Just wanted to introduce myself.

[EonRV]

Hello everyone.
I'm 36 and live in london.
I have suffered from social anxiety on and off for 10 years. In fact it has probably been a lot longer than that but i used alcahol to suppress the feelings.
After developing alcoholism my life became a simple case of just surviving.
When I was 24 I was told by doctors that I would be lucky to live to 34, But at that point I really felt like I had nothing to live for anyway.
Soon after I meet my partner who supported me the best she could but I still couldn't stop.
During a brief period of sobriety my partner fell pregnant, but it wasn't long before I was back on the drink.
Luckily I found a rehab 1 month before our child was due, and even though I have been to detox/rehab many times before, this time I had something worth fighting for and thankfully I have remained sober to this day.
It was when I got sober that my anxiety become noticable and over the years I found myself spending almost all my time at home.
I always felt safe at home, and to be honest, I even forgot about my anxiety for long periods of time, as it only occurred when I needed to go out, but when I realised I hadn't left the house for weeks, sometimes months I became depressed.
Unfortunately over the last 2 weeks things have escalated and I suffered my first serious anxiety attack.
Since then I fell like I'm in constent fear of it happening again, which it did last Thursday and I ended up at the hospital.
My doctor has now prescribed diazepam which has helped a bit and I am having a phone assessment with mental health team next week.
I also have anti depressants but I'm too worried about side effects to start the course.
My social anxiety has always prevented me from joining a forum but recent events have encouraged my to bite the bullet and give it a go.
I find it hard to communicate with people but I will try and support people the best I can.

Sorry for the long post but once I started I couldn't stop.

Thanks for your time.

[venusbluejeans]

Hiya EonRV and welcome to NMP

Why not take a look at our articles on our home page, they contain a wealth of information and are a great starting place for your time on the forum.

I hope you find the as site helpful and informative as I have and that you get the help and support you need here and hope that you meet a few friends along the way

[Chick100]

EonRV.
I´m sure joining this site will help you a lot, and it is a great step forward.

Glad to hear you are getting support from your Doctor. I understand your fear of taking the anti depressants, but they will help you. Side effects if you indeed have any usually pass in a few weeks. If not a different medication can be tried I´m sure.

I recommend to everyone to get hold of some Dr Claire Weekes self help books, they are in my opinion the best thing going to explain the anxiety state and ways to cope with it. Relaxation cd´s are also good. Not the ones with soothing music and bird song, though they might help some. I find the best ones are breathing and exercise where you are talked through a series of clenching and releasing all the muscle groups from head to toe to relieve tension . Your doctor or mental health team should be able to get you one of those.

I hope you begin to feel better soon.