For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been shy. Nervous and quiet, I found my classmates intimidating and anyone outside my immediate family terrifying. In public, I’d hide behind my mum.
Although this was acceptable, cute even, as a child, instead of growing out of it as the years passed, it got worse. By the time I went to secondary school, playground bullies taunted me about my shyness, and I retreated even further into myself.
While my older sister Donna, now 39, would go to dance classes, swimming lessons and Brownies, I’d head straight home after school, where I felt safe.
As I got older, my parents became concerned and took me to the doctor, who put me on antidepressants as a teenager. But nothing helped.
At school,…
