I’ve always had some problems, or rather fears, to talk to new people, to speak in public and even to attend meetings where I see many new faces. Every time again. However, it was never clear to me what was bothering me during these situations.

In addition, I have not had a relationship for some time even though I regularly hear: “How can a woman, so intelligent, highly educated and beautiful still be single!?”, yet I have a hard time when meeting men. We now also live in a world where women can no longer just sit back and meet someone. You must also take the initiative yourself. I was talking about this with a friend who told me about NiceDay. Because it can be done completely online, I decided to contact and submit my “problem”.

After a while I was connected to a psychologist and we immediately had a great conversation. She put me at ease and immediately had some tips on how to look at certain situations when I see new faces again and want to start a conversation with someone. In the following weeks we always called to discuss how it went and what feeling I had during those situations. Eventually I also received articles from my psychologist about social anxiety and related topics.

I could fully recognize myself in the article and found out that I have a social anxiety disorder. Although it sounds strange to say that I have a disorder, it is very important that I can name it and work on it.

In addition to a social anxiety disorder, I also have a negative self-image. Thanks to NiceDay I now have a diagnosis and the work can begin. I try to place myself in situations where I used to have such a bad feeling: I address people when possible, seek eye contact. Although it is still very difficult, I often have a wait-and-see attitude and prefer to be addressed first, I still make small progress. One step further every day. I approached the man I wanted to talk to at the gym and although it didn’t go the way I wanted, I can now tell myself that I tried! In addition, I learned that you are not the only one who contributes to a conversation, it is not always just me. Nothing bad happens when you start a conversation with someone and it ends sooner than you wanted.

I always feel that nobody sees me, that I am not interesting enough or that people simply do not want to talk to me. These are all feelings that suit social anxiety and I would never have discovered this without NiceDay. The most important thing of all is that I can work on my problem. I’m good enough.

Thank you Sarah Goslinga for all your help and nice conversations.

Greetings,

Annette

Annette received online help through the NiceDay app. Would you like to know more about online help via NiceDay? Click here for more information.