Whenever you experience "intense emotions", you're going through what psychologists call cognitive dissonance. Essentially, cognitive dissonance is when you hold two contradictory ideas simultaneously. For example, let's say you're in a party, but as a social phobe, you absolutely dread talking to people. If people stopped here, there would be no depression. However, MOST people hold another contradictory thought. That is, while they abhor talking to people, they acknowledge that it is probably wrong to be so avoidant and that talking to people is a vital part of growing and being a human being. Enter cognitive dissonance, intense emotion and eventually depression.
How do you solve it? You remove the cognitive dissonance by deciding which thought is more truthful to you. Pick one. Anyone. And then embrace it with all your heart. Don't be truth's bitch. Select YOUR truth and run by it. This is one of the hardest things us social phobes have doing. We hold to this belief that everyone has to be consistent with "truth" and that by examining the evidence around us, we can "magically" know who we are. Well, here's a news flash. Socially successful people don't bump into their identities! They willfully shape it themselves by choosing what truth to believe in.
I don't know if that helped, but it's just something I've been thinking about these past couple of days.