As a young child I was diagnosed with PTSD. After high school I was diagnosed with general anxiety disorder, social anxiety disorder, and depression. Everyday life can be very difficult, fear rules my life.
I dropped out of college due to my disorders. I have yet to learn to drive due to my disorders.
Parties, although I love to attend, terrify me. And phone calls are the worse. I even fear the labels and judgement people place on me due to what I haven’t done or have yet to do; thinking that I am weak or a loser. I dread the fact that I may feel this way for the rest of my life.
I have those issues myself. I am learning new coping skills and recently someone told me I bring such excitement when I am around them. They have no idea how much I’ve changed and that I used to be scared to leave my house. I realized that when I withdraw or have a setback I am not lazy, I just am overwhelmed by my fear or sadness and that does not make me weak or a loser. I now try to treat myself like I would my best friend, forgive myself for what I don’t do and try to live in the moment and not obsess over the past or the future. That is so hard for people with anxiety disorders but I will not give up. I have survived so much and now look forward to the future. Be patient with yourself, you are so strong even if you don’t feel like it.
I have two daughters who are young adults who suffer from social anxiety and depression. I sometimes dont know how to communicate with them without offending them. I am trying to learn how to help them by educating myself . I feel like i did something wrong in raising them to make them like this. I need help understanding the way they feel since they have difficulty expressing themselves.