How long have you had social anxiety?

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DillJenkins

Well-known member
I have had it for aboot 14 years and im 23. Im wondering if the longer you have had it correlates with a higher level of mental f*cked-up-ness and social/occupational impairment.

My social anxiety began in middle school and hasn't left me since.
 
Harleyq

Harleyq

Well-known member
I've had SA since I was a little girl..I don't think that you necessarily have it worse, the longer you have it. It just depends on the person and the circumstances that cause the SA. I remember answering another thread like this and I was only one of about 2 or 3 people who've had SA since before the age of 13 but I don't think my SA is quite as severe as some members.
 
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releaseme

Well-known member
i'm 46 and dealing with it since i was in middle school. more than 30 years. i think it was because i went from a very small elementary school, to a school that had over 5000 students (a combined middle/hs). like, going from a fish bowl thrown into the ocean and i didn't acclimate well at all.

i've been married/divorced and raised my kid who's in college today, who by the way seems pretty normal.

i dont know if the longer you live with it, the more screwed up you become. i guess some get worse and some dont. i deal with it the best i can and i consider myself to be an extreme case. it's definitely not easy and a struggle most days, especially when you realize you dont have friends you can talk to about it without being judged, and that just makes it harder to deal with internally.
 
Phobologist

Phobologist

1
DillJenkins said:
I have had it for aboot 14 years and im 23. Im wondering if the longer you have had it correlates with a higher level of mental f*cked-up-ness and social/occupational impairment.

My social anxiety began in middle school and hasn't left me since.
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Looool I am almost exactly the same. Ive been in this hell for 9 years. And, after 9 years of prison it seems I may be getting out on parole soon. :D
 
MadHatter

MadHatter

Member
I'm 25 and had social anxiety since I was around 10. The older I get the more ashamed and embarrassed of my anxiety I am. How are you suppose to deal with something that has controlled you for most of your life?
 
DekKO

DekKO

Well-known member
2 years. I won't to try and get rid of it before it gets worse. I would hate to have it for as long as you guys it makes me really sad. I think I got it when my dad lost his job and he was always getting drunk and yelling at me. It isolated me a lot from the world. We lost our house and everything. I'm still friends with a lot of people I knew before this mess happened but I haven't had a new friend since.
 
KiaKaha

KiaKaha

Banned
I am 31, I have been socially awkward for as long as I can remember. Although it varies depending on the people I am dealing with. My biggest issue is self esteem. I often think most people simply cant stand me at all...judging by most peoples reactions it would seem true.
 
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Rembrandt Broam

Well-known member
All my life.

It's only since finding forums like this that I realised some people develop SA in their teens or in adulthood. I'm not sure if people have it worse the longer they have it, but I think people who develop it later have a better chance of getting back to their "normal" selves. For someone like me, this is normal. If I were ever cured of my SA, I wouldn't really be me any more. That isn't to say that I can't work on and improve certain aspects of it that I feel are holding me back, but I don't see how I could ever be totally free of SA.
 
TDMark

TDMark

Member
Ditto, around puberty when I think back. So 30 years now with varying degrees of "lameness". Shame I only got diagnosed with it last year but it was/is nice to know after all this time what the heck it is and that I'm not alone with it. Thank you wide wide world of webbiness for that.
 
stephen

stephen

Well-known member
coyote said:
since kindergarten

40 years
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I don't know if what I had in kindergarten would be called social anxiety but I was certainly clueless socially. I would basically hang back and wait until toys were available and then take them to play by myself. Scary thing is my four year old son is exactly the same. I was shy from a very early age but I don't think the anxiety/depression kicked in until about 12. I'm 43 now so I guess that makes it 31 years.
 
lilmutegirl

lilmutegirl

Well-known member
I've had it for as long as I can remember. I don't know that the degree of SA is related to the length of time one has it.
Personally, over the past decade or so, some things have gotten easier for me, and I'm not really sure how. Some things, however, seem to have gotten harder.
 
Loudog

Loudog

Well-known member
I was the class clown up until the age of 10. Th en it got worse and worse and by high school I had no friends and zero friends since.I made one friend last year,but I got obessed with her and jealous when she talked to other people, soo stupid.
 
Heekaru

Heekaru

Well-known member
Rembrandt Broam said:
All my life.

It's only since finding forums like this that I realised some people develop SA in their teens or in adulthood. I'm not sure if people have it worse the longer they have it, but I think people who develop it later have a better chance of getting back to their "normal" selves. For someone like me, this is normal. If I were ever cured of my SA, I wouldn't really be me any more. That isn't to say that I can't work on and improve certain aspects of it that I feel are holding me back, but I don't see how I could ever be totally free of SA.
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Its the same for me, I dont know how to live in any other way.. and I'm 18 now.
 
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