Hi all.

I just want to take a moment to share my horrible experience in case it might be of assistance to other suffers of what has commonly been labeled social anxiety. First just a bit of background about me. I was diagnosed as suffering from social anxiety during my first year of Uni. about eight years ago now. My symptoms included feeling extremely stressed out for no apparent reason and the increase of these symptoms during social contact and also during intensive study. I have a theory regarding what happened which has proven to be correct and has resulted in me overcoming a lot of my symptoms during the last six months. Social anxiety for me was just the symptom of a deeper problem. The root cause of my stress was if you will believe it my personal environment or more specifically my toxic carpeting! I had been diagnosed with severe dust mite allergy and also suffered from significant sleep apnea during this period. I had a tonsillectomy about a year ago and the sleep apnea symptoms improved dramatically, my specialist commented that my tonsils were much enlarged, which was interfering with my breathing. I was thinking of why my palatine tonsils would be so enlarged and why would my body be sabotaging itself. It occurred to me that my body was just trying to protect itself from the toxic effects of a high concentration of dust mites and their dander and god knows what else!

It needs to be also mentioned at this point that pervious to my tonsillectomy I had a year before a nasal septoplasty which finally allowed me to smell my environment. Before i had a deviated septum and nasal polyps as well as suffering from sinus problems! . It is no wonder that I couldn’t smell my toxic personal environment. Coming to the conclusion once I had the carpet removed and sleep apnea sorted (I wouldn’t recommend tonsillectomy btw its probably better to find out what causes enlarged tonsils and deal with that, then usually the tonsils will reduce in size) my symptoms improved dramatically!!! .I can wake up in the morning now whereas before I used to struggle waking up before 11am. I am able to interact with other people without feeling stressed and for the first time in nearly a decade I am able to relax. I know that this is a little bit left field but I thought i would just put my thoughts out there and if it helps anyone then it would be worth my effort. I have come to realize that the cleanliness of your personal environment is of paramount importance esp. when you can’t see what is causing you the stress!! I have wooden floor boards now. If anyone else has worn/old noxious smelling carpets I would strongly recommend getting them removed. This truly awful experience has stolen the last ten years of my life and changed my future forever. I really hope that others do not have to experience it.