I feel guilty

[anxiousnut]

We visited my dad's cousin who has MS (or at least I think that's what it is, not sure). He is totally confined to a wheelchair, his limbs are all atrophied and twisted. He has one of those breathing tubes in his neck. He can't do anything or barely even talk. I bet he would give anything to just be able to go outside once and walk around, and here I am wasting every day and doing NOTHING sitting on the couch and whining about my anxiety.

I feel so guilty and ashamed.

Do you ever feel like a jerk when you see someone like this?

 

[EasySkanking]

Hehe... that makes sense. But we can't help it, our disorder is so crippling that we can't even do the most basic thing of saying hello or even looking at someone. Our disorder is pretty bad too, to be honest... and I would say that it causes more suicides than MS or other such 'physical' diseases... I've heard of a lot of people hving crippling conditions, they are very happy individuals (even though they can't walk/talk/etc normally.)

SA sucks balls! That's all I gotta say

 

[Ignace]

You don't have to feel guilty about this. Imagine how many people are in an even worse situation. People withouth homes, food or even water. Think about all the other people don't caring about them and wasting food. For example, these days there are more and more cooking programs on tv, when a cook messes up, they throw it all away. Why ? Something was placed wrong. Because of that they throw it all away while half the world is starving. Is that fair ?

 

[AnxietyDave]

A lovely point you have their Ignace, I agree completely with you waste (especially with food) should be a crime. And Anxiousnut, rather than allowing negative feelings such as guilt come from this experience, why not rather change it into a positive feeling such as being grateful that you are not in the same position and draw strength from it in order to begin to overcome your own disorder.

He has probably found a way to deal with his MS and that should be enough inspiration for any of us to begin to deal with our social anxiety. The truth be told, we can all actually draw energy and strength from your post as it helps us to realize that we are not actually the exception to the rule but that we are rather afflicted in different ways to others and if you look at all the afflictions out there, perhaps SA is not the worst possible option.

Sorry, maybe what I am trying to say is coming out all wrong but the moral is that we should draw strength from where ever we can in order to overcome this very debilitating disorder. Hope this makes sense and all the best to you all, may the best from today be the worst for tomorrow.

 

[mrb]

yes i know what you mean you see people sometimes and you think blimey , your lucky to just have your health , my mates just found out he has cancer , hes scared witless , poor bloke , there still doing tests at mo .....

 

[Rembrandt Broam]

This sounds really awful I know, but I sometimes think that being diagnosed with a terminal illness would be strangely liberating. Anyone else ever think that?

 

[mrb]

This sounds really awful I know, but I sometimes think that being diagnosed with a terminal illness would be strangely liberating. Anyone else ever think that?

you might think that untill it happened mate , with cancer there is a lot of pain , a lot of family upset , you might find yourself wishing all you had to deal with is sa ....it takes something like that sometimes to make you realise life really wasnt that bad , and having your health and just being able to walk out of the hospital is the most important thing in your life .....

 

[Rembrandt Broam]

you might think that untill it happened mate , with cancer there is a lot of pain , a lot of family upset , you might find yourself wishing all you had to deal with is sa ....it takes something like that sometimes to make you realise life really wasnt that bad , and having your health and just being able to walk out of the hospital is the most important thing in your life .....

Oh yeah, I'm sure you're absolutely right. As with so many things in life, the reality rarely matches up to the idea. I suppose it's just the thought of having the decision made for you that sort of appeals on some level.

 

[mrb]

Oh yeah, I'm sure you're absolutely right. As with so many things in life, the reality rarely matches up to the idea. I suppose it's just the thought of having the decision made for you that sort of appeals on some level.

i am right so left click on my post to add to my already overflowing green rep

 

[anxiousnut]

This sounds really awful I know, but I sometimes think that being diagnosed with a terminal illness would be strangely liberating. Anyone else ever think that?

I guess it's the "at least I'd have an excuse and it would be beyond my control" sort of thing. Sometimes I think that too. But truly I think I would still take my anxiety/depression over physical disability anyday.

 

[coyote]

This sounds really awful I know, but I sometimes think that being diagnosed with a terminal illness would be strangely liberating. Anyone else ever think that?

You ARE going to die.

There, you're liberated.

 

[LadyWench]

We visited my dad's cousin who has MS (or at least I think that's what it is, not sure). He is totally confined to a wheelchair, his limbs are all atrophied and twisted. He has one of those breathing tubes in his neck. He can't do anything or barely even talk. I bet he would give anything to just be able to go outside once and walk around, and here I am wasting every day and doing NOTHING sitting on the couch and whining about my anxiety.

I feel so guilty and ashamed.

Do you ever feel like a jerk when you see someone like this?

I've felt this way PLENTY of times throughout my life. It makes me feel like utter sh*t and like I shouldn't even be complaining. All I do is feel sorry for myself, and it's not as if I'm missing limbs or have been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I'm physically healthy, just not mentally. I'm horrible at taking my own advice. Actually, it makes me a huge hypocrite. Ah well. I just hope you can realize that having social anxiety and basically being bound by your fears, is also crippling. It limits your life so much. It's unfair. We may not be facing a physical death anytime soon like some unfortunate people, but we DO struggle with these issues on a daily basis. Your problems are just as genuine as anyone else's, even if they don't seem as dramatic.

Of course, when I look at myself, I think the exact same things you do: "why am I b*tching and whining about this stuff, when this person I care about is practically dying?" It's hard to NOT think that way. I guess I'm just telling you how I see it objectively. Kinda.

 

[Tuco]

I've felt that way many times. Sometimes I feel like a coward, because there are a lot of people that have it a lot worse than I do. For example, the other day I saw a woman on the news that had some kind of tumor on her face and it covered most of it, she could barely speak, I almost cried when I saw that; the same happens when I see people that have lost their family on an accident or people who lost everything as a consequence of the heavy rains that have affected my country in the last months. I feel like crap almost every day because I can't function like a "normal" human being and talk to people and as a result I am incredibly lonely, but those are small problems compared to what other people have to face. Nevertheless I think everything is relative, there are degrees of suffering and the fact that there are people who are in worse situations doesn't mean that our problems are meaningless.