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View Full Version : Yes, I finally found some solace!



cowardlylion22
11-22-2008, 09:44 PM
Hey everybody!

I'm Ashley. I'm 22 years old and I've got some serious anxiety issues.

Ever since I can remember I've been 'shy', but now that I'm an adult, I have become more skeptical, paranoid, and afraid of other people. I'm a cashier at a fast food restaurant where I have to talk to at least 100 people per day. I live in a town that is filled with snobby people, so they complain a lot which just makes me feel even more anxious. I usually have 2 or 3 glasses of wine before I go into work, which I know isn't healthy and is also illegal. If I don't drink before work, I end up in the back of the restaurant trying to breathe because the amount of people around me makes me feel like I'm suffocating. I tried to tell my manager about it, but he ignores it because I can fake it sometimes. I know that my heart is racing the entire time I'm there though. It also makes my stomach ache. I have gastric reflux because I get so worked up over the slightest thing.

When I go to the grocery store, I feel like everybody is watching me and thinking, "I hate that girl." That feeling follows me everywhere.

I just graduated from college with a computer science degree...I want to become a computer technician but I'm too afraid of rejection to go for it.

My dad takes Xanax for anxiety problems...I feel like this is hereditary and I need to get help for it. I'm just too afraid to tell a doctor...my pediatrician blew me off when I told her I had anxiety. She told me I was just shy. I don't know what to do.

Canary
11-24-2008, 04:21 PM
I think it's very sad that your pediatrician dismissed your anxiety. There's a difference between shyness and anxiety, and if your feelings are making psychically ill and preventing you from doing the things that you want to do, then that's anxiety. Consider seeing another doctor.

02Batmobile
11-26-2008, 10:45 PM
It sounds like you have social anxiety. Don't worry! It's very treatable!!!!!! There have been hundreds of celebrities who battled anxiety and have made it. Jus' to name a few who battled social anxiety: Donny Osmond, Barbara Streisand, Cher, Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Alba and Oprah Winfrey! Anxiety is the most common mental health complaint and we all feel your pain.

I would cut down on the alcohol. People with anxiety can turn to alcohol to "loosen" up but it can actually create anxiety. Seek a cognitive-behavioral therapist that can help you change your thinking patterns, exercise and do breathing exercises and pretty soon you'll be giving others advice!!

Hang in there!