What does your SA stem from?

[VioletTears]

...not that there's always a simple answer, but I'm curious about what people believe to be the source of their anxiety.



In my case, I didn't have abusive parents. In fact, I can point to rather few things that my parents did wrong. The exception is that my big brother (who I now love) used to be mean to me and when I would try to fight back I would be sent to my room. It made me feel like everyone was against me and I couldn't win... Nobody took time to listen...

Then there's the fact that my other brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was 5, and even before that things were rocky... I think I learned to be quiet to avoid sending him into a rage... And also because I felt I needed to be "perfect" to avoid bringing more stress to the family.

But I think a huge part of it is also genetic. Avoidant Personality Disorder (which I think I have) is closely linked to schizophrenia (eek) and all of my siblings have suffered from depression and have been suicidal/attempted suicide. My one brother (the one without schizophrenia) was also treated for social anxiety at one time.

 

[social_failure]

same here. no matter what i did, i was always told that it was wrong, even when i did exactly what they told me to do.

..that, and i was always picked on in elementary school..and when i fought back, i was the one who got in trouble, not the assholes ruining my life. they somehow managed to get away with it and that just bothered me even more...

 

[Coper]

I'm pretty sure it's just genetic, in my case. I've been this way for as long as I can remember, and some of my relatives have had mental health problems similar to mine. There's nothing in my environment that I can point to.

 

[zootdroop]

I try and think where it stems from all the time. I've had it as long as I can remember since I was really little. Though I had a happy childhood, I wasn't abused or anything, so I don't know, had to be something when I was young or maybe it's genetic, though no one in my family is like me. I was terrified of adults, except my parents and uncles when I was little. Then in middle school it became much worse cause all my friends turned on me and I was made fun of and ridiculed all the time and threated to get beaten up for no damn reason. I was afraid to say anything to anybody out of far I'd say something they'd use against me. I became fearful and distrusting of everyone. I still can't get over it, though it's not as bad as back then.

 

[Len]

I think my anxiety is due to both genetic inheritence and socialisation.

I was the youngest in the family and was overprotected by my mother. My brothers picked on me because I was the youngest and I could never do anything right. My father had a temper and would shout if we did something wrong or about to do something wrong. My father is also like me i.e avoids social situations, has no interests and doesn't like to be out of his comfort zone.

I was also cared for by my gran and grandad while my parents were at work. My Gran is jumpy and anxious and my Grandad had severe depression.

Basically, I had no hope from the outset. But I struggle along and will fight this until the end.

 

[x000x]

same here. no matter what i did, i was always told that it was wrong, even when i did exactly what they told me to do.

..that, and i was always picked on in elementary school..and when i fought back, i was the one who got in trouble, not the assholes ruining my life. they somehow managed to get away with it and that just bothered me even more...

Yeah same here. I would get picked on a lot so I would say stuff back to them and no one really ever did anything about it. Eventually I tried to pick fights with the kids that were bullying me, but they just kept doing it and they picked fights with me to get back. There's a lot of other stuff too, but i'll post that later (maybe).

 

[recluse]

From an early age school kids picked on me. Also my parents used to argue all the time which has made me shy away from people.

 

[villacjs]

For me my SA/SP is genetic. My mum, but not my dad, was very shy as a child. When I was 12 my blushing started and I was teased for that. When I started highschool I ensured no one would know about my problem by shying away from everyone, hence my SA/SP developed from there.

 

[LinusMaximus]

My father was always angry. He was angry at everthing in life, and I think that his anxiety spilled over into me. But he would always take his frustration out on me. My grades were horrible, I didn't do this right, or that and he rode me like a witch. He would always look at me with disgust. I think these things are where my SA comes from. Ain't life grand? :lol:

 

[shinji_ikari]

My SA is genetic I guess. Although it must of skipped two or three generations to get to me.

Perfect upbringing. Never been bullied.

 

[Rodox]

...not that there's always a simple answer, but I'm curious about what people believe to be the source of their anxiety.


Then there's the fact that my other brother was diagnosed with schizophrenia when I was 5, and even before that things were rocky... I... And also because I felt I needed to be "perfect" to avoid bringing more stress to the family..

That is almost like what happend to me,I also have a brother like that

But I think a huge part of it is also genetic. Avoidant Personality Disorder (which I think I have) is closely linked to schizophrenia (eek) and all of my siblings have suffered from depression and have been suicidal/attempted suicide. My one brother (the one without schizophrenia) was also treated for social anxiety at one time.

I also think the most important factor was genetic,in my father's family there were a lot of his brothers with schizophrenia and others mental problems,in my mother's side there seems to be a lot(from my observations) of social phobic,Avoidant Personality Disorder(which I also think I have) and similar problems,but they dont even talk about it,also it didnt help that I was picked a lot in school for being diferent and a little feminine, that made me retreat more.

 

[Psychedelicious]

I don't know what it came from. It has just always been there.

 

[Carstuar]

I was "betrayed" a few times, which made it worse, but I think it's always been there. Combined with lazyness, SA makes me an extreme procrastinator.

