To the rear, march! Retreat ...

I share your pain on parties and social events, and especially on family's response to my "anti socialness." My wife's family is loud (they are nice people, but there are a lot of them, and they are loud). I can take a little but not a lot; I usually find a quiet corner or even another room to escape to.

My wife tries to get me "out" to social events all the time, even though she knows how uncomfortable I am. She thinks she is doing me a favor, but that attitude just reinforces my feeling that I really am "off" or less than normal for not "getting" the whole social biz.

We usually agree on a minimum time I have to stay ... before the room starts spinning and the conversation becomes a tangled buzz-whine (it is almost tangible). I find taking my anxiety med (clonazepam) helps a lot and staves off out-and-out panic attacks, but it doesn't make the events "enjoyable." I don't think anything ever will -- why can't people (some in my family) just accept that and not try to "fix" me?

<sigh>

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