I listened to the Podcast on anxiety and wondering if there are any other Podcasts or videos that address this. My anxiety is more of a problem in social situations, like open nights at my kids’ schools. Or unexpectedly bumping into an old friend/flame that hasn’t seen me since I put on extra weight. An example from this past summer was hiding myself when I saw an old friend/boss who I had a crush on at the county fair and I hid my face and didn’t say hello even though he was walking right past me. I was too embarrassed for him to see me and I lost out on an opportunity to reconnect with a special person that I hadn’t seen in many years. All because of my vanity. Is there something that helps deal with this in the moment without feeling the desperation to leave or hide from the situation? This affects me more so in situations where I won’t know most of the people or I am worried about bumping into someone I don’t want to bump into to. For example another parent who has kids the same age as my two older children and are at the same school. My husband and I spent about 6 months in a trial break from each other some years ago because our relationship had gotten so toxic. I just wanted a break to figure things out. He went on to start dating this mom for a few months until he and I got back together. I didn’t know about it until things got more serious and I think it kind of put me in shock, like a traumatic stress trigger. Something similar happened to me previously when we lived in England with someone that I thought was a really good friend. I felt like I was afraid to go to the grocery store or school events, or even my yoga studio in fear of bumping into her. She is tall, very thin and always looks stylish. I’m overweight, short with wavy dark brown hair. Totally the opposite and made me feeling horribly inadequate. I’m much better now about but the thought does still cross my mind and can affects whether I decide to attend a school event or go out to social events around town. I’d like to work on improving this problem as it is affecting the quality of my life and my involvement with my kids’ school and the community.