dorm kitchens

In my dorm hall the whole floor shares a small kitchen with the only sink and oven ect.. and I always have to make sure that there is no one else in there before I can go anywhere near it. I cannot bring myself to go in if someone else is there. Its often a place for the guys who live in the hall sit and talk so if I need to go in either to make food or do my dishes I can't. Right now I'm really thirsty and I don't have water bottles in my room so I want to get some from the kitchen but there's been a group of guys sitting in there for HOURS and its like they will not leave. I hate that my anxiety is so bad that I can't even walk down the hallway and get water.

i have the same problem at school, i hardly ever go into the kitchen alone and when i go downstairs to do laundry i pray no one's in the laundry room. it's ridiculous. i think the best thing to do is act like you belong there, which you do. you have as much right to be there as anyone else does. if other people are in the kitchen when you get there, just try to make eye contact and smile, no one's going to kick you out!

I had this problem so much when I lived in dorms. In my freshman year kitchen it was almost impossible to tell if someone was in there before I walked in and once I walked in it was too awkward to just turn around and walk back out (the whole being anxious about appearing anxious thing). I just did my best to smile and nod at them (focusing behind them so I didn't really have to see them and trying my best to not look nauseous) then pretend with all my might that they weren't there. It helped to imagine that they were a strange statue, a radio (if they were talking) or if I was really nervous about them to imagine that they were intruding on my space and let the irritation overtake the anxiety.

It does get easier to do. In freshman year I would always jump and hurry to finish my laundry if someone walked in while I was in the laundry room, my whole body just kind of tingling with nervousness. In my sophomore year I moved to a much larger dorm and someone would come in/be in there about half of the times I'd go to the laundry room. It was terrifying at first (a couple times I turned around and went back to my room if someone was in there) but then I'd go down and have to wait 30 seconds for my wash to finish up (on busy days people would take your stuff out of the laundry in like 5 minutes and knowing strangers touched my underwear is a bit much, on top of being embarrassed about being late to pick up my clothes) or for a dryer to free up and I got used to there being someone else in the room and not having to be polite to them - I could just nod once at them and proceed to do my own thing while they did theirs.