has anyone maneged to overcome sp

[Anonymous]

I too suffer from sp. I just graduated from High Schoola week ago. It was 4 years of lonely missery . I just started going to a phycologist and I look forward to taking medication. After briefly reading some of the posts I noticed that no one had really overcome sp. I just wanted to know if anyone of you have truly overcome it or just mildly improved. :wink:

 

[arlequin]

Sp is not a thing one overcomes overnight, it takes a long time and will. Anyway I think there is not much people who overcomes it completely (I don't want to descourage you), it's a part of our personallity and changing a part of someone's personallity it's a hard taks, no matter which one it is. But everytime you go a step forward it's a big reward and gives you more confidence to carry on.

 

[richkid]

Arlequin is right it is not something that can be overcome overnight. I think you have come to terms witht he fact its not something that should be overcome. everyone gets nervous its part of human nature i would be astonished to find a single person who has never been nervous or hasn't gone to someone for help when giving a presentation or performance. The thing which has to be remembered is the condition is learned and is a over exaggeration of what you fell about your self. Confidence comes when you can say Yeah I like who I am I one bitch as mother fucker thats not going to take no shit from anyone, in the nicest possible way of cause.

I know its diffcult I've be up and down for about 3 years know like a yo yo its takes it out of you. what keeps me going is knowing deep down I am this confident person and I am proud of my self but until I realise this for myself and be more positive I'll still be down and unsocialable thats not what i want.

I'm going to stop waffling cause you all know how diffcult it is and how to persue you own happiness.

It can be done! 8O i hope

 

[Anonymous]

Bad news: You will never overcome social anxiety. Good news: Neither will anyone else. Social anxiety is a fact of life for every human that has ever walked the planet. Some people are more extreme than others. If you expect to become totally uninhibited and lose all self consciousness, I'm sorry, but it won't happen. Only robots lack all anxiety.

The only difference between someone with "social anxiety disorder" and those without it is that those with it have accepted this label for themselves. If this label fixes you in a certain position emotionally so you cannot grow, it is a real tragedy. We are just like everybody else, but feel certain things more intensely. If you work at it, you will not feel them much any more.

People work through social anxiety: It's called growing up and moving from being a teen ager to becoming an adult. Why did you not grow up?

 

[neddy]

Hello, you will find that most people who have social anxiety also have very low self esteem and lack of confidence, they always think bad things like they are always negative thoughts. One of the first steps to overcoming this is to work on the way you see yourself. You have to change the way you think about yourself, do a course which helps you to build up your self confidence.

Don't worry about being too nervous around other people as everyone feels discomfort at some time or another, the only difference is that most people don't let it show. It took you some time to get to the stage where you are now, so it will definately take some time to overcome it. As for overcoming social anxiety it is up to you, like how much do you really want to get better. Many people with social anxiety try to avoid social situations but that is not the way to do it, you have to face your fears head on, that is the only way to overcome this. It will be hard at first but the more you do it the easier it gets. Each little step you take is well worth the effort. I have come along way over the last 5 years but still have a long way to go but I will get there. I am not letting this thing rule my life. Life is short and you should live it to the fullest, make the most of everything opportunity that comes your way.

 

[MarCPatt]

It is true that every healthy and living person has anxiety

It is true that every healthy and living person has anxiety. Our problem is that our anxiety is so severe, it parlyzes us, and keeps us from doing every day things. We can not expect to stop feeling anxiety completely, because that will never happen, and is even true for what we call healthy, normal people. "The late Hans Selye, M.D., the leading researcher on stress, found that stress was an inevitable part of every person's life. No one can escape it. In fact, Sely called stress "the spice of life," the great motivator that may cause us to achieve great things.

Scientists distinguish between eustress, which does not cause panic attacks, and distress, which does. If you have eustress, you may experience anxiety from life events, but because of your attitude toward the stressors, you can deal with them and let go of them. If you suffer from distress, howeever, you cconstantly brace yourself against the life events that cause your discomfort......Such constant bracing against stressful life events makes you subject to panic attacks." And eventually becomes so common to your mind and body that it unvalences your body's natural chemistry and keeps you in a constant fight or flight stage.

