Hey AC Community,
I just signed up the other day. First, a little about myself since I'm supposed to write something meaningful before I have access to other features of the website. I am a 28 year old male in the United States. I have suffered from performance anxiety since I was very young. I grew up playing lots of sports and I always would put lots of pressure on myself to perform a certain way each game. It never mattered what people would tell me I would always put this unnecessary pressure on myself. I tried different ways to control it, but nothing ever really worked. My heart rate would spike and it would feel like my heart was beating out of my chest when/if I had a bad performance. I just have a tendency to hold myself to near impossible standards when it comes to most things.
Unfortunately, this carried over into my adult life and continues to handicap me in certain aspects. I decided to join this site in hopes that others have gone through or are going through similar problems and hopefully some open dialogue can help. Still a little nervous to be so open about it, but nothing else has seemed to work.
Look forward to chatting with people!