DOES ANYONE ELSE....

[italyprincess]

Have a social phobia so bad that when someone walks by them they stumble and almost trip? I can't make eye contact with anyone walking at school so I avoid it so badly that I can't watch where I'm going and when they walk by I CAN'T GET MYSELF TO STOP looking at them out of the corner of my eye and I pretend they don't notice even though I know they do and if I keep living this way I am going to have a heart attack and die. Please someone help me it's so bad I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was never like this before...

 

[Carol]

I'm sorry to hear that! Wish I had some advice, but I don't know what to say. Maybe go to a counselor.

 

[IBM]

italyprincess you need a best friend. Isnt there a group of girls you can hang out?

 

[terrified]

I could relate

Hi italyprincess,

I could complete relate. I'm so bad about that most cases, someone notices it. Sometimes, people laugh and think I'm very strange or crazy.

Sometimes, people get offended because they think I'm mean and I don't mean to be. I just feel terrified to be around people.

My issue is that I have Post Traumatic Syndrome that is closely associated with SP. Any time, I'm in public place, I get the flash back of how I got victimized before.

 

[cobalt_bluester]

Hi. Making eye contact lies at the root of all my problems it is a dilemma. If i make eye contact it seems forced because I am thinking about how should I make eye contact, plus I am uncomfortable with non-verbal communication and don't want people commenting on how crappy I look. My best advice to you would be try focusing past the person or focus on an object ahead but not on the ground. Do not feel awkward about glimpsing at the person as this is quite natural and they will do the same to you. Good luck!

 

[ScaredToTalk]

Hi, my anxiety is at the same level. I cant make eye contact for very long and when i do, i have the urge to look away after a few seconds. Also, when im talking to people i get facial twitches, wich is very embarrasing because i think peoploe can tell. Im 20 years old and am scared to be around any peers. I feel so much different than everyone i meet, and its very hard to feel comfortable. Also, another thing, is girls. Girls scare the crap out of me because im always scared that i make them feel uncomfortable if i try to talk to them. Overall, this anxiety thing has got a grip on me, and if i cant get over it i might as well be dead, because thats how i feel=(

 

[Jodie-Tyler]

awww 'scaredToTalk'
i dont think you are scaring girls off. the best thing to do is either try n find a girl hu has SA also, so u have something common, and she wont think ur weird cz she's feeling wat ur feeling.
ur only 20, u have the rest of live to find a gf.
if you get facial twitches wen talking to someone, try talking to someone on the phone or online, and the person your talking to will b so used to so, (and assuming u've told them bout ur SA) u may feel less nervous if u decide to meet with them in person.

 

[Jannah]

I can't make eye contact with people unless I am speaking to them, and even then I can't look into their eyes for that long without looking away. What sometimes happens is when people are talkling to me I listen, then when they pause or are waiting for me to say something I kind of stay quiet, so then it becomes uncomfortable to look into their eyes with out neither of us talking, thats why I have to turn my stare away at times even when speaking to someone. I guess the best thing to do is always have something to say even if it doesn't mean much.

 

[mmmm]

^ grunting is a good gap-filler because the other person automatically thinks it means what they want it to mean

 

[AmberSierra]

Have a social phobia so bad that when someone walks by them they stumble and almost trip? I can't make eye contact with anyone walking at school so I avoid it so badly that I can't watch where I'm going and when they walk by I CAN'T GET MYSELF TO STOP looking at them out of the corner of my eye and I pretend they don't notice even though I know they do and if I keep living this way I am going to have a heart attack and die. Please someone help me it's so bad I can't take it anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I was never like this before...

i know what you're saying. i never really thought of it as a disorder or something serious. i just thought i was extremely self-concious. but i feel like people watch me all the time. not in a paranoid way like that they're gonna hurt me or something. i just constantly feel self concious. and feel like i'm being compared constantly. i feel silly about it sometimes, and feel vain, but it's not like i think everyone's checking me out, i just feel like they're watching to see what i'm doing, where i'm going. and it seems like this year i've kinda drifted from my normally large group of friends and only have a bestfriend and my girlfriend.
and now [today actually] i guess im realizing it's a problem. and i want to get help or get something, because now that i think about it i feel like i'm missing a part of my life that otherwise i would have normally liked. i've turned to [ille.] drugs in the past for my self conciousness. but now i think i'll get a doctor to help me out. hah, and they thought it was just depression.

 

[ChristIsTheKEY]

Christ is the key u can find freedom and deliverance in Him i suffered with the same illness, believe it or not its a spirit and it needs to be cast out

 

[HidingOnThe4thFloor]

Yeah, you are trying SO hard to make a contact. I know how that feels. The problem is that you are focussing so intently on the other person that you can't attend to yourself, like . . . not falling over with the next step!

When this happens I realize that it's way more about me than the other person.