- Date posted
- 7w
Ruminating over public interaction
So I finally set out today to start doing in public exposures for my severe social anxiety and agoraphobia. I was walking along the sidewalk as an elderly man said something I didn’t hear so I asked him, “what was that?” While touching my arm, he said, “you would look a lot better if you smiled”. My heart sank as it’s my worst fear to have others judge me in public. I just responded with, “well that was extremely rude of you” and continued to walk. I almost started crying but continued to go inside the library and complete my exposure. The audacity of men to stop us and say rude things when women are alone in public is still prevalent and I felt so humiliated and disrespected. Now I can’t stop replaying that interaction in my head and it’s driving me mad. I’m angry, upset, disappointed, humiliated, frustrated, etc. Of course that was my very first in public exposure and while I did complete my exposure, its got me shaking still.