Hi, my name is Shelby and I don't particularly like huge crowds.
I have terrible social anxiety (as well as just general anxiety), hence why I don't really care to be around people, why I have about 4 or 5 close friends, and why I tend to stay home most of the time. Living with an anxiety disorder is very difficult, especially when you have to explain to people why you have anxiety in the first place.
So many things give me anxiety, and some of them are so ridiculous that the only thing I can really do is laugh at them. Yeah, mental illness should be taken seriously, but everyone has their own way of coping. If I didn't make fun of myself every once and awhile, I would go crazy. This list of things that give me anxiety is a way for me to show that life with a mental illness is not depressing and devastating all the time. It's totally possible to find the funny in such a sensitive situation. So, here's what drives me insane, and I hope you find some humor in it:
1. Driving
Deciding which route to take home from work is the worst. And dear Lord, please don't ask me which way I want to go, just pick it for me.
2. Sleeping
Do I want to sleep on my left side, my right side, my back, or my stomach? DECISIONS MAKE ME NERVOUS.
3. Answering questions
Yes? No? Maybe? I DON'T KNOW. For the love of sanity, ask someone else.
4. Deciding where to eat
I'm hungry, you're hungry, we both want food. So if you want to eat now, you need to pick because it's going to take 6 years for me to decide.
5. Being around sick people
This one is extremely difficult because I work with children. But if you're an adult and you don't cover your mouth, I'm actually going to run away.
6. Picking an outfit to wear
Luckily I work a lot so I don't have to pick an outfit very often, but when the weekend comes I'm an actual mess. Trying to find something to wear when I actually decide to go out is just the worst.
7. Walking around campus
LSU's campus is big. And by big, I mean giant, huge, vast, and every other synonym in the book. So which way do I walk to class? Through free speech ally? Through the quad? Down Dalrymple? THE DECISIONS.
8. Shopping
Not only do I hate walking down the aisles and being surrounded by people I don't know, I always have a feeling that I'm going to forget something.
9. Cooking
What do I want? What does my family want? Did I turn off the oven? Did I shut the freezer?
10. Big crowds
I try to avoid going into large crowds of people I don't know. I hate being surrounded by people. I hate hearing everyone talk. And I hate being bumped into.
11. Mingling
I hate talking to people. Everyone tries to introduce themselves AT THE SAME TIME AND THAT'S NOT OKAY.
12. Everything
Life in general is simply, quite complicated
