social anxiety is getting worse

Hi Bali, I wish I could understand it as well. I was just talking to a friend about it and trying to make sense of it but I can't. I've talked to my psychiatrist about it too. Why do I feel fine one moment and then another moment a really bad wave of anxiety hits me. I've been there too, where I've had to run out of a place because I started feeling panicky. It's the worst feeling.

Bali, I know how difficult that can be, as I deal with it myself. When I had panic attacks more regularly and they would come out of nowhere social settings were a very scary place for me. I could barely walk out the door let alone go to a social function. I didn't have panic attacks for a while and that helped get some confidence back but in the back of my mind I would still worry about it. Being out makes us feel a lot more vulnerable. Home is my safe space and spending time with a certain friend makes me feel safe, but outside of that, I feel vulnerable. I can say that what helped me during a more confident period was getting out more and seeing that it wasn't bad. I would take baby steps; meet a friend for an hour for coffee or a walk, then work my way up to smaller group outings. When I would do group outings I would always have an exit strategy and let people know in advance that I may need to leave early. This made me feel a lot more free and not locked down. Once I get over this hump of panic attacks again I plan to get out there again because I know that it's good for me.

I spent quite a bit of time trying to figure out what my triggers of anxiety were, especially my social anxiety. One of the main triggers for me was suppressing emotions. I never understood why I sometimes felt fine with social outings and other times it's debilitating. My therapist and I recognized the pattern to be suppressing of my emotions. We also tested this out. I would suppress and low and behold the anxiety would be intense. When I would work through it then I was able to go out calmly and peacefully.