What do you think caused your Social Anxiety

[BleedTheFreak]

I think it's a combination of things, like others have said. I did get picked on a bit in middle school and the first year of high school. I was left alone for the rest of high school though, due to me alienating myself from literally everyone. I'd go full school weeks without opening my mouth once, ate in the library, and purposefully looked/dressed absolutely dreadful in order to keep people away from me. It worked.

My parents seperated when I was 4 and I bounced around a lot. By the time I was 17 I had lived in 9 different houses/apartments, and with a few different family members. I also lived with a maniac of a parent for a few of those years. I had to walk on eggshells around him all the time, and I think the way I had to act around him has become part of me now because I still do that with other people for no reason.

This stuff has obviously affected me, but it's really no one's fault but my own for continuing with the negative behavior about myself. For a long time, my response to everything is to run away. I don't confront anyone about anything and I intentionally make my life harder than it has to be because part of me feels like I deserve to struggle. I know I have the power to change my lifestyle but I can never maintain a positive attitude about myself or my future.

 

[WeirdyMcGee]

Being physically abused is what caused my social phobias and agoraphobia.
Mental/verbal abuse just contributed to my nonexistent self esteem.

 

[razzle dazzle rose]

My OCD! I developed it when I was 8, and no one really knew what it was, and so I was teased and asked so many questions and people would make all sorts of comments and I just wanted it to stop, so I avoided people as much as I could. My OCD is much much better today, but I still can't seem to shake off that behavior.

 

[SierraO]

As a child my parents punished me for being shy and wanting to stay home. Over time since my anxiety and depression were never helped I had a really bad experience with my group of friends, that when my sever SA started. Ive been agoraphobic for nearly 10 months.