I was on Xanax for 14 years. I’ve been off for a little over 8 months.

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I’m 32 and I can’t socialize with people at all. Going to the store is monumental.. just thinking about going for a walk in my neighborhood is overwhelming. I talk to people with my head down. I was like this before I even stopped Xanax 8 months ago, maybe this is just my personality. Does anyone else experience this?

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Were you like this all 14 years you were on Xanax?   If not then maybe when it started you were having inter dose withdrawal symptoms .  Now youre having full blown withdrawal symptoms.  But if you were like this all the while and before you were on Xanax then maybe that's your personality.  CBT is great for social anxiety

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53 minutes ago, [[a...] said:

Were you like this all 14 years you were on Xanax?   If not then maybe when it started you were having inter dose withdrawal symptoms .  Now youre having full blown withdrawal symptoms.  But if you were like this all the while and before you were on Xanax then maybe that's your personality.  CBT is great for social anxiety

Yes I have always been like this, even with Xanax/ klonopin. I will have to google what inter dose withdrawal symptom is. Would i be having full blown withdrawals after 8 months? And what is CBT? Sorry for all of the questions 

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CBT is cognitive behavioral therapy and is designed to change thinking patterns, like learning to recognize distortions in ones thinking that are creating problems and then to reevaluate them in light of reality. It really helps you get an understanding of your behavior and gives you solid tools to change that negative behavior

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Yes we are social beings,

Don't be so hard on yourself. You got out  from under the benzos. That's amazing.

Don't go into a hole. Keep going out in public. Don't beet yourself up over looking into eyes. 

CBT would be good for everybody sometime in their life. There are proven methods that we don't think of, but they work. Who knows you may learn what you need from the first conversation with a therapist.

 Couldn't hurt.