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Beatrice
Guest
Well yeah I know it's just an online quiz, but even given that fact I was surprised because the number was SO low. And yes, of course there are different levels.
How bad is your Social Anxiety?
- Thread starter EasySkanking
- Start date
Well yeah I know it's just an online quiz, but even given that fact I was surprised because the number was SO low. And yes, of course there are different levels.
Even so, what does a photo have to do with the severity of social anxiety?
You can't judge anyone by their appearance- or by any other "criteria" for that matter. What's going on inside our heads may or may not be reflected by what we actually show the world.
Deus_Ex_Lemur
Well-known member
Yup, "do the thing we fear and the death of fear is certain" - maybe not always quite that absolute - but controlling how we ACT/respond - is controlling our fear in essence. Awesome way of saying it. We ALL have more power and 'intestinal fortitude' than we think =)
Never noticed the stubborn nature
Most everyone has some social fears; you may have a more Generalized Anxiety Disorder than Social Anxiety? And depression and things that can appear like SA. AND this test is sorta weird anyways. BUT good for you for not letting the fears make you avoid them.
It's all a matter of drawing 'lines' between social anxiety, shyness, social-phobia etc.
I suppose most doctors qualify "Social Anxiety Disorder" as something that prevents you from living a life full of friends, happiness, goals, etc. So if this "social phobia" that you think you have affects you negatively in this way, such as having little or no friends, depression caused by this and having no goals/etc, you indeed have a diagnosis of 'Social Anxiety Disorder'.
I suppose a lot of people have insecurities about themselves or difficulty connecting with people, but I don't think this really qualifies (as doctor's apparent definition of) as "Social Anxiety Disorder" (aka "social anxiety" / "social phobia").
Anyone that really has "Social Anxiety Disorder" will agree with me that it's hell feeling anxious all the time, like something bad is about to happen like you're fighting for your life at the very moment (even though nothing is going on at the moment except all this imaginary fear in our heads).
I think there's people out there that are just shy but want themselves to be perfect in terms of social being/status - beating themselves over it, but don't necesarily have a "diagnosis" of "Social Anxiety Disorder" because what they have does not get in the way of them living their lifes enough.
Or is it really just a much much more milder form of "Social Anxiety... Disorder"?. What do you think?
I suppose most doctors qualify "Social Anxiety Disorder" as something that prevents you from living a life full of friends, happiness, goals, etc. So if this "social phobia" that you think you have affects you negatively in this way, such as having little or no friends, depression caused by this and having no goals/etc, you indeed have a diagnosis of 'Social Anxiety Disorder'.
I suppose a lot of people have insecurities about themselves or difficulty connecting with people, but I don't think this really qualifies (as doctor's apparent definition of) as "Social Anxiety Disorder" (aka "social anxiety" / "social phobia").
Anyone that really has "Social Anxiety Disorder" will agree with me that it's hell feeling anxious all the time, like something bad is about to happen like you're fighting for your life at the very moment (even though nothing is going on at the moment except all this imaginary fear in our heads).
I think there's people out there that are just shy but want themselves to be perfect in terms of social being/status - beating themselves over it, but don't necesarily have a "diagnosis" of "Social Anxiety Disorder" because what they have does not get in the way of them living their lifes enough.
Or is it really just a much much more milder form of "Social Anxiety... Disorder"?
. What do you think?
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Beatrice
Guest
This aspect of it is what gets me so depressed about it (besides being lonely, of course). I'm sure it does for nearly everyone with the problem, but the realization - that I am anxious virtually every waking moment of my existence - never dawned on me until very recently. I became much more aware of when I was anxious, and realized it truly is all the time (I do have GAD). It's truly no wonder people who are this way end up feeling extremely depressed, even suicidal. If you constantly have negativity coursing through your body (that is VERY hard to nearly impossible to control), of COURSE your mind is going to be negative! It's only natural. If a person is sick, they are often mentally miserable as well. If they are in pain, or freezing cold, or unbearably hot, physically exhausted - oftentimes they are mentally miserable. But we are like this constantly. We may as well be in hell.
I have a question,what if the anxiety and fears doesnt inhibit the person from doing something is there still a problem?or they got over the problem?
I mean everyone suffers from anxiety and fears,not wanting to start some huge debate but its a curiosity of mine.
