Going out and feeling nervous

Post Reply New Topic

Ok, so I'm going to a couple of events this week that are out of my comfort zone. First one being an outing/drinking event in the city with a friend from art school and her friends. The second being an autism conference (never been to one before) where I may be speaking. Both events are 1 - 3 hours away (traveling via train) and I feel so nervous for going by myself. Feels like I've got a bit of social anxiety, does anyone have experience with dealing with this?

Think about all the positive things in life and just be yourself. It helps if I think my about my obsessions while I am in social situations. It will calm me down and the thought about attending to my obsessions when I get home makes me happier. Have fun while you're at it.

I would feel extremely nervous travelling for 1-3 hours to get to an event that was outside of my comfort zone, particularly an "outing/drinking event" which would probably be very noisy and have a lot of rowdy people.

My advice would be to just try and enjoy yourself as much as possible so you forget about your anxieties, but obviously that can be very hard. Think to past occasions when you have had to be outside of your comfort zone, but that went well. Those show that you can cope!

As for the autism conference, people won't be surprised to see a person with a bit of social anxiety there. Everyone will be understanding, and the situation shouldn't be too stressful. If you have to give a talk, then if necessary you could try pretending you are speaking to an empty room, look down at your notes (with your eyes, not your head), or just try and relax.