Can any one help?

[Carmell0]

Hi, I am a new user on Social Phobia World. I am writing because I think I might have Social Phobia and I'm hoping someone can help me with some advice. As a child I was close to my parents but very shy to the outside world, I couldn't even talk to a boy if he came up to me. As I went through my teenage years I grew more confident but by then I had discovered alcahol, cigarettes and drugs. I gave up drugs 7 years ago when I moved to the UK and still felt more confident in myself then I had as a child. As a person I have very few close friends but I have many aquaintences, I can give speeches and talk to strangers but only for short periods, after a short while I get conscious of what to say next and I'm not very good in big groups. I have found over the years that I am becoming more conscious around strangers and about a year ago whilst in a meeting with some new clients, I was drinking a coffee and all of a sudden I developed a twitch in my neck and eyes whilst bending my head back to take a sip. I thought it was very strange but put it down to the coffee I was drinking. It's happened a few times over the past year and not just with coffee, with anything I drink and it's always when I am with strangers in an interview, meeting etc. where I am nervous. I am becoming more and more aware of it. Can anyone help me on this?

 

[corrinaelizabeth]

hi,i think u should focus on the positive side-you can give speeches albeit short ones and you can talk to strangers,that is a feat in itself.
I know what you mean about the eye twitching thing,thats due to stress.I think you are very brave moving to the uk,where are you from originally?that is a huge step and you should give yourself credit.
Have you been to the doctors?a low dose of medication and some sort of therapy may help that and alot of hard work.
What ever happens be proud of what you can do,and good luck!

 

[Tryin]

see a therapist. even if you don't have the SA i am sure it will help.

 

[Scottish_Player]

Try not to give your self the title of SA, you will end up reading more about it and slowly fit into what you are reading and could make things worse for yourself. Think of it like your going through a bad patch and things will get better. You sound like a very confident person from what you have written but you seem to be getting more self concious which cause stress and then the twitchs you are getting, just try and relax a bit more and take it easy and think of the old you and how you used to handle things before and get yourself back to that stage.

 

[Carmell0]

Hi, thanks for all your advice everyone! It's nice being able to talk to someone about it. Hopefully through some hard work and relaxation I can regain some of the self confidence I have lost over the years and let go of some of the stress I have built up..hopefully then the twitches will go too.. it can be scary when you don't fully understand what's happening to you or how to control it. If things get worse I'll look in to it further but think Scottish_Player is right, it seems the more I think of my twitches the more I get them..I'll maybe look in to some relaxation classes or something?

Thanks again!