I tend to think like that. I don't like to appear weak in front of other people - giving them 'ammunition' against me so to speak.

 

[countrybumpkin]

Yep , I'm with ya there . Until I joined this site (and another one) , I never even fully admitted to myself that I had it. Maybe I convinced myself if I didn't admit it , it would eventually go away or something , I don't know. I was raised to never show emotion or weakness in front of others , so..... Makes for hard work fighting this thing and trying to hide it's very existance from them and yourself at the same time .

 

[Jack7]

I've told people I considered friends, and now they treat me pretty badly, bullying me to a lesser extent. I've been considering leaving University because of it. Other people I've told have treated me like I have a majorly dangerous problem, like I'm a psychopath or something. It's best to only tell people that you KNOW aren't going to judge you badly for it.

 

[Nightshade]

The problems I have I keep pretty private. Over the years I've created a situation where fewer and fewer people are aware that I have had problems in the past, and fewer still realise that they are still partly there under the surface. My mother, my GP and the psychologist who treated me for a few months recently all have a reasonably good picture of it (ie what my diagnosed problems are, how they have been treated etc). Some of my friends know some of it. I've managed to hide it from most of my family, flatmates, work colleagues and most of the people I socialise with. People who have known me a long a time must wonder why they have never heard of me having a boyfriend but I'm not sure they would guess the reason.

Sometimes it feels weird. I have felt quite competent at work over the last few years, and sometimes I think about what is written on my medical file and wonder how it could be the same person and maybe it is all a mistake and I'm perfectly "normal".

Yeah, right.

 

[ChrisC]

Thanks for all of the replies people, it's kind of nice to know that I'm not the only one who keeps this a secret.