Originally Posted by
Bijed
Yeah, the thing I did wrong for years was refuse to admit myself that what I was going through (frequent, as in multiple per day, panic attacks with accompanied physical sickness, plus essentially being unable to face interacting with people) wasn't just the norm - I would try to hide it and I told myself that presumably this happened to everyone all the time. In reality, I coudn't hope to keep it hidden and I knew really that it wasn't just a normal thing but I just kept trying to lie to myself for ages until someone basically just (sensitively) told me that it was obvious what I was going through). For me, just talking about it, whilst not easy at first, was the biggest single thing I did to put it (mostly) behind me. Lots of other factor too, of course, including joining this forum, as it meant I got more social interaction but without also triggering my symptoms like physically going out socially often would. I'll echo others' sentiments by saying what a good thread this is (and a good blog too)