Shutting People Out

I do the same thing. I think what happens to me is I overthink my response. I play the conversation out in my head and it doesn’t go well. But so far none of those ideations have come true when I do respond. Sometimes it takes time to gain the confidence to respond.

I also do this, I think sometimes phones can feel overwhelming the messages and phone calls. I've never been much of a talk on the phone type of person. My idea is if you need to ignore it, maybe text them and say you're busy or you were sleeping or something. Sometimes you just need time to yourself. People seem to have expectations these days (as do I ) that we will reply instantly. That fact does fuel anxiety, you are not alone!!!! Take the time you need!

Hi, I'm new too!

I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to help but here goes. My girlfriend feels the same about her devices so sometimes she won't respond to my messages or she'll take about 4-6 hours to respond. It frustrated me greatly and I thought she didn't want to talk to me anymore and was trying to blow me off. We eventually talked about it and now I'm a lot more patient and understanding. Whenever she can't talk or feels anxious, she'll send a quick "brb (be right back)" or a "really busy, chat later" and I'll respond and go on with my day. If she's really anxious she'll talk to me in person about it.

I think maybe tell your close friends and family members about the anxiety so that they know what to expect. After that, you can set up a system like mine where you let them know you can't talk but you'll get back to them when you feel better. When i get too anxious to do something I sit with myself and ask myself "What's the best that can happen?" so that I can stop focusing on the bad that could happen

I'm sorry that you've lost people already to something that felt uncontrollable to you. I really hope this helped you and if it didn't then I'm sorry. I hope you get the help you need:)