# It's been a good year battling my SAD



## TheCanadian1 (Sep 14, 2009)

Just wanted to share a few of my accomplishments. Some of them were forced, but others were choices... in the end I am feeling better than I did last year!

- I came off antidepressants which made me numb to my emotions. It was hell and I wanted to kill myself for a few months, but I pulled through. Then I quit Marijuana which helped to reduce my anxiety and depression. It really helped me to become more confident.

- Moved into a house with 3 strangers. I am renting a room in a shared house with 3 other people that I have had to socialize with and get to know. I was forced into this one as my old landlord decided to sell the house and my housemate friends decided to move back home.

- Went on a few dates during the summer and chatted with some girls. This was a big step for me because of my low self-esteem and confidence. I hadn't done this in years.

- Worked hard at my job and ended up getting promoted from a minimum wage position to their Payroll admin position. This will look great on my resume and teach me some valuable new skills. I also was awarded for my hard work with a monthly award and a year-end award that only 3 other employees received. My performance reviews had no criticism. This made me feel really good. My job forces me to socialize with clients (golfers) and because most of them are happy to be golfing, it was a good environment to battle my anxiety.

- I learned to budget for the first time in my life and have a plan set out for the coming year. I use software to track my purchases and have been keeping on top of it for the past 4 months. (this isn't to do with social anxiety, but it's a big step for improving my quality of life.)

- I joined a Social Anxiety meet up group! We meet up for various small (closed) events like board-game night or hiking. The organizer based her career on helping people with Social Anxiety so it is a valuable resource for me to have when I can't afford professional help. The group also offers workshops and learning opportunities.

- I met a girl online that I really like, and we've been keeping in contact every day. We will hopefully met up for the first time next week.

- I was accepted back to my post-secondary degree program. I was booted for having a low GPA and multiple failed classes. They have agreed to allow me to retake a required course that I've failed multiple times. So I am getting my career back on track to become an accountant. I feel really good about this and have been studying / preparing these past few months to make sure that I succeed.

Of course with so many good changes, there are bound to be some bad ones. Earlier in the year I had to face my parents and confess that I had debts that were unmanageable. Shortly after getting a loan from my parents, I was in a car accident. The repairs added another $12,000 to my existing loan. I had a mental breakdown at that time.

Looking back, it's been a busy year. As an anxious person I feel I have not accomplished anything, but when I type it all out here... I have accomplished quite a lot. Next year I hope to succeed in my studies and have great marks! I look forward to making friends at school and working on my social skills. One goal I have is to join at least one club! I'll have a great time at my job again! I really hope things work out with this girl and we can grow our relationship. I'm hopeful! but I'm still scared.

Thanks for reading


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## MrBrunk (Oct 26, 2012)

Yo, that awesome man. Always great to see others to take strides with their SA and gives hope to others like me. 

Cheers, happy holidays and to an even better 2017!


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## meepie (Jun 20, 2010)

:clap Wonderful work, that's a hellava lot to be proud of. You are an inspiration.


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## catty cathleen (Dec 26, 2016)

Thats awesome I feel happy for you!


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## AllTheSame (Mar 19, 2016)

That is awesome, man congrats to you. I know for those that struggle with anxiety change usually doesn't come easy. I had an awesome year. This year started out really slow and gave me a lot of hopeless feelings and self-doubt, tbh, but I've managed to accomplish some things and get past some things I thought I'd still be struggling with for years. Thanks party to meds. Partly to my therapist (she is the bomb dot com). And support from my dad. And partly I think to me just being part brave part crazy and believing, embracing this whole attitude of "*** it what do I have to lose at this point, take some chances" lol...and a few of them have really, really paid off so far, in huge ways. Good to hear you're doing well. You don't hear about people doing well enough on this site. I think a lot of the users here that start doing well and start getting over their anxiety issues just move on, and leave (and I can't say I blame them, one bit).


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## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Congrats bro, I love to hear about people improving.


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## SparklingWater (Jan 16, 2013)

Congrats! Keep up the good work. It really does seem like once you get to a certain place in recovery the ball just starts rolling!

Edit-whoa there seem to be precious few of these positive and triumph threads so I guess I'll be bumping a whole bunch of older stuff for a while


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