Hi, I'm having a really bad time at the moment and would REALLY appreciate anyone's advice if you have the time.

I've suffered with anxiety and depression for years and social anxiety is one of my main problems. I have a passion for photography and recently took a huge step in my life and finally decided to open a small photography business, despite my social anxiety! Over the last few months I've put myself in some really scary situations and have been completely out of my comfort zone many times. My photo shoots seem to be getting easier each time but I am still having some sleepless nights!

Anyway, my predicament this week is that I've been asked to do a certain type of shoot that I'm not very experienced in in a public place. I've been honest with the client and told them that it'll be a new thing to me but we can still get some amazing shots if we work together. I'm not charging for the shoot as it's to build my portfolio so that's a bit of pressure off too. The problem is that the shoot is in a really warm place and my be really busy. When anxious, I get hyperhidrosis and my make up runs and I find it mortifying so agreeing to the shoot was scary in the first place. To make matters worse, I had an email from the manager of the venue to say he's booking a photographer to take shots of our shoot for the newspaper and website! So basically, I'll be photographed while taking photographs in an awkward situation, probably with a really sweaty face and wet hair on the brink of panic attack! Lol. I knew I'd find being a photographer hard having social anxiety but I was hoping that if I took it slowly enough that I could build my confidence.

My question is do you think I should just get on with it or should I be kind to myself and realise my current limitations? I hate living like this and wish I could be confident enough to take these amazing opportunities but I'm so scared that if it all goes completely wrong that it may really set me back and I won't ever want to do it again! I'm really feeling sick about this and haven't slept properly for a few nights. I feel like I can't win-feel depressed about throwing away something I really want to do to save my embarrassment if it goes wrong or throw myself in the deep end and run the risk of drowning (and it being in the newspaper!) ....neither sound very appealing.

I'm sorry I've babbled on so much and I hope that I can offer my help to someone else here at some point

All the best

Claire x