Social anxiety and complex ptsd

Hi @Stitch1

Welcome to the forum.

Thank you for sharing. We look forward to hearing the Community’s insights and hope you feel supported.

All the best

Hi @Stitch1

Welcome to the forums.

I have found the forums to be a welcome and supportive place.

There are certainly others on here with cPTSD, including me.

I have not been diagnosed with social anxiety, however, I do find meeting other people anxiety provoking. I would definitely be more anxious if I was meeting a group of new people, like starting a new job.

I think most people would be anxious to some degree starting a new job.

Feeling like an outsider is a constant thing for me and has been for decades. I also sometimes feel like there is a glass wall between me and other people because I feel like there is a lack of connection.

Do you have a psychologist or someone to help with your MH?

I’m glad you’ve got some support @Stitch1

Do you know any grounding techniques for anxiety/panic?

It would be helpful to work out (maybe with help of MH professional) what is the underlying cause of your panic so you can have specific strategies to deal with them

Hiya @Stitch1 just a lil tip, if you want other members to be notified that you've responded, you can tag them - use the @ symbol and a drop down will appear, and you can choose their name. If their name isn't there, you can type it out and it should then appear for you to select, then it will show up in blue, like this: @Till23

😊

Hi @Stitch1 You are not alone …. Different things you mentioned resonate with me.

I have been diagnosed with CPTSD. Approx 11yo I started having panic attacks linked to abandonment fears.

I don’t cope well with going to new places and meeting new people. I feel awkward and like I don’t fit in. I cope better when is only few people.

have you done or thought about doing Schema Therapy?

@Stitch1

I also have social anxiety and CPTSD. I can’t say I had the same experiences as you but similarly for a year I wasn’t able to live my house. This happened to me twice, once 10 years ago and another time a few years ago.

I just got gradually too overwhelmed by things. It used to be ‘normal’ stresses like xyz needs to be tommo then evolving to having anxiety when checking emails then opening the office door then getting out of bed , etc.

Honestly it was the hardest time of my life. The simplest thing alike brushing my teeth was hard.

What helped is not thinking about the big picture but focusing on easier accomplishments. It may sound silly but for two weeks I just tried to commit to taking a shower and brushing my teeth everyday. Then I’ll call a helpline or my psych that week that I did it.

During this whole time, the hardest thing was to be kind to myself as I was picking myself back up slowly.

When I felt ready to push myself a bit more, I chose another easy task. Checked in with mental health team. Sometimes I took a break from it and just relaxed into something I really loved doing.

Just focus on the smallest of steps. It took me about a year to feel comfortable in a going into workplace but I still struggled. Though it was a win that I could even stand in the building compared to where I was before. Celebrate these wins along the way. I would suggest looking for volunteer work that you like when the time comes. It helped me transition to work.