I do know a close friend who had my same problem and has overcomed it. She told me that she still feels stress, but that she does not obsess about it anymore, so she has been able to bring her mind and body back to a normal stage.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank you for all your comments. I particularly had a problem with the post asking me wether I grew up or not. Social Phobia isn't a case thats based on you maturity level. It actually forced me to mature much faster. All the little stupid imature things that I found amusing suddenly become incredibly stupid. I am actually mad you even questioned my maturity level. Im not some naive teenage punk beging for attention. I know all the feelings I have are not rational and that's the problem. SP doesn't exactly put your mind at ease. It makes you overanalyze everything rather than naively taking it mindlessly. I am probably being too defensive but I just didn't agree with your comment

 

[Anonymous]

I was sorry for that mean post also because I dont think, for one, that it was necessary, and dont see the purpose of unreasonable posts. I'd hate to hear what that person had to tell me who's WAY old, and still is coping with sa. Mine is more of a generalized anxiety which encludes lots of things but i too am mature about it all, and think anyone brave enough to be on here and ask for opnions, is also "grown up". So, you have to kinda filter out some stuff, and look at all the other good posts,,,,,,,when ya can cool off from that one :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

Defending myself. Social anxiety disorder is normal. Everybody gets it -- it's called teenage angst. The funny thing is that most people work through their teenage angst and enter into the world of healthy functioning adults. Let me say this again: EVERYBODY HAS SOCIAL ANXIETY DISORDER AT AGE 17!

This is the age of onset for people with "Social Anxiety Disorder" - only because people with the "disorder" pass through this age without resolving these feelings. It's only a psychological diagnosis because you're now 30 but still react emotionally as a 17 year old.

Take your chance to resolve these feelings NOW before any more time passes. Everybody else has done it, it's now up to you to do the thing every pimple-faced, voice-cracking teenager has done.

It's not a disease. It's just being stuck in a very awkward moment.

 

[Anonymous]

Also, the feeling of being defensive and feeling like your ego is being attacked is part of the angst personality. Give it up, you'll be a lot happier when you have nothing to protect and permit others to think whatever they will about you.

 

[Mickey]

hello...check out my post: (the one written by mickey) Every single person in the world has at one point or another a situation that will give them some form of anxiety. So you can not completly over come it. Anxiety will aloways be there. NOw the question is will it ever become less severe. And my answer is yes. I rarely have anxiety anmore (as you will read in my post). Just dont give up. I(f you believe and if you are determined then you will overcome this. I garentee it.

Take care and God Bless
Love Always,
Marianne

 

[Anonymous]

This is in response to Mickey's post.

He says "Every single person in the world has at one point or another a situation that will give them some form of anxiety."

I would say that this very much minimizes the extent of anxiety in the average person's life. Anxiety is an all-encompassing, ever-present part of every person's life. It is what tells us to make eye-contact while at a job interview, it is what tells us to stand closer or step back from somebody talking to us, it tells us not to say idiotic things while we're on a date with a girl. For the "normal" person, anxiety is ALWAYS there and is ALWAYS affecting behavior. You would not want to be friends with a person who was totally uninhibited all the time.

Anxiety is life. Life is anxiety. Every person deals with it all the time. Don't fool yourself, you're a lot more normal than you think you are. You will never recover because you will never cease to be a human who wants to "follow the rules" and "be approved."

The key: persevere! Stand your ground! Don't retreat! Don't avoid! "Normal humans" fight the same battle everyday that you are called to fight. The only difference between them and you is that you have "given in" and "given up" while they are still on the battle field. OR you imagine a battle field you would like to fight on that they don't care to be on.

 

[Anonymous]

SuperChump go somewhere else, we do not want you here. This is not the place for you. I do not know if you are just evil, ignorant, or simply unjust. SP is an illness like any other illness. Some people are born with it, some acquire it, some inherit it, etc, etc, etc.

Do not bother giving me an answer to this post because I am not going to waste any more time with you. :evil:

 

[Mickey]

Im sorry Super Chump. I was only trying to help

-Mickey

 

[Anonymous]

As a person who has recovered from "Social Anxiety Disorder" I don't even have to defend myself because I give you permission to draw your own negative conclusions about me!

