Social Anxiety and Extraversion

[evil feline space cadet]

Please don't hate or judge me for this post...
Ye probably think I'm an annoying depressive twat...

Right this is really starting to get to me.
People seem to assume EVERYONE with SA is introverted.
I wouldnt call myself fully introverted. I'm slightly extroverted. I Know for a fact I've SA though. I hate that people say, because you love people and love talking, that you don't have SA and think its a cry for attention or something.

I'm too quiet to be normal and now, because I like talking to people, I don't have SA?!

Just because I talk to people and have a social life, it doesn't mean I'm secretly TERRIFIED of making a fool of myself behind it all. I want people to think I'm one of them so attempt to make time for them.

I want to give people a new first impression of me instead of thinking of me as "that weird quiet misfortune who has somethin' wrong with her". Ive struggled with SA nearly all my frickken life! I'm obviously gonna try talk to people, even if it does seem impossible!

It doesnt mean i havent spent every breaktime in school hiding from people to avoid the torture of knowing nobody wants to talk to me, That i go home early from a night out 'cause everyones dancing and i feel like a fool standing there sober on my own, that i hide food and have a mini-nervous breakdown everytime someone see's me even standing near food, that i think everyone's talking about me, constantly, and that i rely on alcohol just to build up the courage to strike up a conversation....and that doesnt even work a lot of the time!

I dont think extraversion is a good enough reason to judge someone. They could be putting on an act on the outside while being a chronicaly anxious mess on the inside..


Nobody but a proffessional or the person themselves has a right to say they have/haven't SA unless they know how they truly feel.





Sorry but i had to rant..

Anyone else out there with SA who is extroverted in the slightest?
Share your comments, rants, and stories!

Or just prove we exist!

 

[Krista]

Don't feel bad for feeling like that at all. I go out a lot of the time and I won't say that I don't have friends because I have a great deal of them actually but that doesn't mean that there arent' days I'm terrified of failing or making a fool of myself in front of them. People have varying degrees of SA, some more severe than others and not all of us have to fit into this mold of if we are even slightly extroverted we're just saying we might have SA or asking for attention. If we're asking for attention you stupid f*cker then why do we shy away from people just like you? People are dumb, don't bother with them if they're not going to help.

Most likely the people downing you are those who are above and beyond scared to do that stuff themselves. That's not your fault or theirs, just need a new perspective on it.

 

[Enialis227]

It turns out that I am very extroverted, because now that my medication has curbed my anxiety, I am started to find that I liked talking to people and making friends all along.
Its just that I crushed that part of me along time ago, and denied that it existed so that I wouldn't have to deal with the Social Phobia as much as possible.

 

[Generical]

I agree with this alot, i feel at times pretty extroverted i mean i'd happily shout something out in the middle of class, was a while ago now, but a good example and half enjoy the attention that went with it, assuming what i said was worthwhile....and then at the same time be blushing and looking down at my feet, i learned to just take the embarrassment. That's not exactly hitting the definition of extroversion entirely but i do like socialising and going and doing stuff when things go right...other times when i feel i **** up in someway it's not so good. I can't work it out really whether i become drained from socialising or from privacy, most likely there's a balance but often just a day at work or out with a friend and i'll be feeling pretty good in myself....give it a few days (or weeks) of being alone, completely charged up (think a diagram of a power bar works with that) from the event before and i'll slowly start to need to get out and just see people.

hmmm bit of a brainstorm in a paragraph can't be assed for grammar so i'll stop here.,

You never have to qualify to be on these forums, this one in particular has quite a wide range, (HH, OCD, Depression etc.) Just get what you want from these forums and grin...just sit there and grin.

 

[lurknomore]

I've always thought that SA could affect both introverts and extroverts- it just seems like it would be doubly frustrating for an extrovert, depending on the severity of the anxiety.

Also, I don't think that introversion and extroversion are two distinct points... I think it's more like a continuous spectrum, with most people falling somewhere in the middle (not at the extreme outlying points), just leaning towards one side more than the other.

 

[reslo]

i think social anxiety is a hidden disease for most people. I'm an introvert through and through, but i have been called outgoing before (forwhatever weird reason). No one else but me knows how much of my life I have spent alone, the lengths I've gone to avoid people, money i've lost due to social phobia, and the lack of fufillment in my life because of it. And also too, like for me, by the time I get into public, I've probably already spent hours feeling anxious and worrying. I think sa people can have different comfort levels for different environments- whether school work social family or even talking online. I think that being socially phobic doesn't define a person's personality or visa versa.

and i don't think you're annoying::

 

[Hellhound]

I've said this a million times, but I will repeat: People will never understand what SA is unless they suffer/suffered from it. If they don't know what it is, they will make those idiotic assumptions. Enough said.

 

[Predacon]

I don't think anyone would get upset with your comments, its pretty well know that SA can affect both introverts and extroverts. It's probably harder if you're extrovert because you to get out there but the SA is holding you back.

 

[Phil_i]

That sounds like me when I'm at home; I actually have a social life. Unlike at uni where I am a loner :/

 

[Scrabbl]

I have SA and i'm an extravert

 

[Silvox Black]

Your words are well spoken, you see the glaring hypocrisy and wrongful, ignorant acts our society has wrought. Well done. I support you.