Agoraphobia & Social Anxiety Support Group
Agoraphobia is an anxiety disorder, often precipitated by the fear of having a panic attack in a setting from which there is no easy means of escape. As a result, sufferers of agoraphobia may avoid public and/or unfamiliar places. In severe cases, the sufferer may become confined to their home, experiencing difficulty traveling from this "safe place."
If I'm being honest with myself...
... I secretly wish I had a friend that thought exactly the way I did so I wouldn't have to explain myself
... I'd rather tell a stranger about my social phobia than my family.
... I became dependent on my boyfriend to handle social situations
... I know deep down that I'm never going to be fully cured and it's something I have to learn to live with
... I am afraid to have children because I might pass this down yet another generation
... sometimes I use my illness as an excuse for things I shouldn't
... I'm afraid of medication so I don't take any
... I sometimes get angry, not that I have social anxiety, but that not everyone else can feel what I feel.
I've learnt to be humble and admit the things I do wrong. If you agree with any of these let me know. I would love to know that I'm not the only one.
... I secretly wish I had a friend that thought exactly the way I did so I wouldn't have to explain myself
... I'd rather tell a stranger about my social phobia than my family.
... I became dependent on my boyfriend to handle social situations
... I know deep down that I'm never going to be fully cured and it's something I have to learn to live with
... I am afraid to have children because I might pass this down yet another generation
... sometimes I use my illness as an excuse for things I shouldn't
... I'm afraid of medication so I don't take any
... I sometimes get angry, not that I have social anxiety, but that not everyone else can feel what I feel.
I've learnt to be humble and admit the things I do wrong. If you agree with any of these let me know. I would love to know that I'm not the only one.
I'm new here too. And would love to make some friends :)
It definitely feels good knowing I'm not alone.
I totally understand the fear of losing all my friends. The thing is when I was at my worst I tended to cling on to whatever strange friend came around because of it. And most of the time these "friends" WOULD leave me. Which really hurt me at the time. But I realize now that I should be a little more careful with who I choose as friends. The ones who try to understand are the ones that stick around.
Being this way is a part of our lives but we can continue to take baby steps to try to get better.
I am afraid to have children too. I have used my illness for an excuse many times.
I was afraid to take medicine at first but the medicine has helped my anxiety so much.
I too have been angry that not everyone feels what I feel.
It's so sad to hear that your mom treats you like that! I don't necessarily like to admit to my family what's going on but at least when I do, I know they will support me the best way they can. I'm so sorry to hear that your mom isn't supportive!
Hope:
Sometimes people need to read up on the subject to get an idea of what we're going through and hope that they just trust that we are doing the absolute best we can. They can empathize but they will never know what's really going on inside of us. And sometimes that's the only way to explain to them how we feel.
Try telling your friends that they are not in a place to give advice. Ask them to just be there and try to empathize. And mostly trust.
Lots of love!!!