Does your social anxiety bother you

[KiaKaha]

Do you see it as a character flaw? Does the fact that you have SA or the way that it makes you act around others make you feel depressed? Or.. are you comfortable with it? (I have heard of strange stories where people are... but thats probably a myth of some kind)

I dont like SA, I think its ruining my life, and my happiness...not that I have ever really felt happy... I think about it a lot. How do you feel about your own SA..?

 

[missjesss]

I hate it aswel hence why I keep feeling depressed
I hate that my own famiyl doesnt understand it
I hate that I feel the need to run everytime an intimate relationship opportunity arises

that being said the only way to move forward is to accept the fact that you have it it's hard tho

 

[Tiercel]

I definitely see it as a flaw. I think of all the things I could be doing if I wasn't afraid of actually doing them, and.... well, I try not to think about it too much. Even just playing RPGs with my friends every week is difficult. My characters are always dull and boring because I can't/won't interact with the other humans at the table.

But I go back and forth on how I want to deal with this defect. I try to beat it until I realize that my effort is in vain. Then I try to live with and work around it until it's clear that that way isn't the best way. At that point I usually get frustrated and angry and swear that I'm gonna beat it, thus starting the cycle anew all over again.

 

[Kat]

I have found a certain amount of comfort in it by likening it to a preference like every one has different tastes; I just don’t enjoy the company of people. If there was no self esteem issues and anxiety problems associated with it. I could probably rule out the character flaw aspect.

 

[Zoya Dulzura]

I feel very weighed down by my feelings of anxiety, but at the same time I think it has given me a somewhat unique perspective on the world that has helped me see things that people without such issues don't always understand.

 

[MollyBeGood]

yes it does bother me.

 

[Snowdrop]

Does it bother me? Of course it does lol. I hate it, it's ruining my life. Man I hate sounding melodramatic

 

[LookingForward]

Absolutely, never off my mind, hate if sooooo much!!!!

 

[9407]

Yes. I've tried to act like I'm confident and not shy, but somehow EVERYONE seems to see through it.

 

[Minty]

I don't see it as a character flaw. I see it as something I'm suffering, kind of like the flu. No one sees the flu as a part of their character. It's a disorder that prevents my true self from showing to people I feel uncomfortable with. I really like my true self.

SA is inherently uncomfortable physically and mentally so, no. I am not comfortable with having it. I am, however, somewhat glad I have it because it has shaped my personality. I'm independent and can handle long periods of being alone. A lot of my solitary interests like reading probably wouldn't be important to me if I had been born a sociable person. I'm thoughtful and also very appreciative of the few friendships I have because they were hard to obtain.

 

[MaliceInWickedland]

I have mixed feelings about my SA.
I hate it because it prevents me from leading a normal life, but when I think about it, I actually became more human because of it. Before I had my SA, I used to simply brush people off and think "F*** the world" and didn't care about anything or anyone, but when I developed it I realized that everyone has their own problems and that there are always going to be people out there who are worse off than me, and from that I learned to appreciate life and people more, even though I still antagonize society for the most part.

 

[Kiwong]

Yes my anxety bothers me and makes me depressed. I really hate the way some people react to it that makes it so much worse for me. However, it is an illness, not a character flaw. A character flaw I see as anger, dishonesty, vanity. I don't see anxiety like that.

 

[Phoenixx]

My social anxiety definitely bothers me and also makes me depressed. I don't see it as a character flaw though, I see it as an illness too.

 

[Kingdave]

I hate it, can i get to the conversation before it worries me.

 

[StupidWiz]

Yes it does... I sometimes imagine if I didn't have this SA, maybe I'd be happier, have more friends, better life... etc.. ::

 

[HeadFace]

I don't hate it.. But I don't favor it. I don't think it's destroyed my life. It's a part of me. It's a part of who I am. It's far more than a disorder to me. It's a trait.
It's given me a chance to stand back and look at other people. It's given me a chance to think more, and give me more expirience/intellect.
Though it hasn't been perfect. It keeps me from going out, most of the time. And it makes everything awkward. But I've accepted that, and view it as my own self acting, rather than the disorder doing it.

 

[Mokkat]

I hate it because I have no financial headroom and it prevents me from getting a job.
I was a paper boy when I was in my early teens and I literally came home shaking from paranoia that people were staring at me a lot of times. It was a little better working after school at a gas station, but it made me be a fake happy employ with only customers and noone else to talk to, and the pay was lousy - I still remember all the bad incidents with angry customers, it haunts me though Im well aware that I shouldnt focus on it.
Now I get the shakes just trying to write a resumé.

Im 24 and the craving for a girlfriend that has haunted me so much in the past has become less important. I still seem like a shell of a person, but Im confident that I might be able to build up enough courage to start actively looking for one - if I can get control of my life, financially and otherwise.

 

[Psychedelicious]

Burn Away

It does bother me. However, I don't know anything other than this. I feel like this is me, and I absolutely hate that. I don't think it is the social anxiety that I see as a character flaw, but I think pretty much everything about me is some kind of a flaw. I want to be a whole new person, and I haven't given up just yet. If I were to say that it destroyed my life, that would mean my life was never not destroyed. I just don't want anxiety and fear to define who I am forever.

 

[DeMarco]

Indeed sonnnnnnnnnnnn