Is social anxiety all bad?

I have suffered a great deal from social anxiety and panic attacks for the past few years. These conditions have brought me more pain than anything else in my life. Almost every serious problem I see in my life seems to come back to my social anxiety, the feeling of sadness is at times overwhelming when I think about it all. Having this "disorder", however, has done more good than people seem to give it credit for. Don't get me wrong, if I could wish away these fears I would do it in a heartbeat. However, I feel like having anxiety has let me understand people more in general. Being empathetic towards other human beings is a key ingrediant to living a good life (in my opinion) and that I am thankfull for. When I began to notice my anxiety issues, I also began to question a lot of stuff about life, and now I am consequently a philosophy major in college, something that I am also thankful for. In an existentialism class, some famous philosophers I read up on actually speak of anxiety as being a sort of "authentic" way of living. One possible reason for anxiety is the realization of free choice, and the overwhelming power of that realization. If we realize we have choice in all situations, we can lead a more authentic life because we no longer blindly act upon random decisions; we actually realize the magnitude of choice and it scares us. While anxiety paridoxically creates less choice for us because of our fear, in a sense it lets us realize that we have more choice. Sorry for my sort of philisophical ranting, but that is how I feel. I don't feel blessed by having anxiety, yet I am trying to look at the positive aspect of it. Please respond if you have any questions or comments. Live well!

i think anxiety made me think alot more then i otherwise probaly would have and i learned and got insight from it but i don't think it's all that good, i mean if i would have lived a normal life i would have learned other things. but it's good that i at least learned something and that the time is not wasted, i learned from it and i can benefit from it when i'm rid of my social anxiety. that's how i see it.

i don't know about the choises, i have not been aware of this but now you mention it..the power is in your hands but sometimes the feelings get in the way and cloud your vision. i don't feel like i am afraid of choises, only for people because of experiences from the past that i asociate with situations in the present.

i think it's good to know you have a choise

i understnad what you mean.
i might be only 15 but my friends do always say how amazing i am at listening and sorting out others problems. i question the reason for everthing. i do my best to help other people with day to day stuff.
More than anything i try to avoid saying anyhting that would hurt somebody else, unles they have given me reason to. i doubt, if not for this SA i would ber quite so....sensitive

I totally agree DannyP! I am studying Art History and I have a passion for life. I hate having SP, I hppe one day I can be "cured" from this awful disorder. However having this anxiety makes me more aware of what is happening around me and the world itself. I wonder and think more than most people I know, it can be tiring too (thinking so much). But at the same time I see the beauty in the world. One day I hope to be a scholar and it is so exciting thinking about my futre. I mean I am excited about lots of things. SP just makes me less social than I want to be and I am too shy to talk to people and do certain things. But SP does not keep me from pursuing my dream.

I just wanted to add that I think this thread is fantastic and I think everybody should be hugely congratulated for their positivity. While reading your posts I had a little vision that I thought I’d share.
There’s loads of people at the start of a marathon…but the people with SAD, just before the race starts god nicks all their shoes. At first there’s a lot of confusion, and many give up there and then, wallowing in self-pity. But a few, either out of motivation or just not knowing what else to do, start running the race. For them the race is more painful than those that have shoes, and they’re a good mile or two behind. A few more may decide, at this point, that it’s hopeless and drop out. But some will carry on, and there will come a point when a few will begin to realise that they actually have a very unique perspective. For all those with shoes the road is very crowded with people all around them and most of them just blindly follow the crowd. But for those without, they are free to roam the whole road. They are outside of the crowd looking in. Plus they can appreciate all the beautiful scenery on the way without having people’s heads bobbing along and getting in the way. After a few more miles they learn to block out the pain in their feet and just grin and bear it. By this point many have caught up with the crowd and are content to finish the race with everyone else.
But for a few this won’t be enough, they want more. A few will discover that without shoes their feet are actually lighter than everyone else’s, so they can run faster and they speed through the crowd to finish amongst the leaders.
But regardless of where they finished, one thing was for certain: all those that finished the race barefoot were greatly respected and admired by everyone else for finishing despite their handicap. Plus, it was only those that raced barefoot that could really appreciate the achievement. For those lucky few, the sense of pride and satisfaction was much sweeter than everyone else’s.

I dunno if any of that made sense to anyone, but I guess what I’m trying to say is, always look on the bright side of life!

That was an excellent way of putting it actually. I enjoyed reading that one.


lmao@worrydoll in socks and flipflops.

Yeah, a lot of people with SA thinks it makes us more sensitive people, and I agree, which I guess is a good side of it. i've always been the kind of person that daydreams, and I'm quite a philiosopical person. So yeah, maybe its not all bad.

all great thinkers are insane.