SA interfering with my employability/futher education. What shall I do?

[Orchid2016]

Oh where do I start?

I haven't posted on here for a while. At the minute I am busy with my young children but both will be at school by next September and I know I should look at what I am going to do regarding work. But all I can think is "Social Anxiety" what am I going to do?

It's going to make it harder at interviews, if I even get one as I haven't worked for a couple of years so I haven't really got much to offer.

I'm almost in the same boat as a school leaver. Yes I have A levels and some work experience but didn't go to university in part because of my SA.

I am wondering whether to bite the bullet and continue my education to get the degree I deserve and to help me get a half decent job but it's the presentations I feel that I cant cope with. I struggled so much with this at college.

After having SA for 23 years I came to the conclusion its easier to arrange my life around it rather than change who I am. I've had several medications the last one helped a bit and I am currently going along without any help/medications. I read CBT is more effective for SA when SA is caught early. I feel I've had SA to long for CBT to help.

I don't know what to do. Perhaps I should go back to the doctors to see if she can help me first before I think about any work. Or perhaps I get on with a university course and then go to the doctors for medication to take prior to presentations when the situation arises to get me through.

What a nightmare. I accept my SA as part of me but its not allowing me to achieve anything on the employment side of things. So it is still a problem as its interfering with things I would like to do in my life. I hate feeling this way.

What do I do? What have you done in this situation?

[Lunar]

Hi Orchid 2016,
I went to University because I was determined to move away from home and I was terrified by the prospect but overall very glad I made the decision although I did struggle quite a lot with the social side of things (before leaving home I rarely spoke to anyone at all!) As far as improving my job prospects I am not sure it has been of much help (in fact for some jobs I was told I was overqualified) so my advice would be think carefully about what career you would most enjoy and perhaps gain some work experience/voluntary work in that field where possible before committing yourself to a degree course.
I completely understand how scary it is to be facing your 'fears' from a SA perspective but I am sure it will be worth it. I have had difficulties since a young age with what I now see was SA and would never have thought to go to a GP as I just accepted that I was different and weird and back then would probably have just been told to 'get on with it'; CBT did not really 'exist' then and I had some CBT for other anxiety related issues more recently but I wonder if after so long it would be of help for my SA.
Over the years things have improved mainly because I was determined that it wasn't going to prevent me from doing things I wanted but it is scary, tough, frustrating and exhausting feeling as if you have this huge barrier to get over even before you get to the same starting point as most people.
I really hope everything works out for you

[Indigo_]

What types of degree would you be interested in? Presentations may not be a part of them all, particularly with online/distance-learning degrees.

Also, don't write off CBT just because you feel you've had SA for a long time. When I had counselling it had CBT elements to it that I found were really beneficial, and I've had SA for around 15 years.

Which would you rather - employment or education?

[BritishPeace]

What job do you want?

[Orchid2016]

Thankyou for the replies. I was thinking about going into Accountancy. I’ve already got a level 2 qualification for this and being one of the more suited jobs for people with SA it makes sense. There’s lots of jobs that I can’t do because I don’t drive and have decided not to learn as the lessons are too expensive and my partner drives anyway. So really being from an office based background a better paid office job would make sense. If I retrained into a job that I enjoyed as I tried to do once before it probably won’t work out because of my SA. I was half way through my first year on a distance learning degree in Advice Studies and the place I was a volunteer for sacked me. I think it was very harsh of them as after just sitting in and taking part in one interview they decided I wasn’t what they wanted. Rather than giving me chance to develop. So total waste of time, tried putting my SA aside and it backfired. I ended up going back to a previous job that I’ve since been made redundant from. I had to get away from that job because my heart wasn’t in it anymore and the management treated the staff badly. There wasn’t any prospects there for me either. Now I guess I’m at a loose end on the career front of things. I will have to make progress one way or another. Maybe going back to discuss with the doctor may not be a bad idea as I’m under a new doctor now and it’s 10 years since I’ve discussed my SA with a GP. It appears as though things have moved on a bit since then. It was tablets for most and CBT for a few, but looking at the NHS website it reads as though CBT is now offered as a preferred method over medication. Maybe it’s a case of me exploring different options to find something that works best.