I realised I really was shy. And once I was in it, I couldn't escape. I'd go to talk and find my face was made of cement. Nothing would come out. On winter days, I'd feel myself turning grey at the edges and fading into the walls.Was this defensive strategy? It was paralysing. And it went on for years.
Janet E. Cameron, Cinnamon Toast and the End of the World
defence-mechanisms, helplessness, introversion, invisibility, loneliness, shyness, social-anxiety