what is/was it like for you at school?

School is hell. I've always had difficulty going and I've missed alot of days....months actually. Basically I don't talk to anyone while i'm in school and I spend lunchtime by myself and because I've always been scared of eating in public I just avoid eating at lunch altogether...so I go 7 to 8 hours without eating anything! XD I sit at the back of the class and daydream coz I can't concentrate on anything lately. Once I couldn't find my Biology class so I went into a toilet cubicle and hid in there until the bell rang for the next class...because I was too scared to ask anyone where my class was 8O... Anyways since 2 or 3 weeks ago I've completely given up going to school...i just can't take the anxiety anymore and the isolation....Walking to school is a nightmare..I've to face a load of people and cars and i just freeze up. Was anybody elses school days a nightmare? 8O

School was stupid. I did so badly, I only went slightly more than half the time, and I failed so many classes. I did the same thing too yeah, basically gave up at a certain point. Just to let everything fall down from there. I guess I sort of sat with people at lunch, I don't know what I would do if I had to sit by myself. I never talked to them though, I just basically stared at them and never did anythign with them.

I switched schools from last year and now I'm doing independent studies. I only twice a week from anywhere to like 20 minutes - 2 hours. You can stay however long you want. I just do all my work at home. It's not all good though, I mean I haven't met a single person and I just basically stay in my house all day.

What was it like?
It was "like" 20 years ago.

Seriously- in school I felt like I was a defect and that everyone else had the same idea about me.
I avoided two programming competitions that were shoe-ins for me because there were a lot of people involved.
Somewhere there's a 20 year old physics award with my name on it, for the same reason.
The risk of humiliation was too great for me to make a rational decision.
I did have good times though, and they do stick even 20 years later.
(Not enough for me to go to the reunion this past weekend. lol)
My fiance happened to be in my class, and thought I was stuck up.
She had no idea I had a serious crush on her, because I would avoid her instead of risking embarrassment.

That's probably only a good memory because we're together now.
Memories can be relative to your current situation.
I would go back in a heart-beat, but only with the knowledge I have now.
I'd be uncomfortable, and probably unhappy, but I would have made decisions that would be better for me in the here and now.
That's the whole point isn't it?
Obviously that's easier said than done, in many ways.

It also helps that I have (had now probably) a high IQ, so actual schoolwork should be a breeze!

I don't like school very much. I feel like everything is so intense and that everyone puts so much emphasis on grades. I get so nervous before tests that I can't even think when I'm taking them. I also don't like classes where I have a chance of being randomly called on for an answer.

It was horrible. I would hang around with my cousin who's the same age and another boy. Some other boys did their best to befriend me god bless them, and i was invited around to their houses but the friendships didn't last because of my stupid low self esteem. There was one particular girl in my classes who would mock me because i couldn't look her in the eyes....The bitch!

I couldn't make eye contact with anyone really....Once there was this boy who was talking to me in class and i couldn't look him in the eyes, and he commented ''What's wrong with him...Has he got a crush on me o'r something!?''.....I was mortified to say the least, especially as i couldn't fight back by saying some clever comment back to them.

I have always been very shy and anxious, but my school years sort of progressed like this

Elementary school - plenty of little friends and play dates

Middle school - friends in school, zero playdates outside of school

High school - zero friends, zero play dates

I'm still not sure how I got left behind with zero friends. I mean, I went to school in the same town with the same people the whole time, yet I slowly just became more of a loner and a loser.

In high school I barely talked to anyone in all of my classes. I sat with two girls at lunch who I would talk with though. I mean, I did have some good times like when it came to going on big school trips. Like I went to California my senior year, which was awesome.

Other than that though, the day to day was sort of torture, with no one to talk to and no one to hang out with after school. I didn't get picked on or made fun of or anything though. I was just very lonely.

i basically dont go , but when i go is like : i just sit with lonely peoples , ignored by blacks, happy when the teacher ask me something ,dream about girls ,and sleep or skip.

ive skipped the past 3 weeks of school because the journey (2 hours every day) to school and back on public transport is too much of a nightmare for me!

