It gets easier. But unfortunately it's not just a matter of putting yourself in the situations more (you'll just get accustomed to how you feel so it won't get

It gets easier. But unfortunately it's not just a matter of putting yourself in the situations more (you'll just get accustomed to how you feel so it won't get you down as much, but you'll still feel anxious and leave). 2 things helped me a lot: mindfulness (I read "A New Earth", YMMV) and the book "Learned Optimism". I can't recommend that book enough. Doesn't sound like it has anything to do with anxiety, but it really does. Anxiety can come from a pessimistic outlook - the stories you make up for the things that go on around you that you don't have all the information on. For example, you say "it just feels like everyone is watching me". This most likely triggers thoughts like "everyone thinks I'm uncool" or "I must look so out of place" or "I'm so unattractive" etc. which makes you anxious about staying there, so you leave. And there begins the spiral or rabbit hole to debilitating anxiety, depression or feelings of worthlessness. "Learned Optimism" is all about changing the stories you tell yourself about these situations, to nip those thoughts in the bud. There's a definite pattern to them, and it can be broken quite easily. I won't do it justice to try and explain it here, it's really best to read the book from the start and let it do the talking. Oh and check out this out: https://github.com/raganwald/presentations/blob/master/optimism.md https://github.com/raganwald/presentations/blob/master/optim...