Fear and anxiety

[Nothingnoted]

My fear and anxiety stopped me from going out in public I think my sister gets really tired of it. My sister has a lot of physical ailments. The problem with me is I can't deal with anybody anymore I find it really hard to go outside of the car and even in the building that I work with and going out to the car for my house is really hard to my my sister told me that her feet hurt and I said I was sorry about that and she said are you sure and I feel bad because but it freaks me out even going out in public anymore

[harrypotter125]

Well anxiety can do that. have you asked your sister? because it sound like you really are trying and it's hard for others to understand so if she is. try to tell her how you feel because you guys sound close and as if you care for eachother so maybe try to tell her.

[Nothingnoted in reply to harrypotter125]

We are close she moved in with me when my mom passed almost 20 years ago She understands to a certain amount. But I don't think she understands mental illness that much but she's trying I know she cares a lot about me and she knows that I struggle but I feel really bad because she has a compromise to immune system and she's usually in a lot of pain unfortunately due to my illness I can't bear to go out in public anymore I can't deal with people anymore

[harrypotter125 in reply to Nothingnoted]

well mental illness isn't your choice so why feel bad?I've been trying to get myself to learn that as well. Have you applied for a mental health thing for work (i don't know what there called ) but if you've gotten this bad then I'd take time off and maybe even do some online counselling. stay in a try to take care of yourself . you'll feel up to it someday

[Nothingnoted in reply to harrypotter125]

I actually exhausted all my vacation time and sick leave to my foot ulcer I wish I could go on short term or long term disab ility or I work at they don't offer that and I'm kind of stuck I back in March i took two weeks off do you due to stress I just wanted to say thank you for the great advice and I wish you the best too, your pal, Gigi

[harrypotter125 in reply to Nothingnoted]

well online counselling is still an option im sorry I couldn't help more

[harrypotter125 in reply to harrypotter125]

seriously if you dont have to then don't go out no one benefits from you worsening your mental health.and have a movie night or homemade pizza night ( the mess is what makes it fun)

[Nothingnoted in reply to harrypotter125]

Thank you🥰

[harrypotter125 in reply to Nothingnoted]

np

[Nothingnoted in reply to harrypotter125]

Thank you, my friend💕💕💕💕💕

[harrypotter125 in reply to Nothingnoted]

your welcome🤗

[designguy]

It sounds like you may be dealing with social anxiety disorder/agoraphobia. Here is my response to a recent post about dealing with social anxiety that you may find helpful:

Realizing that you have it is a good place to start. I had it for years and didn't know what I was really dealing with and once I realized that it was what I had I started getting the kind of help I needed. I suggest finding a therapist that specializes in treating social anxiety and work with them, they may use group and exposure therapy as part of your treatment. There wasn't one near me so I did an online program from thesocialanxietyinstitute.org which helped me although I would have preferred an in person program. The other thing for me was realizing how wrong my beliefs were of how people perceived me, I thought people didn't like me but was astounded to realize the opposite was true, people really did like me and enjoyed being with me and cared about me. I started also going out and doing exposure therapy and getting over being so self-conscious and thinking that people were focusing on me and judging me, none of which was true. People with SA can also suffer from low-self-worth and low-self-esteem and I certainly did so I started learning about how to improve that part of myself. I was also a perfectionist which helped feed the SA so I also started working on healing that part of me. My SA developed from growing up in an emotionally repressive household, being shamed and punished for showing normal emotions like anger or being proud of myself or trying to stand up for myself and I was also bullied in school. So investigating and understanding why and how you developed SA can also help in your healing. I realized that I was also suffering from trauma/c-ptsd and found a therapist that specialized in treating trauma and used emdr as part of the therapy which was very helpful for me. I also found medication to be helpful for me. There is a lot of good info on youtube about social anxiety and c-ptsd therapy and emdr. It is possible to heal and recover from social anxiety if you are willing to do the work but it is definitely worth it.

[Nothingnoted in reply to designguy]

Thank you, Dg. Any therapist is trying to have me think a different way about myself and and how people see me she's saying that I need to go a different way about it and she's trying to help me with it shes pretty good. I just started seeing her a couple of months ago I mean a couple weeks ago and she's doing clay therapy with me now I just wanted to thank you for advice I will go on to YouTube and look up the information that you provided me with I just wanted to say thank you your friend, Gg

[designguy in reply to Nothingnoted]

You're welcome, I hope you find it helpful for you and i'm glad you found a helpful therapist.

[Nothingnoted in reply to designguy]

Thank you kiddo I appreciate it🥰🤗