Hey

[Davehere]

Hey I am David I am 40 and have anxiety that is quite severe, I have agoraphobia and social phobia. Lately I haven't been doing so well with things and that lead me to coming here as I thought connecting with a community would be healthy for me.

[Sophie_M]

Hey Davehere,

Welcome to the Forums! We are so glad you have found us here. 

Thank you for sharing your story. It is a really brave thing to do to connect with a community, and an online community can feel like a great place to connect when "real life" connections may feel overwhelming.

You are not alone in your experiences. We have a thread from a few years ago here that discusses social anxiety, too.

We are sure the community will jump in soon to share their own stories. In the meantime, please know that we’re here and you can reach out counsellors any time you’d like to talk. You are always welcome to contact our Support Service by phone on 1300 22 4636, via webchat at https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/get-immediate-support

Once again thank you for sharing here today. We hope this feels like a really positive step 🙂

Kind regards
Sophie M 

[indigo22]

Hi David,

Welcome to the forums and thank you for reaching out to us.

That's a lot to deal with so I am glad you decided to connect with our community. It is a non judgemental and kind community of people who have their own mental health challenges and can be of real support when needed.

My personal background is with Dysthymia and Chronic Major Depression which I have been dealing with for many years. I joined the forums earlier this year and it has been a very good decision for me as I hope it will be for you.

What has made life more difficult for you of late? Is there anything in particular you would like to talk about? What do you like to do with your time?

Here when you are ready to talk.

indigo