"Should have done this years ago"

Before I came to Lets Talk I felt I wasn't living a life, I was just existing. I was scared of everyday life, every morning I woke up and I felt fear and that I didn't belong. I had no time for my family and friends because I was too lost in my own head. My GP referred me to Lets Talk and I felt it was my last option, I'd been to see psychiatrists and counselling, and I'd had tablets because I wanted to change, and that hadn't helped.

I had an assessment where I was referred to CBT. When I first came I thought 'what the .... am I doing here? ' I thought it would never help, I was convinced I had something seriously wrong with my mind, I thought I'd lost my mind, and I was really confused.

CBT has been the best thing that I have done, it helped me to understand what was going on and it was explained to me what social anxiety was. For the first four sessions I was convinced it wasn't helping me, I thought I didn't suffer with social anxiety and I had something much worse. Until I started recognising my symptoms and understanding what was going on, and from what Emma taught me I realised that it was social anxiety. From then on I knew it was something I could change, I can now recognise my own panic and understand my thoughts, rather then just assuming my heads gone. I have never felt so happy, I feel like I'm a new person, I wake up in the mornings excited for what's going to happen with my life. I go out more, I look forward to my weekends, I enjoy seeing people, I've managed to quit smoking, which I only started as an excuse to avoid people.

CBT has encouraged me to learn more about my mind, I research stuff online, and I meditate - something which made me think Emma was crazy when was first suggested to me. I've also learnt to develop my personal skills, if I hadn't of come here I would never have been doing that. Emma never judged me for what I was saying, and I felt I could tell her anything.

I want people to come to this service and change their lives, before I had no life and now even if it's raining outside, it's sunny to me. From my experience a lot of men are scared to talk about these things and I want them to know it's something to not be embarrassed about and they too can change their lives.

I should have done this years ago.