AsHLeY
Well-known member
From an early age, I knew I was more than "just shy" but I never heard of social anxiety disorder before I came across it on the net last week. After reading up on it from many different sites and quizzing myself on various self-assessment tests, I've realized that I fit into this category very well.
I'm 21 years old now and there are sooo many things I look back on that suddenly make sense! No wonder I avoid so many social settings and I feel sick days in advance to giving presentations. No wonder I feel such unreasonable anxiety at the most uncomplicated situations....by uncomplicated, I mean anything from answering the phone to taking back items to a clothing store. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that I'm not the only person in the world that's affected by this.
However, my method for all these years has simply been avoidance of anything I can get away with (without drawing more attention to myself, that is.) If I have no choice but to be in a really large group, I generally drink and hope to god that I loosen up....which I know is NOT the answer! Most of the time, when I know I cannot get out of doing something I'm fearful of, I force myself to do it ~ but the anxiety is the worst feeling I can think of. I've become pretty good at "faking" that I'm fine in certain situations when really I'm freaking out inside.
I've always been able to make some friends but when I try to tell them of the anxiety I feel over certain situations, they just don't understand at all. They look at me funny and their answers are always the same - "oh, you're just shy" or "that's just your nerves, you'll be okay" or "well you're just a little nervous right now, that's all." It just sucks when people you're close with don't truly understand what you're going through on a daily basis over one of the most basic things in human nature: social relations. After reading some of your stories, I'm glad that finally, someone understands!
I'm 21 years old now and there are sooo many things I look back on that suddenly make sense! No wonder I avoid so many social settings and I feel sick days in advance to giving presentations. No wonder I feel such unreasonable anxiety at the most uncomplicated situations....by uncomplicated, I mean anything from answering the phone to taking back items to a clothing store. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that I'm not the only person in the world that's affected by this.
However, my method for all these years has simply been avoidance of anything I can get away with (without drawing more attention to myself, that is.) If I have no choice but to be in a really large group, I generally drink and hope to god that I loosen up....which I know is NOT the answer! Most of the time, when I know I cannot get out of doing something I'm fearful of, I force myself to do it ~ but the anxiety is the worst feeling I can think of. I've become pretty good at "faking" that I'm fine in certain situations when really I'm freaking out inside.
I've always been able to make some friends but when I try to tell them of the anxiety I feel over certain situations, they just don't understand at all. They look at me funny and their answers are always the same - "oh, you're just shy" or "that's just your nerves, you'll be okay" or "well you're just a little nervous right now, that's all." It just sucks when people you're close with don't truly understand what you're going through on a daily basis over one of the most basic things in human nature: social relations. After reading some of your stories, I'm glad that finally, someone understands!
