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.