Good question. I think that if the person becomes depressed, or feels that their quality of life is impaired by it, even if they don't seem that inhibited, then it is a problem. Part of the problem could be imagining that you have a problem when there really isn't one, but that's probably not social anxiety, but hypochondria or something else altogether.
Yeah, I think maybe you have more General Anxiety Disorder than Social Anxiety....?
See, because people with SA get depressed more from having no friends/relationship/job or not being able to talk to people, than they do about being anxious - they sorta just "accept" it... though not like it. They're just basically more concerned with being accepted or liked than about not being anxious.
It's all a bunch of fine lines that determine 'this or that' - I suppose we all have a "little bit of this and a little bit of that"... when it really becomes a problem is when "this or that" affects your life in a negative way
See, recently I went to this bonfire meetup for people with Social Anxiety/Shyness... and I noticed that a few people there that claimed to have "Social Anxiety" were getting married, had jobs where they interviewed people, or were pretty talkative and secure with themselves (I suppose the "real" S/A'ers were stuck at home though there were a few that indeed were very quiet and acted strange, myself included).
Now, how can that be possible to have SA and be getting married or have a job interviewing people? (it's like claiming to be handicap (as in missing a leg or something) and running a marathon).
I think these people had more an issue with insecurities and not really what is classified as 'Social Anxiety Disorder' - but then again, maybe it's just a much milder form?
From my perspective (having a very severe case of SA and having come a long way), I just don't think that people like that classify as having 'SA" anymore - they're more like "shy" or "introverts" - which all they really need are lessons in self-esteem and/or a confidence-boost. Of course they may have another disorder along with this "shyness" or "introvertedness" like GAD or depression that makes their mental status worse.
So, to me, if you have no real friends, no romantic relationships, difficulty at school/work and have difficulty talking to or being yourself with people(or varying degrees of all these problems) then you have SA... if are missing even one of these (and others), then you're probably just shy or introverted (which by the way, *congratulations*, because you are more lucky than you think =)).
See, because people with SA get depressed more from having no friends/relationship/job or not being able to talk to people, than they do about being anxious - they sorta just "accept" it... though not like it. They're just basically more concerned with being accepted or liked than about not being anxious.
It's all a bunch of fine lines that determine 'this or that' - I suppose we all have a "little bit of this and a little bit of that"... when it really becomes a problem is when "this or that" affects your life in a negative way
See, recently I went to this bonfire meetup for people with Social Anxiety/Shyness... and I noticed that a few people there that claimed to have "Social Anxiety" were getting married, had jobs where they interviewed people, or were pretty talkative and secure with themselves (I suppose the "real" S/A'ers were stuck at home
though there were a few that indeed were very quiet and acted strange, myself included). Now, how can that be possible to have SA and be getting married or have a job interviewing people? (it's like claiming to be handicap (as in missing a leg or something) and running a marathon).
I think these people had more an issue with insecurities and not really what is classified as 'Social Anxiety Disorder' - but then again, maybe it's just a much milder form?
From my perspective (having a very severe case of SA and having come a long way), I just don't think that people like that classify as having 'SA" anymore - they're more like "shy" or "introverts" - which all they really need are lessons in self-esteem and/or a confidence-boost. Of course they may have another disorder along with this "shyness" or "introvertedness" like GAD or depression that makes their mental status worse.
So, to me, if you have no real friends, no romantic relationships, difficulty at school/work and have difficulty talking to or being yourself with people(or varying degrees of all these problems) then you have SA... if are missing even one of these (and others), then you're probably just shy or introverted (which by the way, *congratulations*, because you are more lucky than you think =)).
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Yeah, I think the "problem" only exists if it inhibits your life, as you said. Otherwise, it's just a "nuisance" which can probably be removed easily (compared to actual phobias or "disorders").
Now, I don't think that you can make it an "all or nothing" thing as presented here. Some people have no problems functioning at work because there is a set routine, and definite tasks to be performed. So someone with SA may be able to conduct a job interview- as asking set questions looking for certain answers is quite different from talking to someone with the hopes of making a friend or pursuing a romantic relationship. And some people with SA do have a few friends, and are able to have romantic relationships (perhaps because they are a female and the male pursued them- or a male that fought those fears to ask a girl out- however having a relationship in and of itself does not mean that you are cured of SA- just that you were able to be comfortable with one person).
