Hi Suzie, welcome to the forum. I'm glad you've reached out here and I know it couldn't have been an easy thing to do, so well done and please make yourself at home.
Aaahhh, Facebook. I do understand what you're saying. It's taken me a while, but I have come to the conclusion that Facebook is not so much a way for families and friends to keep in touch, as it is a way for people to boost their egos and project to world an image of a life they may or may not be leading. In a sense, some people just use it as a marketing tool for themselves - and we never 'market' the bad stuff or the hard stuff do we?
No one leads a perfect life, no one is always happy and fulfilled, yet if you just look to Facebook for information you could think everyone else's life is a series of parties, successes and fun. Scratch the surface and you'll find it's not. I think what people don't say about themselves on Facebook is more the reality.
What I'm saying hun is that it's not necessarily real and meaningful contact. If you want to be in touch with your family in a meaningful way, you might be better making personal contact, by phone, or in person.
I know in my own family we only tend to post the good stuff. And we are not all part of each others' daily lives, so when those who are post things I don't know about or understand I can feel a bit left out. But these days that doesn't bother me so much because I know I can always contact one of the senior members of the family if I need to know something.
In my view hun, it is more important for you to be well and managing your anxiety than anything else. If Facebook is contributing to it then perhaps you need to take a break from it. If you need to explain to your family you could simply tell them you need to spend more time on other things (Facebook can really eat away the hours!).
Come back and talk more if you'd like Suzie. Are you seeing your doc and/or a psych for the anxiety? If there's anything you want to discuss about it ... we're here.
Kaz
