Dear Mr. Hackman,
Since you know that I have trouble and I am not comfortable with face-to-face consultations to talk more about my social anxiety, I am writing you this letter for understanding me better:
Social anxiety was always one of my biggest problems. In public places, I always feel that people are watching me, judging me based on my looks, dressing sense and behaviour and I really suffer from this experience every single day. I also prefer to live alone, avoid conversations with guests and relatives, don’t go outside without a reason and I am also not interested in parties, family gatherings, etc. So, I have a big issue concerned with meeting a crowd of people. Most people especially my parents cannot understand my condition. That’s why silence and solitude are my comfort zone.
I don’t even know how I got social anxiety. As far as I can remember I always had it. I remember in preschool, I wanted my mom and would cry the whole time I was there until she came back to pick me up hours later. I went to my general practitioner and I was prescribed medicine for my anxiety but I never wanted to take it because I felt it would change me. So instead I did other things such as learning to be confident, being more kind to myself for making mistakes and challenging negative thoughts but all of this didn’t work.
How can I get rid of this social anxiety? I really tried everything I could but I am still struggling. I hope you can give me some advice.
Yours sincerely,