Social anxiety a symptom of low self esteem?

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timetoheal79

Member
Person with SA gets asked a question about their beliefs - person with SA says to themselves before replying - - "they won't approve" - - "they might hear a dishonesty in my voice" - - "my beliefs are crap" - - "I will get shut down and laughed at like last time" - - "what if my voice starts to break when I start speaking" - - "I will probably sound aggressive because my heart is starting to pound" - - "what if they don't believe me"......and the list goes on...and on........................and on.

Is this more a case of low self esteem? With social anxiety just a symptom of low self esteem? Are the two intrinsically linked together? What came first the 'chicken or the egg' with this one... should we be focusing more on self esteem issues rather than how to deal with social situations?

What are your thoughts?


Pat
 
neohorizon

neohorizon

Well-known member
i think if you have an higher self esteem and is more confident, the problems of the Social Anxiety dont disturb you so much and you can handle than.

For example, some times i'm not ok with the way i look and i must leave home to go somewhere. These days my self esteem is 0 and i cant even look to other people faces, neither talk. But, there are days i'm "**** it" and my self esteem is higher, so i can talk to people fine.

I think is very very hard to fight the Social Anxiety if you are feeling bad about yourself, you get to public places feeling inferior to the others and the Anxiety is huge.

My tip for you is try to deal with the problems that cause your low self esteem before everything. First look for professional help, mental (psychologist) and for other worries like your appearance ( if u need to lose weight for example). As you see improvement you will feel much better! Remember, dont care about what other people say or think about you, everybody is different! you have your problems, fight them!

Good Luck - And Open Yourself to the World

*srry my English*
 
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laure15

Well-known member
Social anxiety can also be caused by bullying, abuse, and many other reasons. Not just low self esteem.
 
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laure15

Well-known member
Opaline said:
Yeah, but wouldn't bullying and abuse cause you to have lower self esteem - and therefore develop SA?
Click to expand...

Yes, but a person can also have high self esteem but be scared of other people due to various reasons. A person can be proud and respectful of himself/herself but feel distrust and anxiety towards other people.
 
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satstrn

Well-known member
I think about this all the time. I do think there are people out there with high self esteem but are genuinely scared of/plain dont like social interaction. I think that "social anxiety" is a frame of reference or a way of looking at introversion through the lens of low self esteem rather than a brain disorder. We view shy people with low self esteem as having "social anxiety", whereas we see shy people with high self esteem as just being ntroverted. In other words, "social anxiety" is just "introversion" with a negative connotation. Lots of people are content to live their lives in relative isolation and just dont like interacting with people. If they are happy doing that, I dont think we look at it as social anxiety.
 
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