 

[slimjim119]

The reason I believe I have SA is all genetics. My parents always gave me all the freedom I wanted. Even pushed me to be more outgoing and do more things. But I was shy and more of a loner. And it developed into SA.

Always had friends to hang out with. Was never bullied. I would never back down from a potential bully. I figured it was easier to fight, and put fear in these aggressive losers, then to be looking over my shoulder all the time.

 

[PhantomPod]

The reason I believe I have SA is all genetics. My parents always gave me all the freedom I wanted. Even pushed me to be more outgoing and do more things. But I was shy and more of a loner. And it developed into SA.

Always had friends to hang out with. Was never bullied. I would never back down from a potential bully. I figured it was easier to fight, and put fear in these aggressive losers, then to be looking over my shoulder all the time.

Same here. Except I didn't always have friends to hang out with. I just had a few accquantinces in school.

But yes, I believe that my SA is genetics. I have been shy like this since the day I was born, and my parents never did anything to cause this, nor did any bullies picking on me cause this.

 

[imitation7of7life]

...

 

[asubscriber99]

actually, avoidant personality is not associated with schizophrenia.

 

[IBM]

I was pretty normal and confident until 7 years old. At that time my parents bought a store and entered furnisher business. The business went too wrong in the beginning and steadly we got into serious debts. Worse was that the debts were with my both family relatives (uncles, grandmother, etc..). And all of them were pretty good, happy and narcisist.

I was very aware of our situation and business. Since then i got serious complex of inferiority. Our relatives treated us very bad (the bastards) so i got no confidence at all.

The debts (which were very high) continue. As a consequence i never had money for anything in my youth. At 16 i started to work in my parent's store and all the money i saved to lent to my parents or spent at school (to buy material and books). But for things like go out with friends or buy cloths i couldnt.

In high school i was with the same cloths everyday. As a computer geek i wasnt bothered with the situation. Well i was depressed with the no friends no fun thing but it was ok.

When i was 18 i grabbed an oportunity to work at Expo 98. At that time i fallen in love with a collegue. The thing is that she like me but she had a boyfriend at that time. Besides her best friend was chasing me but i had no confidence at all to have flirt and sex with her. I was still the same one-cloth man .
And besides i had a very religious education. It was in my mind that relation with other race/religion was forbidden (again the education and fear for deadly sin). Also the habits of young men, like drinking alcohol, and some descrimination helped.

I went to serious depression. All youngs in my age were going out and knew a very different and normal reality. I felt like a 12 years old kid .

The same thing happened in last's year of high school. I had the normal friends but nothings going on besides the classes. I was the 12 years old same computer geek like

At this time the debts got it's highest level. With the money gain at Expo i saved to buy a new computer and to invest on my education.

At 20 i entered in university. I was very happy. I got into a degree i always wanted.

At second day of school i met a girl which i fallen in love at first sight. The bad thing is that she like me a lot and she was single.
But the debts, no money, the lack of confidence and the religion thing i wasted the opportunity to be happy.
I was working with with my parents, delivering furnisher, but all the money went to pay my degree, books and other things. It was 5 years like that.

At 21 i got serious illness on my scalp. I lost tremendous quantities of hair and the scalp was too much infected. This thing continued until i was 25. Only only doctor saved me but the it was painful years.

At 26 i was very diffused in my scalp but i started myself a treatment with antifungs, shampoo with vitamins, minoxidil and two anti-androgens.

At 26 i finished the degree and start to work until now. Again all money gained i invested in the store.

I never recovered from my social anxiety and depression. I still have no confidence with obsessive compulsive personality disorder.

Well thats enough for now.

 

[Graeme1988]

My Social Anxiety stems from being bullied all through my school years. As a result, it's not easy for me to make friends or trust people and my mum being overprotective of me during my teens didn't help.

 

[VioletTears]

actually, avoidant personality is not associated with schizophrenia.

I don't know that people with AvPD are automatically at increased risk for schizophrenia, but I do know that it's common among relatives of those with schizophrenia and that in relatives AvPD represents an increased vulnerability towards the disorder.. Also, people who go on to develop schizophrenia are often described as being very shy/withdrawn prior to becoming ill.

Rodox, it's interesting that your experience is so similar. I recently discovered something called schizotaxia, which is currently simply a concept being researched, however, I feel that it explains a lot with me, and I hope that it eventually finds it's way into the DSM and they find effective ways of treating it. It’s simply understood to be “a combination of negative schizotypal traits and cognitive deficits” experienced by 20-40% of family members of people who are experiencing schizopheria. By negative traits they are saying that things which should be there are missing… such as aptitude for experiencing happiness, ability to concentrate, ability to form relationships and to communicate fluently and openly, ability to follow through on tasks, ability to retain information in your memory, etc… I know that I am experiencing these things, all of which are causing me distress and embarrassment… They have actually been able to reduce these symptoms AND reduce risk of future psychosis in trials using antipsychotics, even though psychosis isn't present. I don't know if this resonates with you or not, but I thought I would throw it out there just in case.