Do I have social anxiety, or am I just shy?

[Cici Cooper]

I've been shy since I was six years old. It's gotten worse over the years, sometimes not as bad- but it's still a pain in the butt to deal with. It seems like there's been no way out of it. I've been reading up on the symptoms of social anxiety, and I seem to have quite a few of the symptoms but it's not nearly as bad as some people have.

• First, whenever I talk to people in public, or talk to people other than my friends and family, my voice gets tense and weird.
  
• I have a very hard time making eye contact with people while they're speaking to me.
  
• When people I don't know come up and speak to me, or when I get introduced to other people, I feel awkward and don't know what to say.
  
• Here's a weird one- when I approach someone from far away, I can't look at them or else I'll feel awkward. Say I'm in a store, and I'm walking up to my dad or someone, I stare down at the floor while walking. I also prefer not to be seen by the person I'm approaching and tend to go around them so I can go up behind them instead of going straight toward them, just so they won't see me walk up to them.
  
• Another weird one..I have a very hard time talking to people that I think are prettier than me, but anyone else that I consider equal or less pretty I can talk to easily and be very friendly with them.

I feel like I'm always being judged, and if people my age approach me and talk to me then my hands start to sweat and shake and I get very tense and awkward. I tend to have nothing to say most of the time so I'm sure I send out a very stuck up vibe, and I just hate it..I just wish I wasn't so tense all the time.

I'm always paranoid when it comes to my looks and I feel like I'm not good enough to talk to people that I consider prettier (which would be most people) I never leave the house without makeup and I always make sure I look more than decent when seeing friends. I'm also very awkward around my friends' parents and I can barely talk to them besides answering questions and saying hi. I suck at making conversations as well.

I'm also very fearful of going up to counters and ordering food for example, I usually do it but I really don't like it. I'm also ALWAYS afraid of being humiliated in public, or being pranked by others my age.

Can anyone tell me what's wrong with me and what I should do? I really don't wanna deal with this anymore.

I also don't like going to parties or to any social events. Most of the time I prefer being alone rather than with people.

 

[Cici Cooper]

Just bumping this post up..

 

[SickJoke]

Social anxiety is a severe form of shyness. It's an extreme fear of social rejection. So if you have strong anxiety in social situations, they label it social anxiety.

edit: as for what you can do, some of the links in my sig might be able to help, as well as some other threads on this board. Cognitive behavioral therapy is an option. In the end it's a matter of removing negative beliefs, facing social situations with the right attitude, and repetition until it becomes natural.