Hey so I’m (26f) going to hanging out with this girl (21f) this weekend, we became friends at work but we both no longer work at the same place, we kept in touch and out of the blue I felt the urge to contact her and make plans to hang out! (Very unlike me!) i struggle with social anxiety, it’s slowly getting better but I still find myself having brain fog and having physical reactions to social situations (tensing on the jaw, sweating, heart racing, fidgeting). I seem to work a lot better with others when there’s a set goal in mind, like a game or activity. I’m going to be going to her house for the first time to hang out and I’m honestly getting more and more scared the closer it gets to the day. I have this fear of “getting super anxious but not being able to leave”. I really want to get out of my comfort zone and expose myself more to social situations so I can finally make some friends but I always get scared and run away.
I was hoping maybe someone on here has found some coping skills to use when meeting up with someone for the first time? Any advice will be super helpful!