New here..

[rosegal7]

hi, I'm new here but I believe in the power of group therapy. So I'm excited to join and hopefully see an improvement in myself. I have suffered from low self-esteem and social anxiety for most of my life. This has gotten worse in my adult life. I've found these issues have negatively impacted my life - my ability to do well in my jobs (and challenge myself instead of settling for underpaid & not great jobs), in my ability to make friends despite my good intentions, and in my ability to do well in school. But I feel comfort in knowing I have a good heart and continue to find optimism & hope in spite of the negative circumstances. My hope is to one day find my tribe & have higher self-esteem. I would love to hear tips from other ppl on here about building their anxiety "toolkit" & things that help them relax

[jessielilymay]

Hey!

Sorry to hear that you too struggle with the symptoms of anxiety and low self esteem. Even though it is incredibly common it is still very personal to you, respectfully so. I love that you strive to see the positives in yourself though even in that small paragraph of introducing yourself! I like to think that I am similar in that sense

I'm only 21 but I've struggled with Anxiety most of the years that I can remember however it has become more apparent as I have learnt to understand it and listen to myself and how I am feeling. I try a few things that work really well for me. Exercise being a big one. I LOVE yoga as well. I think yoga and meditation/mindfullness works really well for relaxation and grounding yourself. I also take 5HTP which is a naturally occuring amino acid, you can buy it as a ''food supplement'' but its suppose to help increase seretonin in the brain and I swear by it. Personally I'm not a huge fan of pescription medication for myself so that stuff is golden. I also read, I know of quite a few books I have read and ones that have been suggested to me that are excellent for those who struggle with anxiety, if you are interested I'm happy to give you the list

All the best,

Jessie

[baretrees]

What you've described sounds exactly like what my son is going through. I'm guessing you really DO have a great heart and are a kind and conscientious person. Why is it that so many of you really great people don't know how great you are? I'm not being flippant, I really just am curious. It's like if you're at all different from the socially accepted "normal" person you are left out. Do you feel different from others? You mention wanting to find your tribe, so I'm guessing you just haven't found the right like-minded group yet. Maybe you can help me help my son. What advice would you give a 19 year old sensitive, caring, intelligent young man who has trouble fitting in and therefore feels bad about himself and has few friends?

It seems like you are really looking for the positives in your life. Keep up with that and know your tribe IS out there somewhere... keep looking.