Anyone Else Ever Get This?

[Nighteyes]

Not sure if any comments will help me, but again I will try.

I was just out at a “play group” event for my child. While out like always I started to have anxiety attacks. I feel so out of place near people. I’m very sociably awkward and never feel I have anything relevant to speak of. I am sadly a stay at home mom thanks to having my little one while finishing my education for a medical field. I have since not been able to get work as apparently not jumping right into the field and staying home to care for a kid is frowned upon horrible.

Anyway, I actually had to pack my kiddo up and leave because I couldn’t handle the situation anymore. I felt so wrong just being there, and really there was no reason for it. One mother there was discussing the fact she was separating from her partner and I could feel my own stress level increase. I hate this feeling. Get it anytime someone else is having bad luck or saying anything I’d consider not right.

Anyone else ever get this? How do you cope?

 

[safenow]

I've not been in the exact same situation, but I can feel for how horrible you must have been feeling. When I get too anxious in public I too go home. I had a panic attack when I was being tested to see if I needed special transportation in my wheelchair. I ran out of oxygen and when they began to make me do things like cross a busy street, or go up a steep embankment and back down again, I literally could not go on.

It took a while before a bus could take me home again, so I had to sit in the waiting room, and when I couldn't because people started coming in, I stayed in the bathroom until they told me the bus was there to take me home.

I talked to my doctor and he gave me an anti-anxiety pill (Ativan) I can take as needed. Now, any time I leave the house, I take one about 10 minutes before I have to leave, and make sure I have my PTSD First Aid-Kit with me. Good luck

 

[discarded]

Putting your social anxiety aside for a minute, my opinion on 'play group' is not a good one from my experiences. It should not be a place for mum's to discuss their own personal issues, it is supposed to be about the children. More often than not it turns in to a gossip group for the mothers. I always felt uncomfortable participating. Social anxiety has been an issue for me over the years as well and I do not suffer from PTSD. I just try not to put myself in uncomfortable situations. I would take a good friend along with me so I didn't feel totally out of my depth.

 

[MagiLisu]

I used to get this every time I was with other people, and although it's not as bad as it used to be I still get it. I can cope now in situations where I know the other people there, but sometimes even just one new person who I don't know and I'm not sure about will leave me feeling anxious.

I'm not 100% sure how I managed to get to the point I am now. My therapist helped a lot, there was a lot of sessions where I came back to her and described the situation, what happened. What I liked and what I didn't like and we went through the whole scenario and came to a conclusion.

I still hate large social situations, even if I do stick to people I know I find myself counting down the minutes until I can leave.