Do you get anxious with strangers at your house?

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What I mean is, strangers like gas men, window-cleaners, workmen, etc. I feel I can't act myself in my own house. It's bad enough in the street, but in my own house, I get even more anxious. Especially when the window-cleaner is there, because I sometimes forget that he's there, and he can see right in and hear my horrible loud voice through the windows, and my mum often says, ''he can hear you say that!'' if I say something stupid, or she says, ''he might have saw you do that!'' if I do something stupid. My mum has a fear of embarrassment, you see. So do I, which is why I just hate people like window-cleaners coming to my house. It's a vicious circle really. I try to be out when they come, but sometimes they turn up randomly.

Anyone else feel the same?

I hide. Seriously. If my mum yells at me to get the gardener or whoever a drink, my younger sister does it.

i dont like it really; my home is my sanctuary, only a select few are allowed in, and only in a case-by-case invitation.
i live in a shared house though, so the sanctuary bit only means my own room, but that makes me even more territorial...

Yes. There is one round right now. Well he's not a complete stranger, it's my brother's friend, doing some work on the garden. It's just so awkward.

Yes, it's horrible!

If the fact that their being in your house isn't bad enough, it's made even worse when they begin to engage in some kind of half-assed banter with you, remarking on their jobs and co-workers and so forth, as if you are at all interested in hearing about their private lives!

I don't care, and yet they insist on blathering away in spite of my not caring.

If I am at all able to, I will escape into my room and leave them to their work and absorb myself in a book or something.

I hate it a lot.

During the first year I lived here, people were coming in every few months to check things in the house to set it up properly - like closing all the windows and overpressurizing the house to see if any windows leaked or checking what kind of heat pump the house needed to reach all the vents and I forget the other things. However, every single time they needed access to my bedroom, which drove me a bit around the bend. When they were doing the rest of the house I stayed in my room and avoided them. The worst part is I'd find out the day before or maybe two days before.

I also have trouble with people I do know whom I do not see often. If I don't have enough time to integrate the idea that they'll be here into my schedule, I'll just avoid them. It's easier to cope with people who do show up frequently - my nephew has a friend who's been coming over for about a year now, and I think I finally talked to him in the past couple of months. I know I talked to him last week, but with my nephew going to university, won't be seeing him much.

Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes it's not so long. Relatives are easier to cope with - It only took me a few days to get used to my stepniece when she visited.

My husband feels anxious if the cleaning lady sows up when we are at home. He gets angry, irritated, anoying. So I try my best for her to go why we are out so the house, to avoid that kind of situations. It is like he feels his personal space is being traspassed. I mean, it is a little uncomfortablr for me, too, but I do not react that way. My Aspie daughter doesnt seem to be bother by her presence, though.

Well we're getting some workmen to come to my house to put in a new bathroom, in a few weeks time. My mum, my dad and my brother are debating who should stay home (because we don't like to leave them alone in the house, if you know what I mean). I'm reluctant to stay here with them because I know I'll have to make conversation with them and offer them a cup of tea (that's what seems to be traditional for British people), and I don't think I'll want to keep that up all day long. It's too awkward, especially for someone like me who also suffers from Social Phobia, and paranoia of what others think of me. My family knows that, so I doubt they will expect me to stay in. My mum probably will, because she works the less, and loves conforming, and although she thinks she's not good at making conversation with people she don't know, she actually is good at it.

I get uncomfortable when people come into my house, pretty much any people, not just workmen. I expect other people to be like that too, and hate it when someone expects me to just walk into their house without knocking. I can't do it, even when people want me to.

Also I just moved into student housing and there are constantly people that I don't know in the house. It drives me crazy. And off topic, this weekend is homecoming and I live across the street from the school. I can hear cheering and it just makes me feel even more like a social reject, sitting at home on the internet in my pajamas.

i used to get really angry when my brother would bring people to the house i did not know or that i knew were up to no good.

i would smash plates and put holes in the wall, to scare them away....usually it worked.

also we did all house repaires ourselves.

I get up and leave the house leaving my brother or parents to deal with the stranger. I have a tendency to snap at strangers that come into my house so it is better for me to take a long walk.

I don't let other people in the house. If something needs fixing, I fix it. If I can't, it doesn't get fixed. Unfortunately, a lifetime of following that policy has led to a sitation where almost everything needs major repair. Soon I'll have to schedule a marathon repair festival where everything gets fixed at once. I'm dreading it.

Yes, 100%. I go out the house, or i lock myself in the bathroom until theyre gone. I really cant face them, i end up having a panic attack or seizing up

I recently had the landlord and his helper in my room for several days fixing my wall that was badly damaged by a roof leak and painting and doing other work to try to get the apartment up to code. It drove me nuts and put me through a lot of anxiety and stress. I hate having anyone in my house besides the people that live here. When I was younger I would go in my room and shut and lock the door when people were at my house.

Edit: I just realized the topic was about strangers. I don't like having anyone in my house that doesn't live here, stranger or not. There are few exceptions and I got a little better at tolerating them as I got older but I'm still relieved when they leave.

yes, I find that stressful. Actually, I sometimes find it stressful even if its not strangers.