 

[Anonymous]

On second thought...

Helpful says: "We do not want you here."

Speak for yourself! If you want to make me feel like I've done something wrong, you're going to have to do a lot better than that.

Helpful says: "SP is an illness like any other illness."

Like AIDS? Like muscular distrophy? Like hepatitis? This mentality is exactly the cause of your difficulties. You're OK! You're normal! But if you insist on being "sick" I'm not going to stand in your way, you can suit yourself. Recovery is all about changing your ways of thinking. So long as you think to yourself: "I'm sick, I'm a misfit, I'm odd, I'm diseased" - you will be.

Helpful says: "I do not know if you are just evil, ignorant, or simply unjust."

None of the above. I am someone who has recovered from "Social Anxiety Disorder." Live in the flesh. This touchiness, insecurity, sensitivity is perfectly natural for someone who feels the way you do. I know, because I was there.

 

[Anonymous]

I just read about social phobia a couple of days ago and I was so shocked at how the symptoms described were so dead on with what I've been experiencing all my life. I never thought of my anxiety as a definitive illness but the article I read hit home so much that I started crying. I feel like reading about it is a real turning point for me. But I'm not sure if thats good or bad. Because now i can't help but see myself as disabled in some way but at the same time I feel less alienated because i know others are experiencing the same thing. I think superchump brings up an important point. I worry that convincing myself that I have a "disorder" is very dangerous. I dont want to alienate myself from "normal" people anymore than I already do. Has anyone tried cognitive behavioral therapy?

 

[Anonymous]

I just read about social phobia a couple of days ago and I was so shocked at how the symptoms described were so dead on with what I've been experiencing all my life. I never thought of my anxiety as a definitive illness but the article I read hit home so much that I started crying. I feel like reading about it is a real turning point for me. But I'm not sure if thats good or bad. Because now i can't help but see myself as disabled in some way but at the same time I feel less alienated because i know others are experiencing the same thing. I think superchump brings up an important point. I worry that convincing myself that I have a "disorder" is very dangerous. I dont want to alienate myself from "normal" people anymore than I already do. Has anyone tried cognitive behavioral therapy?

 

[Anonymous]

Superchump...

In my opinion, (and just an thought/opinion) you may have been seriously MIS-diagnosed with SAD... when you may have only been a bit shy. Had you actually been afflicted with the 'real deal' you wouldn't post the things that you do because you would KNOW first hand how severely sensitive we are & how the things you say might effect us.

This disorder is NOT a mind over matter disorder, not something we can turn off or on like an appliance and it just seems that you have no clue just how badly we WOULD like to be able to do just that, and I can assure you, if we could turn it off as easily as you tried to make it seem to be done, we would certainly never feel any need or desire to turn the disasters back on! I can assure you that every person here has at one time or another tried to convince ourselves to do something we were terrified of doing, (face our fears) but it is NOT that easy for us, it's not just the social contact, we will think of a number of reasons why we really shouldn't, and to us, everyone of those reasons seems perfectly logical AT THE TIME.

You have a right to your opinon(s) just as much as anyone else, right or wrong, complimentary or offensive, and I wish it could be as easy for all of us as it appears to have been for you, but unfortunately, in many cases, that just isn't possible.

 

[Anonymous]

I find this issue EXCEEDINGLY important, because I know the number of years of my like that have been gnawed by this worm. I see it as part of my "life mission" to save others from this mentality.

You wonder whether I have been afflicted with the "real deal," well, here are my bona fides: I have thought about suicide thousands of times, I have been exceedingly self-conscious, I have been in parties and wished I could disappear, my mouth has gone dry, my pulse has sped up, my adrenalyn has opened full throttle, my face has been flushed. I have avoided, distracted myself, "mind read." Believe me, I know EXACTLY how it feels. I have also been "diagnosed" by a psychatrist whose credentials I have no reason to doubt.

These were how I used to think of myself: worthless, hopeless, and most of all, SO ALONE - worst of all, SO DAMNED ALONE!

But now I'm all better. I thought this is what people wanted to hear about. Was I wrong?