High school, which ended over 21 years ago for me, was not a very good experience. My best friend dropped out in 11th grade which left me all alone in the lunch room. I sat there by myself and felt completely humiliated. I used to escape by eating my lunch as fast as possible and then hiding out in the library in the back where no one could see me.

The ONLY thing I liked about high school were the girls. The rest of it I just want to forget.

Finished high school last year. It wasn't terrible and in some ways was easier, socially, than university is. Unfortunately the school was very sporty, and I was not, so that caused some problems. I skipped physical education classes and saturday sport for most of grade 11 and 12. Despite my hatred for group sports, I can see how they would be greatly beneficial to most SA sufferers. Can't help wondering if school would have been easier if I'd been faster at running or better at kicking a ball or whatever.

It was awful. I almost cry when I think about it. I was avoidant to many people apart from a few "comfort friends", even with them I didnt really fully relax though. I would hide, not go and I've basically messed up my life because my education was ruined. Not being bigheaded but I am talented, and I think if I didnt have this prob, I couldve made something out of myself. Work has always been bad too though, so I gave up working a few months ago, luckily my partner is OK with me being a stay at home mum to my son, even though money is REALLY tight. I just dread having to go back to work, but I have a few years... If things don't get too bad with money, hopefully I'll have enough time to cure myself before my time as come to work again.

I was very much alone.

I ditched school a lot. Like, to the point I was kicked out to continuation school.

The worst thing is that I think back about my high school, and totally unbeknownst (cool word) at the time, it was THE EASIEST time to make friends and make new hobbies. I thought I was in hell at the time, 14 years old, but I had plenty an opportunity to make friends and hang out... like others here, I was asked to hang out but I just couldn't! I somehow psyched myself into thinking "nobody would like me anyway" so I never showed up!

All I had to do was talk more with my decent classmates and hang out when they offered it LOL

Now, it seems everyone my age (22) has a solid group of friends they've known for years and aren't really into making new ones. So frustrating.

Shyness/social phobia is such a fucked up thing!

Walk said:

Shyness/social phobia is such a fucked up thing!

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lol it is! fucked up and totally ridiculous

OMG, I really feel for you kids that have to face going to school. I've been out of school for awhile (i'm 32), but it still haunts me to think of how horribly uncomfortable I used to feel in classes starting at about 13 and never getting better. I used to be one of those kids who was really quiet, and I always dreaded it when the teacher used to ask the students to pair up in class, or when I had to give a report in front of the class. I started skipping school because of this starting at 13, was put into a juvenile delinquint home at 14(?!) for skipping school, then eventually quit school. College never worked for me either because of the same reason. But I also was a very depressed kid because I had to deal with living alone with a severely sick and depressed mom who ended up dying when I was 15, just when I was going to start getting the help I needed with making sure I stayed in school. But PLEASE PLEASE stay in school guys, I do really know how hard it is, but you do not want to know how hard it it without a college degree!

For me school was horrible, especially high school. I had one close friend and we had different classes so we couldn't have lunch together, so I always dreaded this time. I usually ate alone in the library where no one could see me, or I would spend time in the bathrooms and just wait for the time to be over. These girls used to follow me around and call me names. In class I was so quiet and would be so nervous I couldn't concentrate on what the teacher was talking about, and then I would get asked a question and always my mind would go blank and I felt like such an idiot. For some reason I had trouble concentrating in class because I was just so nervous around so many people. When I was put on the spot my face would go SO red and I know people used to notice and probably think I was weird. One time I actually heard some girl say I was weird, and that hurt. I was just so awkward, I never felt like I fit in at school, I just drew pictures and read books alone. I pretended I was sick a lot. I hated school so much.

