I have been struggling for many years with avpd and it affects everyday of my life. I have avoided opening the mail or even taking it out of the mailbox, I ahve avoided social events also, I have avoided job interviews, I am avoiding returning to university due to the judgments passed there with professors, and my counsellor keeps telling me to just DO IT!

Easier said than done. I don't have panic attack symptoms I just freeze from doing it. It just feels like too big a load to handle. I think the only physical symptom I get is I sweat alot..it feels like hot flashes.

I am trying to take on a few social events this time of year because it tends to be busier and more the norm to be with people. After Christmas, when there is no "reason" to socialize, I find it much more difficult to motivate myself to talk to anybody and think I am just being a bother. Job search will be more difficult also because employers will be laying off after Christmas and New Year. It will be much less encouraging to bother job search.

It is difficult to convince myself to just DO IT, while my head is telling me all of teh reasons not to or of the risk of rejection associated with the tasks. I have to try to stop those thoughts from saying things like "Why are you doing this? You won't get the job. You have no experience. Why set yourself up for rejection again?" or "This is going to be stressful. I cannot relate to the happy lives of my cousins. I haven't been busy with life, I have nothing to talk about to them. What will I say if they ask me? Fine? Then what?"

I know these thoughts are not right but those are the deepest felt. How does one overcome this? Just Do It...seems more difficult than it sounds.