Please do not "push" him to be social. Prior to Parkinson's, I was very gregarious and was a hail fellow well met. Then I began to avoid social functions as I felt like the room was closing in on me, I would perspire heavily, and I felt as if I could not breathe. My wife and I had to quit going to church even if we sat on the very last pew well away from the congregation and close to the door, I could not make it through the first hymn before I started heading toward the door. My psychiatrist diagnosed me with "crowd anxiety" and prescribed anti-anxiety medication, I still cannot go to any social functions. When we would go to her mother's house for Christmas, everyone would be sitting close together on the sofas and chairs, but I would be sitting in the background away from everyone else.

If he is not seeing a psychiatrist, you may want to ask his doctor for a referral. The psychiatrist can talk to him and get to the root of his problem(s) and get him on the road to recovery.

But, please do not push him to do something that makes him uncomfortable. My wife did not push me to go places that I did not wish to go because she had seen first hand how it affected me. Just be patient with him and respect his wishes as to where he wants, or does not want, to go. Pushing him to be more social might make his problem worse.

Dadums56 (Bill Yardley)

@A MyParkinsonsTeam Member i'm curious to know if you know if this site has tech-support. We need it right now. I have sent Christine several messages and haven't heard back from her. Is she OK? Please let me know about what to do about tech-support for this site. Thank you. Sterling2