Why is our plight mostly ignored in the non-SAD world?

[Social_Monstrosity]

You go up to a person and ask them what Social Phobia is, I'll betcha around half will have NO idea what it is.

 

[Tiercel]

I don't know about you, but I don't go around explaining social phobia to people. I tend to hide from them instead....

 

[Pookah]

I've told people and they are like "but you are talking to me!" I'm not a mute, I have SA. -_-

 

[Danfalc]

Your bring up a good point, statistically it seems to be one of the leading mental health issues yet at school it's not something they educate people about.

Maybe it's because there is still a stigma with mental illness,and add to the fact many people with social phobia don't seek treatment or are open about it.

 

[Predacon]

I dare say they find it hard to understand a such a condition and think its just a matter of getting out more or stuff like that.

 

[Lost Girl]

Maybe it's because there is still a stigma with mental illness,and add to the fact many people with social phobia don't seek treatment or are open about it.

Yeah. This.

The most I have said to people that I am close to beside family is that I 'get a little depressed sometimes' or 'sometimes don't like to leave the house' or 'just don't want to see or talk to people sometimes'.
I am ashamed of my SA. and I think that it is absolutely the stigma attached having a mental illness, and the fact that no one knows anything about it besides people who have it it would seem - to get up the nerve to finally tell someone what my problem is and then explain to them that I can't make phone calls, or walk down the street without freaking out, that I cant speak up when I have an opinion about something? They I get nervous even around people I've known for years? - no thanks. I'd rather sit there and pretend I'm a quiet girl with nothing to say, as detrimental as that is to myself.

 

[Lost Girl]

I dare say they find it hard to understand a such a condition and think its just a matter of getting out more or stuff like that.

I would find it hard to understand myself if I didn't have it. Actually, it is hard to understand, even for me. I can't expect others to.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

I personally think there are thousands if not millions of people out there with undiagnosed SAD but go through life being told they're just shy and need to harden the f up.

 

[Emily_G]

It's the same way with stuttering. Even when told it's genetic and is an abnormality in the brain, most people still associate it with being nervous or dumb.

 

[Danfalc]

It's more a lack of knowledge. There have been plenty of diseases and disorders that I had never heard about before.

Yeah I think it's in human nature to not really care unless it is something which directly effects them,and since social phobes hide away,this is maybe another reason why.

 

[Liberty]

Because people in society are separated into two main groups.

Normal

Crazy

Having SAD plants you firmly in the unpredictable, crazy group who might kill people. People are always telling me that I might kill people because they don't understand why I'm anxious or act weird.

 

[DarkPhoenix]

According to the Anxiety Disorders Asssociation of America, there are 15 million SAD sufferers in the United States. That is a lot of people. Now that I think about it...it is strange that most people haven't heard of it. None of my friends or family had ever heard of SAD before I told them about it. Most still don't understand what the hell it is.

Wow.. i suppose society sees SAD as more of a phobia that can be overcome with exposure, rather than a debilitating disorder that effects every facet of life.

 

[Tiercel]

According to the Anxiety Disorders Asssociation of America, there are 15 million SAD sufferers in the United States.

So if roughly half of them are women, that gives me just under 7.5 million chances for relationship happiness.

Too bad I'm too afraid to rummage through that pile o' woman and find one for myself.

I'm even too afraid to tell some of my best friends about it. That's partly why I'm so glad that I found this site with all you wonderful people on it.

 

[deliman]

Wow.. i suppose society sees SAD as more of a phobia that can be overcome with exposure, rather than a debilitating disorder that effects every facet of life.

i think to a certain extent SAD can be overcome with exposure...it's just that people like us have to be FORCED to put ourselves out there. When certain commitments or responsibilities force me to go out and meet and communicate with new people, it usually sucks at first. i have a hard time pretending to be a normal person...but it does get better over time and i start to feel more comfortable. the thing is, once the commitment is over, i go back to my usual isolated lifestyle and the whole vicious cycle begins again. I feel like to fully recover from my anxiety i would have to be around people constantly. i would have to thrust myself into new situation after new situation and slowly realize that i'm not gonna go nuts after all and everything is ok. only problem is, like most people with SAD, i'm an introvert and have trouble getting accustomed to new people/ environments...so i just tend to avoid them...its sort of a catch-22, really.

 

[fudgy]

I find that the term "ocd" is thrown around casually .... someone checks they have locked the door for example and says "oh look my ocd at it again"

I always think to myself .."if only you knew the half of it "

 

[fudgy]

haha serafina don't get me started about public toilets


arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh


it deserves a thread of it own

and I am with you ...ocd or not , I don't know how anyone can sit on one ...eeewwwwwwww



I would rather go in a bush

 

[Waybuloo]

I would wager a guess that most people that i've come across wouldn't know what I have except that I am shy and quiet. Which is why it surprised me when someone at work said that I have social phobia and that person is a Jack the Lad type who is gregarious and loud, the last person that I would suspect of showing such understanding. So it may surprise you.

 

[Waybuloo]

Because people in society are separated into two main groups.

Normal

Crazy

Having SAD plants you firmly in the unpredictable, crazy group who might kill people. People are always telling me that I might kill people because they don't understand why I'm anxious or act weird.

People just can't help enforcing stereotypes, but actions of those like the Virginia Tech shooter don't exactly help the plight of outsiders. But then again there might be a grain of truth in it, I've felt so angry before I wanted to kill.

 

[Remus]

I've got a few complaints of my own in this department. It does deserve a thread of it's own. I hover even if it makes my thighs burn. It's good excercise. Works out the butt. ::

I line the seat with layers of tissue paper, so no part of me is in contact!

 

[Remus]

Hover, baby! Hover! ::

Am too fat

BAck to the original topic when I have told people they do say 'uh! what?'

So you say it's fear of crowds and they kind of get that as most people hate crowds