Is anyone like me?

[joey9]

Does anyone else share my own 'brand' of anxiety? Basically, I am scared of: making mistakes, getting 'told off', criticism, negative feedback about stuff I have done, being judged. I am not fearful of anything unless it is my fault and I would be responsible. Natural disasters , cancer, health problems don't phase me at all because they are all beyond my control. Having written these things down they don't seem so scarey but I can have RAGING anxiety for weeks if I feel threatened by any of the above. I feel like I kind of need to grow up but I can't seem to so i spend my life trying to avoid these things by being a perfectionist and incredibly well behaved. The only way I find to avoid feeling bad is to become a complete control freak about everything I do but I am not sure this helps in the long term.

Any advice?

[Sociald]

Joey,

Criticism, negative feedback, judgement is a part of every day life.
Its something you can find amongst your family, friends, workplace and society.

However its not always negative, sometimes we are on our guard and have a hard time taking "constructive criticism". I have came along way in my life and if it wasnt for all that feedback and criticism I wouldnt be half the person I am now.

Try to see how you can turn that feeback into something positive! If someone tells me i cant do something, it just pushes me more to prove them "I can do it"...

Not sure if that makes sense.

And relax, no need to be a perfectionist, we are human and meant to make mistakes.......

Good luck on your journey!

[joey9]

Thanks for your reply - In my moments of clarity I can see that logically that makes sense, but in the dark times...And will it always feel SO bad? How do I desensitise to it? Do I have to go around making mistakes and getting told off in order for it not to affect me so badly?

[Sociald]

I dont know your situation, but maybe your taking these personal attacks to personal?

How old are you, and who would be the people giving you these feelings?
Give me a couple examples of one of these criticism or attacks that you feel so that I can better understand your situation!

I have a very strong support group amongst my family, friends etc, that took some time to build and trust.