Newbie

[lulubella]

Hi everyone...

I'm Lisa. Nice to meet you all.

I've allways known that I've been an anxious person, but. I've only recently realised just how much of an impact it is having on my life. It is almost a horrible sense of awareness. I've joined this group to meet new people, share experiences with others and hopefully get a grip of this disruptive disorder.

I feel incredibly uncomfortable in social/work situations now, even meeting up with old friends. I find maintaining conversations and even small talk very difficult and will avoid it all costs. I'm allways scared of saying something stupid, or being percieved as boring so I normally end up saying nothing at all. If I talk though, I usually end up stuttering and not making sense. I try to shift the focus the conversation on the other person to avoid talking about myself. The few friends I have down here are starting to realise that I am a wierdo, so they are generally avoiding me! It is also having a severe impact on my relationships with my family.


 

[WaveyDL]

Welcome to the forum 

You are not alone. What your feeling is the same as most of us are feeling and we're all weirdos here 

I for one can relate almost exactly to what you have said and can only recommend coming along to one of the meets as this has helped me more than anything else.

Hope we see you there soon. It's not nearly as scary as you think. You can sit there and say nothing and no one will judge you.

David

[Noisy]

Hi Lisa, Welcome to the forum.

I too can relate to what you're saying. Whenever I'm around people at the moment there's a constant chatter in my head that seemingly prevents me from being spontaneous and natural.... well, it sure feels like that anyway as I trip over my words. For me, this comes and goes and isn't always directly tied to the social situation at hand. I mean, if I feel generally confident then socialising becomes so much easier. Having said that, people have commented that I seem confident so maybe we can hide it well.

It would be great to see at one of our meets whenever you feel ready. I find it good to socialise in a less pressurised environment where we can be very open about our problems.

Best wishes,
Martin. 

[lulubella]

Thanks guys. 

Allways good to hear that I'm not alone. I'm planning on coming along to the meet on Wednesday.

[Dreaming]

hi lisa, you sound so much like me!! i'm exactly the same im always worried the second i open my mouth people around me will either be like omg dull or errrrrr weirdo! hope to meet you on wednesday

mia

[Alexandra]

Hey hey! Welcome, and hope to see you Wednesday. The meets are great

[lulubella]

Hello All.

Its almost been a year on since my first post here... and now I'm back on the site again. :S

Things gradually improved... but now they've got worse again. I'm becoming more and more reclusive and it is so destructive. Its even effecting my relationships with my family. My Mum was diagnosed with Cancer in December and I need to focus on being positive for her but I can't escape this cycle of anxiety. Thus feeding the guilt for feeling this way, and making things worse. I'm getting out of practice with social situations, making conversations very difficult, plus I have lack things to talk about, because all I can focus on is how anxious I'm feeling. :-S. Hopes of salvaging any kind of career and any close relationships with other people are slowly fading away.. Argh! I'm going to see the doctor in a couple of weeks, I hope to avoid going on meds.

I attempted to make a meet last year at the time of the post, but I didn't even manage to make it.. I walked in and walked straight back out again. I'm going to try and make it for next Wednesday as I'm needing support from others who understand what I'm going through... and also help me to see a funny side!

[Capricorn]

Hi Lulubella, I truly sympathise with how you are feeling and the vicious circle anxiety creates. It's catch 22, the anxiety creates such a lot of fear in being able to face people, situations so you hide away, but then this creates even more anxiety as you batter yourself for not doing all the things you feel you could be doing.

I find some days worse then others, some days it's an effort to even get out of bed. I do take medication which kind of stabilizes my OCD, anxiety etc., and after I have recovered from an operation next month am going to start therapy; which I hope will help.

I do hope you can make the meet next week, everyone there is extremely supportive and understand all what you are going through. It helps to know there are people around you can be yourself with.  I send you my best wishes...Eli.