u/Artistic_Tap_8785

I’ve had anxiety pretty much all I my life, mostly social anxiety. Physical symptoms such as sweating, shaking, heart racing during social situations that are outside of my usual comfort zone. I’ll often go quiet around super extroverted people and people of higher authority than me, or power. Any group events more than 4 people I’ll overthink and struggle with before hand and address with alcohol or sometimes drugs, decided to get help and was prescribed Sertraline and Diazepam. I always seem to struggle with maintaining eye contact too. Wondering if anyone has had experience of being prescribed these and did they address your anxiety?

I have come to address that anxiety impacts almost every aspect of my life including relationships with people and women. I constantly expose myself to these situation but exposure therapy hasn’t seem to do the job.

I used diazepam during some medium level social situations and it really did help. I have a big meeting that is normally be anxious delivering next week I’ll try it before that and then I’ll really be able to see its effectiveness

I’ve been on sertraline for about 3 weeks now. Still no effect that I’ve noticed, if anything anxiety increased but I know this is part of the process, I’m thinking that’s why I was prescribed diazepam, for those times where I need to calm down my physical symptoms.

Anyone had experience with these?

I’m in my early 30s and moved to Australia from the UK with my partner of then 2 years. With the aim of building a new life here, the first year was a struggle in trying to get jobs with our temp visa and trying to get sponsorship.

After us both being in really crappy jobs, she eventually found one that suited her whilst I was unemployed for 4 months trying to learn new skills and carve a career, I had savings to enable us to live but it was running out. Eventually she lost attraction, saw me in a new light where she was the support person and she clearly didn’t like that, we stopped being intimate and she stopped being emotionally supportive and grew fond of her boss from work and started diverting her attention towards him. I confronted her about it and eventually we broke up, but by some miracle I managed to get a high paying job literally within the same week. Without that I’d be homeless and completely f**ked.

But now I’m quite isolated and feel lost, I live alone in an apartment, I do have friends I moved here with but they’re a couple. I went a bit loose after the breakup and stupidly slept with a mutual friend after a drunken night out, which caused my ex to spiral and led her to take me off our joint visa application (where I was the dependant).

I’m just feeling so demotivated, lost and depressed. I have no idea what to do with my life now and all I really have is a job and I’m starting to build wealth and repay debts. I get quite a lot of female attention but I’m just not feeling a proper connection with them, it’s been 4 months since my breakup and I’m anxious almost everyday, I’ve been prescribed anxiety tablets (sertaline and valium). I’ve always had general and social anxiety and this is to try and help me overcome this. I’m trying to self improve by going to the gym etc. it’s just weekends I have nothing to do so I essentially just eat, sleep, work and repeat.

Has anyone been through a full life reset like this? My family and support network are on the other side of the world and no one has any idea how much I’m struggling. I also worry about my ex whose in the same situation but suffers from server anxiety from childhood trauma (a mother whose a complete narcissist), and unfortunately she inherited some of those traits.

I blocked my ex on everything after she took me off the visa, which I felt like was an absolutely horrible thing to do.

I’m not suicidal but I feel like right now I have no meaning or purpose