Am I cured from Social Phobia?

[latinoprince]

Hello;
First off my name is Jess, I am 20 years old and I'm a male as you can see on my avatar lol and I am kind of new to this forum. I've had social phobia ever since I was little because I had a rough past and I used to get bullied at school and I was even raped by my grandfather =/ Anyways, I am from Cuba but I moved to USA in 2005, when I got to this country I had severe social anxiety, I couldn't get a job and I was doing bad at school because I couldn't concentrate thinking about other people judging me and I was scared to drive so I couldn't get my license. To make a long story short I went to therapy and I didn't work, I tried hypnosis, it didn't work. Then one day all of a sudden I became more and more comfortable with social situations, I mean I was still scared but it was not as bad as before, I got my license, I started driving, I went to several job interviews, although I was so nervous and shaking and my hands were sweating I got a job at Best Buy and I started dealing with people that I did not know and I didn't feel scared anymore. Today I am one of the best costumer service representatives at Best Buy and I am completely comfortable and confident about myself. I am engaged to a wonderful boy and we've been together for a year now, yes I am homosexual lol. Slowly but surely I have been accomplishing what seemed impossible to accomplish before so I ask myself this question all the time, am I cured? and how did this happen? I still get al ittle nervous before I go out and I'm still kind of "scared" to make phone calls for whatever reason but I am not scared to deal with people. I am happy with where I am today and as time passes by I become better and more "normal". I thought I was gonna be stuck with social phobia for the rest of my life but God helped me and I know he can help all of you if you ask him and give him a chance. Honestly, although I am not a religious person I believe and love God because I tried everything human possible to cure S.A.D and nothing worked until I started praying, my advice to all of you is to find something to believe in, something that makes you feel good and keep it in your heart all the time and start getting out of the comfort zone until it becomes comfortable to you.
Thanks

 

[Aussie_Lad]

Good to hear it worked out for you.

 

[aien89]

I don't mean to be negative, but I don't think that someone with Social Phobia can ever be cured 100 %. You can get alot better so you'll be able to carry on with your life and still be happy.

But I'm so happy to hear your story and congratulations alot!
I do feel alot in the same boat as you and it's great.

But answer me this question: Can you do a presentation in front of 30 people?
What would you feel in this situation?

 

[latinoprince]

I know it can't be cured a 100%, that's why I still sometimes get nervous at social situations that "normal" people don't think is a big deal but what I mean by "cured" is that I can manage the anxiety to a level where it will not affect my everyday tasks, you know what I mean? It might not be cured but it is good enough for me and to anyone who suffers from it. And to answer your question, I don't know but I have taken acting and singing classes in college and done presentations in front of a decent amount of people, I was dying of fear at the time lol but I managed to get it right. And hey sometimes I stuttered and I sound dumb lol but I am happy with what I got so far Thanks for your comment and I wish you the best of luck.

 

[aien89]

I know it can't be cured a 100%, that's why I still sometimes get nervous at social situations that "normal" people don't think is a big deal but what I mean by "cured" is that I can manage the anxiety to a level where it will not affect my everyday tasks, you know what I mean? It might not be cured but it is good enough for me and to anyone who suffers from it. And to answer your question, I don't know but I have taken acting and singing classes in college and done presentations in front of a decent amount of people, I was dying of fear at the time lol but I managed to get it right. And hey sometimes I stuttered and I sound dumb lol but I am happy with what I got so far Thanks for your comment and I wish you the best of luck.

Wow, congratulations!

You actually sound pretty cured to me. You were very nervous at the presentations but you did it!
I once heard a doctor say, that the difference between a social phobic and a shy person is, that for example a presentation can make a shy person very nervous, but he gets through it and goes happy home. The social phobic person will be scared to death and definitely avoid the situation, unless it's almost life and death.
So I do think that your social anxiety is very limited now and that's just great!

 

[latinoprince]

Thanks man yup, that's so true.

 

[miss_amy]

Who cares if you are cured. Forget about it and enjoy now. You are doing well and functioning and sounds like you are enjoying life. Good for you and well done. If you do fall back you can know its a bad patch and that you can get back good again and move forward from the hard times.

I have to say its wonderfully refreshing to hear such positivity on this forum. I wish you the best and continued happiness.

 

[spider04]

I work at a Dell service center as a technician, aside from fixing desktops/laptops I need to answer the phone and attending clients there everyday. At first it was hell and I did alot of mistakes but I got used to the work and I can't understand now why I was so nervous at first, having to deal with people everyday has helped me alot although I can't say im cured from SAD, I never will be, I still have alot of issues...

 

[latinoprince]

Who cares if you are cured. Forget about it and enjoy now. You are doing well and functioning and sounds like you are enjoying life. Good for you and well done. If you do fall back you can know its a bad patch and that you can get back good again and move forward from the hard times.

I have to say its wonderfully refreshing to hear such positivity on this forum. I wish you the best and continued happiness.

Thank you so much and yes, that's exactly why I posted this; I want every person out there that suffers from SAD to know that they're amazingly strong! And even strong enough to overcome Social Phobia and get back on track, whether we believe it or not we have that power within ourselves we just have to discover it. To anybody out there who doesn't have any friends, I'll be your friend <3

 

[latinoprince]

I work at a Dell service center as a technician, aside from fixing desktops/laptops I need to answer the phone and attending clients there everyday. At first it was hell and I did alot of mistakes but I got used to the work and I can't understand now why I was so nervous at first, having to deal with people everyday has helped me alot although I can't say im cured from SAD, I never will be, I still have alot of issues...

Hello,
You are very strong and I completely admire the fact that even though you were scared you still did your job, and it's okay to make mistakes, all of us do! I've learned that we shouldn't beat ourselves so much because it is normal to make mistakes. A lot of us people who suffer from SAD tend to beat ourselves a lo when we make mistakes but before doing so we have to stop for a second to think and realize that we're only human beings. Thank you for your reply and I wish you the best, you're on your way and the fact you have this kind of job alone is a huge accomplishment, congrats
-Jess