This would have had me crucified on tumblr 10 years ago but maybe we are ready for this conversation now:
If you are a socially anxious person, you have to socialize. Your panic/anxiety attacks will only get worse and trigger more frequently if you constantly avoid contact with The Public. Not saying that you need to be a social butterfly- but there is a genuine problem with not being able to order your own meal at a restaurant. And it cannot be solved by always having someone else do it for you.
This is a PSA to about 3/4s of the Portland Youth populace
everyone who reblogs this and is like "I ordered my own tea this week" or "I only barfed once when I had to give a presentation'- you are doing amazing sweetie. Have patience with yourself, you are relearning a skill so difficult that people get 4 year degrees to do it professionally.
As the once-shy kid in the back of the class who loathed being perceived turned professional corporate facilitator who regularly does presentations for hundreds of people--this. Practice, familiarization, desensitization, all of it--you can overcome a lot of things that make you anxious by learning to navigate them and by teaching your nervous system, through repetition, that they won't actually kill you most of the time.
We still have a long way to go, but we were able to hang out with our friends in vc for the first time in a while
