Social Anxiety Disorder

having SAD life sucks and rocks. If I was super rich, I won't mind having SAD.

 

Life is out of control when you fear the everyday situations that every person endures to be succesful in life. I too have social anxiety and wasnt always like this but one day I woke up and wasnt the same ever again. I cant go outside and enjoy myself because Im extremely anxious and paranoid and would rather sit inside all day by myself because everyday life I just cant handle. I had friends but dont hang out with them anymore because I just cant trust anyone. I cant get high anymore because I bug out and I believe that and shrooms is what messed my brain up.

 

Are you guys angst about who is watching you, listening to you, what people think when out in public? Also, where to look and place your eyes. Do you experience eye phobia?

 

oh hell yes, eye phobia. if i'm just looking around, and someone looks me in the eye, my brain goes crazy, thinking "THEY THINK I WAS STARING AT THEM, SHIT, NOW THEY THINK I'M WEIRD OR OBSESSED WITH THEM, DAMNIT! RUN AWAAAY!" even if our eyes only met for two seconds.

and i think that everyone is staring at me, wondering why i'm not talking. and they are. they say, "hey, why are you so quiet?"

 

I have days when I have trouble looking my co-workers in the eyes.

 

same here I love to smoke but don't because it makes me paranoid and lethargic but I do miss it ):

 

I get paranoid like crazy if I'm high in public. I wouldn't go into a store stoned even with the promise of a million dollars.

 

Just wanted to share this with any of you guys that's having problems with social anxiety. If you aren't familiar with how CBT works to resolve these issues, I highly recommend reading this article and seeing if it accurately describes what goes on in your head, and a reasonable way to overcome the anxiety. Don't think that if you've been to a therapist, or two, or ten, that it's useless to keep trying. The most common mistake a lot of people make is not asking a therapist they're considering seeing how they go about treating patients with (in this case) social anxiety, how successful they are, and how long the process to recovery takes. Those aren't stupid questions by any means, in fact, it makes no sense not to ask. Anyways, it's a fairly long article, but it's still only a very general outline of how the therapy works, particularly when it comes to the exercises.
http://www.cognitivetherapy.com/socPhobPrint.html

 

I suffererd from this for almost 4 years now. Just recently have I started to get better. Im almost 23 and the anxiety has lessoned quite a bit. I started reading about our human evolution and came to a realization that we are all the same, no matter what social class, race, ethnic background, or religion. That has helped me out quite a bit. You must remind yourself of this when you are in public.
In addition I listen to The Beatles qute a bit and even though it might sound funny, I think that it has helped out ALOT.

 

Hi,
Me too am in this stupidity of a state of mind.
My parents make me feel useless because after all I can't do much by myself, being scared by getting to be among people and deal with various social situations.
And I am to become a teacher...
Getting to be among work colleagues is my worst nightmare...
The only way I can express my opinion 'in public' is on forums on the Internet... otherwise I can't open my mouth...

 

i understand where u at cuz i been there too and its mot a nice place to be.but i take meds now and i am do it alot better now.i dont get as freaked out anymore or worried about others thoughts or judgements of me.but that cbt sounds good,sounds like werk ,but if u want something bad enuff you has to werk 4 it rite.anyways,good luck in the serch for whatever it is thats going to help u,and you'll find it,and when u do u will wonder why you were so freaked out before.wish u well

 

although i've only ever had this disorder in a mild way, I can understand how it fucks with your life. I had the problems of holding a job, answering the phone, talking to people, and you should have seen me shake at the thought of buying a car or a phone or anything that involved talking to a pressurizing sales guy.

I went through the main stream route of pills and therapy, the pills just made me feel sick and tired 24/7, the therapy just made me feel like a complete loser (and this was on the NHS so you don't get to choose your treatment).
After a few years, and the failure of my first marriage, I just had to get a job. Not because I wasn't afraid, but just to pay the bills. And I was shit scared and shaking most of the time, I would hardly talk to anyone and went through about 10 jobs. Luckily I eventually stumbled into a job that was cool. It was a government job, the manager didn't know what i was meant to be doing he just needed someone to fill the post, the job was piss easy and something that I knew I could do with my eyes shut, and people would come up to me and talk about work. Slowly I learned to deal with the urge to run and hide, the urge to look down at the desk when people talked to me, the feeling of just clamming up and having a heart attack when people talked to me.
That job finished just because I went travelling to find myself once I had mastered a little bit of hiding my true feelings and the wall of confidence. I found several similar jobs where people just leave you to it and you work on your own - deliverys, outdoor work, traffic counts etc.
Nowadays I feel I still have a lot of the same anxieties, but just have learnt to show confidence by how I stand, how I talk, how I look people in the eyes.
Yes it might be a front, but dammit sometimes the front can make you feel better because the reactions from people encourage your inner confidence.

I still get shit scared about talking to people on the phone - whether I make the call or whether people call me; and when I meet new people in a crowded social area - bars, pubs, clubs, wherever. Its just something I deal with, and have learnt to deal with by summoning up that inner courage to know I am better than the sum of my anxieties.


So if you feel you need the pills, then take the pills, but remember that the therapist or doctor proscribing them to you is giving them to you as a temporary measure. They no longer all believe that anxieties are a permanent disability and will try to ease you off them at the same time as other therapies.

If you decide not to go with medication then try things like drama classes and tutors - they have custom designed classes in a lot of cities which help conquer stage fright and shyness amongst other things.

I always remember reading a book years ago - I think it was called Improv or something similar.

This drama teacher had a class where some of the students had serious problems with stage fright, he tried a technique using masks, he gave the students random masks and they had to go on stage doing this piece that had given them the worst fears. All of them managed to perform it well, just through knowing that no-one could see the face behind the mask.
He then got them to picture the mask on their face each time they got this fear, yeah an invisible mask or whatever, but they found that picturing that noone could see their fears made them able to be more confident.

And then theres the stanislavski exercise - if you have fear in a crowd, visualise a circle around you, your personal space, outside of which nothing exists. Picture the room or the street or whatever empty. It sounds dumb but it worked for me a lot of the time.

 

oh and maybe cut down on the ganj, I know I am gonna get a lot of flack for saying this, but it can make some people fucking hugely paranoid, like way more than other people, and some people that paranoia doesn't stop. Consider it like an allergy, yeah everyone gets paranoid sometimes when smoking, but if you're "allergic" you get the paranoia 100 times worse.

 

yeah i can attest to that ganja paranoia,cuz it'll really make your perceptions seem alot werse and you'll get all freaked out about.

 

What kind of meds?

 

hmmm...

 

effexor

 

I only have 2 friends, I can't hold a job, I get scared to death of talking to new people... all because of this fucking shit. I can't even answer the phone if I don't recognize the number. I always make someone else pay for my movie ticket at the theater. I am so sick of this.

I have more things wrong with me than I care to admit. Fear of commitment, fear of abandonment on top of that, etc. but this is the thing that bothers me most. I can't even keep a job for my fear of people. It's sad. I was wondering if there is anyone else out there with this shitty disorder, and what they have done/used to overcome it.



dude i know EXACTLY how you feel. i'm the same way i have one friend and she leaves for college sunday

 

im terrified of groups of people. i had a panc attack one morning before school cuz i was afraid of people looking at me, and in class i could never concentrate because i was too worried that people were laughing at me

 

panic**