Being around people

I do not like leaving my house. There is too much going on in the world outside of my house.

It is very difficult for me to be around people. The thought of being around people terrifies me.  I normally can hold it together for a little while. While I am around people my vision becomes blurry, I have problems hearing, I cannot concentrate on anything and I have problems speaking.

My wife says I have selective mutism. It is like when I try to say something all the words just leave my mind. The more people there is around me the worse thing seem to be. I After a while I just have to get away from everything.

When I am around people there is just too much going on for me to handle. There are too many things to see, so many noises, too many voices and too many smells. I just cannot deal with it all.

The hardest part of being around people is dealing with the aftermath. Sometimes it will take me days to recover. It is like I cannot get out of my own head. My mind keeps going over the details of the event over and over again.

One thing that has helped me is the advice that I received from one of my doctors. He told me to stay in situations until I start to feel uncomfortable. Then when it becomes too much for me to process, leave and come back after I have some time to unwind.