Social Anxiety is a Lie

[powerfulthoughts]

If you have social anxiety / social phobia, you have been deceived by a great lie. Somewhere along the road of life, you were made to believe you were not good enough, inferior, or on display to be judged as inferior. It's all a complete lie. Every human being has innate dignity and capabilities to do far more than they ever thought possible. The limitations you thought were true are false. This lie of social phobia has poisoned your life, and its time to reverse its effects by empowering yourself with the truth. You've been lied to. The truth is that you are an amazing, strong, person. Be a leader of yourself and start living your life in the truth. You are good enough.

 

[Gaucho]

hello

but SA is something automatic, its not just press the "OFF" button same with depression. in theory i know its all in my mind and i could have a fulfilled life, but the practice is a different story...

 

[powerfulthoughts]

hello

but SA is something automatic, its not just press the "OFF" button same with depression. in theory i know its all in my mind and i could have a fulfilled life, but the practice is a different story...

Its automatic because of false beliefs within your subconscious. When the truth of what you really are starts to be believed, then you can start the process of uprooting the lies which hold you back.

 

[gustavofring]

I don't really believe in strong negative antagonizing names (like LIE) for a behavior pattern.

I'm a firm believer of the more you want to fight or hate something, the stronger it gets. I believe social anxiety can be overcome, but I believe that making it into an enemy, gives only more stress when engaging social activities. Atleast that's how it turned out for me.

What does help is simply taking it easy, and not making it a big deal by trying to memorize all these mantra's and slogans.

That's just my 2 cents, don't want to shoot your thread down. It may be helpful for others then me.

 

[Lea]

If you have social anxiety / social phobia, you have been deceived by a great lie. Somewhere along the road of life, you were made to believe you were not good enough, inferior, or on display to be judged as inferior. It's all a complete lie. Every human being has innate dignity and capabilities to do far more than they ever thought possible. The limitations you thought were true are false. This lie of social phobia has poisoned your life, and its time to reverse its effects by empowering yourself with the truth. You've been lied to. The truth is that you are an amazing, strong, person. Be a leader of yourself and start living your life in the truth. You are good enough.

You´re mixing together 2 unrelated things.

 

[powerfulthoughts]

I don't really believe in strong negative antagonizing names (like LIE) for a behavior pattern.

But it is a lie. Its a deception arising in the mind because of what happened to us in the past. Its better to clearly identify it for what it is than to sugarcoat it, in order to start replacing it with the truth. Also, SA is not a behavior pattern, its a false belief that gives rise to behavior patterns, such as avoidance.

I'm a firm believer of the more you want to fight or hate something, the stronger it gets. I believe social anxiety can be overcome, but I believe that making it into an enemy, gives only more stress when engaging social activities. Atleast that's how it turned out for me.

I'm not hating a material thing, and I wasn't proposing to fight it, only to disbelieve a lie.

What does help is simply taking it easy, and not making it a big deal by trying to memorize all these mantra's and slogans.

What helps me is realizing that SA is about being caught up in a web of lies, and the only way to untangle it is to call it what it is. The tone of your post seems to indicate that you disliked my strong language about SA. But being bold about what we are facing is better than being passive.

That's just my 2 cents, don't want to shoot your thread down. It may be helpful for others then me.

 

[powerfulthoughts]

You´re mixing together 2 unrelated things.

That's okay, the post is still acceptable to me. I'm posting via my phone, so I can't be quite a organized as I'd like.

 

[bleach]

everyone has acute social anxiety, social phobia is the more pervasive fear. is low self-esteem a cause or an effect of social phobia? I would think it is the latter since the social fear response tends to be strong in childhood in social phobics and non social phobics alike, and I don't think children have firmly established feelings of self.

 

[thor01]

Well I agree the point as it relates to some things!

However I still think its possible to have symptoms of S.A, or aspergers or whatever else even if you think this way.

I for example believe this in other areas, yet I'd still sometimes find some situations naturally hard. Its just a "fault" of me. However I get around that by thinking thats OK, and is just how I am and that its not or shouldn't be a "problem".

 

[Lea]

That's okay, the post is still acceptable to me. I'm posting via my phone, so I can't be quite a organized as I'd like.

What I wanted to say it is kind of inborn psychophysical condition which you cannot influence by your thoughts or beliefs. These are 2 separated unrelated things, even if it might deceive some into thinking so.

 

[Canis lupus]

The feeling of inferiority might be a lie, although society keeps telling me otherwise, but the hostility you get from humans isn't. If I dare to speak my mind, 9 out of 10 I will get attacked or ridiculized. My SA was maybe formed by a sence of inferiority but it's being maintained by a hostile world. You got a choice to keep your mouth shut or be attacked. Most of the times I prefer to keep my mouth shut then.