^Yeah yeah, but see they still have those "things" to varying degrees. What I mean is, even if they have a boyfriend/girlfriend, have friends or have a job - if they suffer from constant discomfort due to feelings of inferiority/etc, then yeah you could still classify that as SA.
See, if the person has no problems conducting an interview with another human being (aka their fear), then can you really say that they have this "problem" in the first place? Because a true social-phobic, has a fear of looking stupid or being inferior in *any* social situation (it being a superficial interview or what-not).
Anyway, it's all about drawling lines, the thing is, where do we draw them? I suppose we leave that to the doctors (which this 'quizz' was created by one by the way and is/was used to diagnose SA... so It's accurate enough, though not perfect.) Answer the questions right and you'll get a pretty good accurate result. This test is probably more accurate with an actual doctor giving you the questions and guiding you throughout the process.
See, if the person has no problems conducting an interview with another human being (aka their fear), then can you really say that they have this "problem" in the first place? Because a true social-phobic, has a fear of looking stupid or being inferior in *any* social situation (it being a superficial interview or what-not).
Anyway, it's all about drawling lines, the thing is, where do we draw them?
I suppose we leave that to the doctors (which this 'quizz' was created by one by the way and is/was used to diagnose SA... so It's accurate enough, though not perfect.) Answer the questions right and you'll get a pretty good accurate result. This test is probably more accurate with an actual doctor giving you the questions and guiding you throughout the process.
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just because a person doesn't show external signs that they are anxious and they appear to still function properly in society doesn't mean that the problem doesn't exist for them. alot of people are completely unaware that i have SA and would probably laugh if i said i told them i did. i've just learned to adapt to the physical symptoms that are prevalent w/ the disorder (elevated heart-rate, excessive sweating, blushing etc) and am able to display myself to other people in a manner that appears "normal". however, it is incredibly draining on my nervous system and my mind to constantly put up this facet and as a result i can never really enjoy myself when i'm around other people. i agree with lurknomore, in that if the anxiety affects your quality of life in social situations, regardless of one's functionality, then that person still has SA.
^Cool 8), that's what I wanted to get to. Thanks for adding to the conversation (exclamation point here - my keyboard's ****ed). So I suppose that milder forms of SA (and yeah there are even ones that appear to not be of SA at all), do exist and qualify as "SA" - I guess the point is that if this thing that you call "SA" makes you feel like ****, then you have it
- my keyboard's ****ed). So I suppose that milder forms of SA (and yeah there are even ones that appear to not be of SA at all), do exist and qualify as "SA" - I guess the point is that if this thing that you call "SA" makes you feel like ****, then you have it Rembrandt Broam
Well-known member
But the social-phobic may not believe that he/she will look stupid in certain situations, and therefore their SP will not affect them in those specific situations.
I can handle interviews perfectly well. I can also handle working at my job. The reason is that these are both situations where I know exactly what is expected of me. There is structure and routine involved in both, and I do structure and routine very well, so I'm able to function in those environments. But put me in a situation such as a party, where the rules are far more loosely defined, and I will cease to function.
So I would disagree that the ability to function is some situations (even if those situations would prove difficult for other SP sufferers) means that the person doesn't have the problem. It's just that, for them, the problem is situational.
Niiña
Well-known member
when I made a quiz like this, it said me that I had 60 points alsoI've noticed that a lot of people here wonder how bad their social anxiety is... Well, I found this cool test online to determine how bad it is. It seems to be pretty accurate for myself
My score is "60" - moderate social phobia. I took this test before I started working hard on my social phobia and I had marked social phobia back then (about 3 monthes ago) yaaay!
What's yours?
Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale Test - SAS
in my personal opinion i think that we can with this but with hard job
Yes we can !!
Hemosapien
Active member
Your score-
43(fear) + 34(avoidance) = 77
marked social anxiety
43(fear) + 34(avoidance) = 77
marked social anxiety
Kiwong
Well-known member
19 (fear) 15 (avoidance)= 34
My social anxiety is specific to certain occassions. There are questions I can't answer, like giving a party, I don't give parties by choice, or go to them, I don't try to make people's aquaintance for romance. So these things do not contribute to my anxiety.
I noticed I scored 71 back in August.
My social anxiety is specific to certain occassions. There are questions I can't answer, like giving a party, I don't give parties by choice, or go to them, I don't try to make people's aquaintance for romance. So these things do not contribute to my anxiety.
I noticed I scored 71 back in August.
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