Social Anxiety

[TLO]

Anyone ever have issues with social anxiety before?

I've noticed myself being uncomfortable with large crowds of people as far back as 3rd or 4th grade. Recently though, I'm noticing it around people all together. Yesterday we had a medium size group for Easter dinner, mostly family, and I didn't really talk to anyone. Sometimes I have difficulty going to class because I'm afraid I'll be judged, or God forbid the professor puts us into a small group to do an activity.

Any thoughts or opinions are welcome.

[Dante84]

How would your rate your self-image/esteem?

It may be a matter of loving yourself first, and then the rest falling into place.

[ptlyon]

Masturbate more

[TLO]

It depends. Sometimes I'd say average to good. Other times it's very, very low. I'd say it's very low most of the time.

[Grim]

Do you get anxiety attacks when you're about to enter social situations or are you just not sociable in those situations?

[NewChief]

I used to get it really bad though my teenage years. Then I started drinking and became an extrovert in social situations. Interestingly, I'm now pretty extroverted all the time, not just when I'm drinking. I do still get in scenarios where I feel awkward and tend to get introverted.

I'm not suggesting to start drinking as a way to combat your social anxiety, but it did actually work for me.

[TLO]

Panic attacks, not being sociable, and avoiding most social situations.

[TLO]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I used to get it really bad though my teenage years. Then I started drinking and became an extrovert in social situations. Interestingly, I'm not pretty extroverted all the time, not just when I'm drinking. I do still get in scenarios where I feel awkward and tend to get introverted.

I'm not suggesting to start drinking as a way to combat your social anxiety, but it did actually work for me.

Pot helps.

[Dinny Bossa Nova]

Originally Posted by NewChief

I used to get it really bad though my teenage years. Then I started drinking and became an extrovert in social situations. Interestingly, I'm now pretty extroverted all the time, not just when I'm drinking. I do still get in scenarios where I feel awkward and tend to get introverted.

I'm not suggesting to start drinking as a way to combat your social anxiety, but it did actually work for me.

I was going to suggest smoking more dope, but this is legal.

Dinny

[Katipan]

I can brave whatever crowd. Speak in front of whomever. Be outgoing and loud if needed. But all of it is me bullying myself into doing it. I'm happiest in the corner. Not the dark sad corner. But the ones that keep people from approaching me from more than one direction.

Act as if.

[NewChief]

Originally Posted by Big Smoke

Pot helps.

Some of my really good friends have social anxiety (they're also pot heads, and I think pot has a tendency to make people want to stay in the comfort of their own worlds after prolonged use).

These two friends are interesting, though, because they're extreme extroverts in social situations. Like they are the life of the party and everyone loves to have them around. They're completely "on" when they're in social scenarios, and I think that's why they have social anxiety... because it's exhausting for them to be in social situations. I think they also tend to "lose" themselves in those types of social situations and dislike losing control, so they prefer to stay at home and in control of their actions.

[Dinny Bossa Nova]

My job requires me to be in front of groups of people. I am very comfortable there. But I have never been comfortable on the other side of the line. I don't have anxiety attacks, but I would SERIOUSLY rather be somewhere else than in a large group of people.

Dinny

[Grim]

I'm sure it varies from person-to-person but, for me, pot helped alleviate the symptoms but I feel was a big contributor to the problem.

I've suffered from panic/anxiety attacks for the past 15 years or so.
I quit smoking dope for a few months, got semi-regular exercise and cut out caffeine and the anxiety almost totally went away.
I started taking in caffeine again... no problems.
Exercise has been the same.... semi-regular.
Started smoking dope again and the anxiety attacks came back almost immediately.

Good luck man. Anxiety SUCKS.

[DanT]

The National Institute of Mental Health has a helpful page for the public on Anxiety, including info on Social Anxiety and approaches for getting treatment:

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publi...dex.shtml#pub5

[keg in kc]

I've struggled with it my entire life. Mine's a little different from yours in that I'm fine with people once I'm around them, talkative even. It's getting me there in the first place that's the hard part. New people and unfamiliar places are extremely difficult for me, particularly pressure situations like tests or interviews. Telephones - I don't do well with those. And I have white coat syndrome that's so bad that I haven't had a physical in 22 years.

My advice would be to seek professional help, because anxiety becomes entrenched and may even grow more severe over time. I know that mine has. It's gotten harder for me to do things over time, not easier. And I don't think it's something you can overcome with happy thoughts and a go-getter attitude.