 

[lyricalliaisons]

I have social anxiety severely but I've never felt that I'm not good enough or unworthy or less than others. I know that I am an amazing, strong, person. But social anxiety still plays a huge negative factor in my life and still keeps me from living the life I'd love to live.

Just because a person has social anxiety it does not mean that they hate themselves or feel like they are less than others. I don't feel that way at all, but I still have it and i know I can't be the only one.

 

[O'Killian]

Exactly what lyricalliaisons said. Social anxiety seems to have a fairly broad range of causes, and it seems to manifest itself in a lot of different ways. I've never felt innately inferior to someone else. I'm a human being, with all the good and bad that entails. I've got my flaws and I've got my strengths, just like everyone else, and if others can't recognize that, well, that's their problem.

And given the reaction here, I'm not the only one who dislikes being told how I feel is a 'lie'. I know damn good and well I'm irrational about this sort of thing already.

 

[Boby]

Do you think we have/had a choice?Do you think I waked up one morning and I said that's it I'm going to be a loser?No,of course not,my SA comes from some psychological processes that are out of my control.
Again it's not my choice to be like this,who would be that mad to chose to be unhappy anyway?

 

[Waybuloo]

We are all damn good liers.

 

[MrSunday]

The feeling of inferiority might be a lie, although society keeps telling me otherwise, but the hostility you get from humans isn't. If I dare to speak my mind, 9 out of 10 I will get attacked or ridiculized. My SA was maybe formed by a sence of inferiority but it's being maintained by a hostile world. You got a choice to keep your mouth shut or be attacked. Most of the times I prefer to keep my mouth shut then.

Hi,

I used to keep my mouth shut. Being afraid of social situation was the main reason I decided to keep quiet. For a long time, I had to tolerate people making fun of me, including some family members, the general public and school teachers/students. Sometimes, some students hit me and even got beaten up at times. Even at college, lecturers and some students made fun of me. I kept this all to myself. Bottled it all up.

Now I'm angry. Extremely angry. I'm getting to the point where I'm gonna snap. I'm slightly afraid to admit this, but I think I've become sadistic. I gain pleasure to imagine people that I hate suffer in pain, I rather not go into the details. I have no sympathy for these types of people. These people deserve to suffer for the rest of their lives.

I do wish they was an easy way to overcome social anxiety...

 

[SilentBird]

I can challenge my distorted beliefs because I am aware of what I believe. What is difficult to change is the anxiety that I learnt subconsciously when I was young before I could articulate how I felt. It is also extremely difficult to change a person's inherent sensitivity and predisposition to anxiety. Things can be changed on an intellectual level much easier than on an emotional level. That is the big challenge.

 

[sullyS25]

I can challenge my distorted beliefs because I am aware of what I believe. What is difficult to change is the anxiety that I learnt subconsciously when I was young before I could articulate how I felt. It is also extremely difficult to change a person's inherent sensitivity and predisposition to anxiety. Things can be changed on an intellectual level much easier than on an emotional level. That is the big challenge.

I agree with this completely.

I'm not gonna sit here and tell people what they believe about themselves is BS, who am I to say Social Anxiety is a lie.

What I do know is that I personally dont hide behind the term Social Anxiety anymore like I used to. I dont avoid people because "I have Social Anxiety". I just recognize that my body and brain has been programmed to be extra sensitive in social situations. I have gotten better and as long as I am completely aware of what I am thinking and feeling when in these situations I feel fine....I dont let these subconscious emotions control me as much as they used to

 

[MrSunday]

One way I combat social anxiety is by taking small steps. I hate public transport. I was so scared of catching the bus, full of people. I first stood by the bus stop, watched the bus go by. Then one day, I got on to the bus which was nearly empty. My next aim was to get onto the bus which was full of people. I did that and I felt like I almost had a heart attack. :/ I just stared outside the window and did not look at anyone. >_>

I'm also scared of answering or making calls to people that I don't know. This may sound extremely bizarre...I just forced myself to phone up companies and answer the phone at work. After several months, it became easy.


^ Sounds funny...I know.

I guess one way to tackle social anxiety is by forcing yourself into a situation that your uncomfortable with. Do take small steps and be patient.

 

[EscapeArtist]

Thank you powerful thoughts, that really inspired me because I agree with what you said. The people on here are amazing, all leaders, all strong. That was indeed a powerful thought. You are a powerful person!