How did you figure it out?

[Dedication]

Most people here on this forum are unbelievably supportive! Just when I was going to give up on humankind, too. I'm curious to know how so many of you with SA/SP realized you had it at such a young age. I mean I just found out I have it and I'm 34! My entire life I've felt like an outsider...like I was from some other planet...and I never knew why til now. How did you guys figure it out? My life's pretty much been a disaster to this point: no job; no girlfriend; no confidence; no ambition; no hope.

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the forum. there was a post where people pinpointed the moment when they discover their SA, but i forgot the name of the post.
most people in here are about 17-30 age. but i really dont know.

 

[GettingThere]

I knew that there was something wrong and iniatially I thought that maybe it was agoraphobia. When I was referred to a specialist I was given a multiple choice questionaire which covered a few phobias. From there I was able to work out what was wrong. That was a few years after I had been suffering from the problem.

I think that SA is more widely recognised now. In the past it was hardly ever talked about even though something like 3 percent of the population has it.

 

[Anonymous]

I'm 35 and have had SA for about 16 years.

When I started to get it, at age 19, I went to see my doctor. He didn't know what was wrong with me. He recommended I read a book about anxiety and basically told me that most people go through this sort of thing but grow out of it.

The book did not help me at all, nor did the doctor's dismissive attitude. So, I basically just lived the next 16 years with nowhere to turn for help.

The problem was that back in 1990, SA was not a known condition, certainly not here in the UK. Also, the internet did not exist then so doing research was nigh on impossible, not least because my SA made it very difficult to go into libraries to find books - and I wouldn't have known which books to get anyway as I didn't know what was wrong with me.

It was only by chance that I stumbled across an SA internet site a few months ago - I was actually looking for something else, but inadvertently discovered what had been destroying my life for the last 16 years.

I guess there's a few people aged 30+ who like me who have had the same problem with lack of knowledge about their problem, even from the medical profession. I've noticed quite a lot of people say they just accidentally discovered what their problem was over the internet, after many years of suffering.

I suspect there are a lot of people out there who still suffer in silence and ignorance, with no idea that they have a named and treatable condition, basically living a life of despair, waiting to die.

Part of me feels bitter that, at age 19, I had plucked up the courage to seek help, yet received none. So my whole adult life thus far has been needlessly wasted. But at the same time, the condition was just not well-known but then.

Young people today have the advantage that SA is now widely recognised, if not by the public at large, then at least by the medical profession. And the internet provides a crucial source of information and support. I think in the future, more and more people will have their SA diagnosed early enough to allow them time to recover before half of their life is gone.

 

[tommydog]

id been having problems for about 6 months from memory, but i never saw it as a big deal, or actually i never identified it as having a problem because it was rather gradual.

one day, i was at my friends house, there was about a dozen people there all chilling and smoking weed, and i was having an anxiety attack. Then, when i left, i thought about it, and thats when i realised for the first time i actually do have a problem.

 

[Horatio]

I always put my SP down to simply "being a loser" and didnt realise it was a medical disorder with a name until a few years ago

I found out cause I had been seeing psyciatrists due to my depression which had been dominating my life since school

so yeah I was bout 20 or so when I found out what SP was

 

[SingaporeGuy]

i found SA when all of a sudden i got fed up with my disability...

i thought i was shy, and googled "shyness"

this is a common term for social phobics in the US..and they DO have a lot of information abt such things

and shyness is linked with SA..

from there, i realised i had SA..

discovery by sheer coincidence...heheh

 

[Sebastian]

Once I loaned a book on phobias from the library. I took it in order to help my mother with her phobias, especially her zoophobia. While reading some pages I came upon a section on social phobia. After reading the symptoms I knew it was almost everything I experienced.

 

[Dedication]

I'm glad that some people are finding out about SA/SP at earlier stages in their lives...and that awareness is broadening. SA/SP is crippling when you don't know you have it...a little less so when you know you have it.

I always knew there was something wrong with me...for as long as I can remember. It wasn't until the love of my life left me at age 28 that I had a complete breakdown and went into therapy. After five years of therapy with a psychotherapist and a psyciatrist I still didn't know what was wrong with me (and neither did they). It wasn't until a few months ago when I had to quit my job because of constant frustration and blushing and feelings of inadequacy and worthlessness that I finally started researching it on my own. I Googled "blushing" and it pretty much summed everything up for me. Now...the long road to recovery...hopefully not too long...

 

[Chilling__Echo]

im 18 now but i've noticed a change in myself when i turned 11. i knew that what i felt made no sense and that i had a problem when i was the only one that i knew was terrified to go to class, or be called on. i looked around at everyone else and they didn't seem to pay it any mind. then they started coming out with the paxil commercials, one of which targeting SA

 

[JWH]

Like worrydoll said, one day I just typed in 'social phobia' into google. I don't think I even knew much about it. I cried the first time I came here. People were describing what had made me feel like an outcast my entire life. It's the strangest feeling discovering something about yourself.

 

[Chilling__Echo]

yeah, deffinately agree with you. the first time i came here was such an aweing experience. i was certain that i was the only one that felt the way i did and yet here on my computer screen are people that are typing the thoughts out of my head in their posts

 

[Yossarian]

I was taking refuge in a library because I had been kicked out of home (SP related) and had nowhere to go. I was looking in the psychology section because I was interested in it at that time and a big book stood out which just said in massive letters SOCIAL PHOBIA.

It instantly took my interest and when I read I almost cried. It was like a massive relief as things became clear and I was also filled with hope as now I knew what the problem was I might be able to tackle it.

Also it had examples and all the people in there were all what you would think were 'normal'. One guy was a neurosurgeon if I remember rightly. Until then the only person I ever related to was some guy whose suicide note had been put on display with others in an art exhibition.

I wasn't suicidal but from what he described (very vividly I might add) it's possible he was SP. This was about 7 years ago.

 

[dazz]

im 17 and i only found out about it a couple of months ago, while searching the internet for forums on shyness. Couple of days later, i came accross this site