Before I even went to school as a little kid, I stayed inside a lot. But eventually made neighborhood friends whom I had good times with. My mom would take me to the playground and I would not play on any piece of playground equipment that had kids on it. (like they're bugs or something)

Elementary school was fun. I was the best artist, the smartest kid, and when someone called me weird, I took it as a compliment. Still, I walked around by myself at recess since all the fun playground equipment had kids. I got stuck playing on this stupid piece of wood with a tire on it.

Middle school was ok. The school band saved my life because I enjoyed playing the trumpet and there were many other equally as awkward people to talk to.

I wouldn't have had any friends if I hadn't joined the school band. I kept the same kind of friends in High school.

But really, the only reason this group of boys were my friends is because they used to follow me around waiting to tickle me or pin me down. But I gained their respect by always having a pen in my pocket with which I would stab them. They mostly annoyed me but they were funny and carefree so I hung around with them.

Other than that, I ate lunch alone except when this flirty girl would come around. I liked her cuz she was interested in me (for one thing only.. which I would later deprive her of and she'd disappear LOL).

All in all, I was alone a lot especially after I quit band my senior year. I kept contact with the people I did know and we continued to commit antisocial misdeeds such as playing hide-and-seek in clothing stores, and a couple of belt-fights. (don't try that last one, really).

But I'm still the awkward silent one who shouldn't stay in a crowded room for too long lest all the enthusiasm get sucked out.

I didn't like school at all, people didn't like the way I was so days would be full of confrontation but I just manned up & got on with it, I didn't miss many days though & got through it good. I found it hard to concentrate in class & would always mess up when the teacher asked me questions & I couldnt handle group work either, I always wanted to work alone.

I got alot of trouble with SA but I make sure I aint never gonna be taken for a joke, I wasn't gonna let other people stop me getting my education. I pushed myself to go no matter how intense the dread got.

Walk said:

Now, it seems everyone my age (22) has a solid group of friends they've known for years and aren't really into making new ones. So frustrating.

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Seen seen I got that problem now, makes me wish I tried harder back in school.

Seen seen I got that problem now, makes me wish I tried harder back in school.

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Yeah, but I'm sure your persistence in school and not dropping out made you a better person. Not graduating HS is one of my regrets. Every time I see kids in their prom suits and/or their graduating suits, I get a little depressed/jealous. Good thing is that you don't have to graduate HS in order to go to college, which I'm going now. Problem is that community college doesn't have the "social" feel of HS. People there go there and leave immediately. I'll see how university goes when I transfer next year.

Anyways, the best thing now is to work at a place and make friends there. It's the only other place that I know where making friends can be pretty easy. I made one or two friends through work, but my mistake was in working where not many people my age worked at; only older women. Um, yeah. Not that they were bad people, but I wanted to make buddies ya know.

My current job is a little better, I made one friend, but he's more of an acquaintance. He and I don't have much of the same interests, and he lives about 40-50 miles away, so hanging out is hard.

Fuck, I wrote a lot this time.

Hated it.
Had a small group of friends that i had since a few years before my SA/agoraphobia kicked in and didn't talk to anybody else, and felt too uncomfortable in classes that i had no friends in. I ended up skipping classes that they weren't in. I was a big time gamer & comic nerd, but was never picked on. Didn't find out it was because the popular girls liked me until it was too late.

Oddly enough the teachers kept putting me in the gifted and advanced classes even though I ended up skipping class so much that I was failing most of them. Just continued that cycle until the last 1/2 of high school, when I saw my first psychiatrist, was diagnosed with depression and ended up dropping out because of anxiety.

Dropping out is a big mistake though, that would probably be the #1 thing I wish I did differently.

school days were definitely a mixed bag. the worst was walking down hallways or into rooms. i was usually fine if i was walking with someone or behind a group. i hated being by myself though, i used to walk way out of the way at lunch time to make sure i didn't walk by anyone. i would spend lunchtime and stuff reading in the library as long as no one could see me. oh and my headphones were ALWAYS on my head, even if they weren't plugged into an ipod or anything...haha...i was so pathetic.