overwhelmed and under-qualified (anxiety)

[sam4231]

I'm having a really hard time managing my social anxiety. Its hard to be around people. Even close friends or people i've known since childhood. I've worked hard to try to get around it, but I literally can't do anything anymore. Every time i'm around people my guard is up an I'm tense, and I can get through it but I'm still using 50% of my energy just to fight off an anxiety attack.

I can't afford therapy right now, even the text therapists are way too expensive. I know theres something I have to work through, but I have no idea what it is. It's really to work on my mental health when I have a guard up around even my close friends.

Most of all I just have no idea what I'm doing. It's like i'm trying to build a pyramid of good mental health with a crumpling foundation and no idea about how pyramids work.

[chiara789]

I’m sorry you’re going through this. Social anxiety is terrible. In my experience, social anxiety relates a lot to catastrophizing, which is a common negative way of thinking. If you relate to this, you can google this sort of thing and find techniques or exercises to help you change your way of thinking. (psychcentral.com/lib/what-i...

Since you can’t find a therapist, you can weed through the endless mental health resources online. Of course, there’s a lot of crap out there, but there’s also plenty of legitimate and helpful info.

I hope this helps. Even if you don’t take my suggestions, just know that I feel for you and I’m sending you healing vibes.