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Antiwork

Struggling to find a job because of social anxiety

I wanted to post here in the hopes of finding someone who could relate to me, as there are no anti-work threads or groups that I'm aware of in my country. I'm a 20-year-old European who dropped out of college three months ago due to severe social anxiety. I was studying Graphic Design at a college for the arts because I enjoy drawing, but the competitive atmosphere there, as well as the lecturers, the things we had to do, was not for me. And, as a result of dropping out, I'm in a really horrible mental state right now. I've been looking for work since I left college in order to support myself, but out of all the applications I've sent, only three have invited me to an interview, which I failed due to being too timid, despite my best efforts to hide my uneasiness, which I'm usually very excellent…


I wanted to post here in the hopes of finding someone who could relate to me, as there are no anti-work threads or groups that I'm aware of in my country. I'm a 20-year-old European who dropped out of college three months ago due to severe social anxiety. I was studying Graphic Design at a college for the arts because I enjoy drawing, but the competitive atmosphere there, as well as the lecturers, the things we had to do, was not for me. And, as a result of dropping out, I'm in a really horrible mental state right now. I've been looking for work since I left college in order to support myself, but out of all the applications I've sent, only three have invited me to an interview, which I failed due to being too timid, despite my best efforts to hide my uneasiness, which I'm usually very excellent at. One recruiter was extremely lovely to me, telling me that it was normal to be apprehensive, that she thought I was very down to earth, and that I would be a perfect fit for their company, only to send me an email the next day saying, “Another candidate got the lucky spot.” I was so hopeful to receive the position, but my hopes were crushed.  They assigned me such a difficult task, which I was working on till 3 a.m., putting my all into it, and they even complimented me on how well I completed it. I'm not going to lie, I cried when I got the rejection letter. I received a letter yesterday stating that I had been removed from the unemployed list and that I would be responsible for my own health insurance, therefore I'm scrambling to find any work I can, as I can't even afford food right now. My previous employment was at a Coca-Cola warehouse, where I worked with my best friend, so I felt quite confident and did an excellent job because I already knew someone there. My social anxiety manifests itself in new and unexpected settings, and I'm wondering if any of you have had this experience or if you have overcome it, and if so, how did you do it? If so, how do I find the strength and confidence in myself to stop disappointing myself?

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