Social Anxiety: Share your Experience Here!

Hello all,

I have had trouble with social anxiety for about 3 and a half years now. It's been a rough couple of years for me, especially due to the fact that i suffer from bipolar II. Therefore, it has been almost impossible for me to be able to control my roller coaster of feelings, moods, and emotions. I tend to change my mind a lot and that is what has led me to suffer from episodes of stress and depression. Depression has always been there for me since I was about 15. I hope i overcome the bipolar disorder that I have. I have trouble sleeping many times and I tend to wake up early in the morning at around 3 or 4 alot and I would never sleep after that during the day. Also, i have eating issues where I'll eat alot when having stress or anxiety. Although when I am depressed, I tend to eat less and normally. I remember when I started having a eating disorder at age 11 and I would barely eat a meal in a day and it was horrible for me especially through my self esteem issues turing my teenage years. I still suffer from self esteem to this day. Please keep me in your prayers <3333

Thanks!

Hello, I too have social anxiety and this morning i woke up and i was thinking of taking the dogs out for a walk. But there was a problem. My brain keept telling me that people would judge me for going out and walking on the beach alone with the dogs, that how can I possibly present myself in a way that other people will not judge me. And i felt trapped. I then had no motivation to get out of bed and when i finally did some 1.5 hrs later it took me another 1.5 hrs to actually get myself moving to be able to take the dogs out. I hate it when the anxiety pulls me aside and gives me the unwanted thoughts. Its like a really bad coach on a soccer team pulling one of the team mates aside and telling them that their bad at the game and everyone is laughing at them but then still sending them out to play. I knew today had to be productive in some way though and i actually got most of what i wanted out of the day which was good. I still hate these nightmares that keep happening. I had one that i forgot to take my medication with me on a trip and no one cared that i was depressed and super anxious. Im having good sleeps though, im finding thats good. Xx

Wow. I don't think I've ever spoken to(or read about) anyone who has social anxiety like I do. It feels good to be seen and I relate to every story on here. My anxiety started at a young age, maybe 16/17. I have somehow convinced myself that everything I do is "weird." That's my trigger word. I went to free therapy for a bit and tried to figure out why my brain is constantly telling me how weird I am but I can't recall. I could be sitting in traffic and my brain will tell me I'm doing it like a weirdo. Walking your dog? You look totally weird doing it. Simply just looking at someone, you are SO weird. Sitting in a class and looking at the same board everyone else is? WEIRD. I don't understand it. I don't get it and it's like a vicious cycle. Because my brain is telling me how weird I am, I start acting "weird" like unable to make eye contact, randomly leaving social situations, unable to breathe like a normal human, tripping, knocking things over, the list goes on. It's like I'm completely aware of this cycle and how it is an endless merry-go-round, but I'm completely powerless to stop it? Like I can see it all unfolding before my eyes but there's nothing I can do to keep it from happening. It just gets so frustrating feeling like I can't relate to anyone and being the odd one out. This frustration with myself turns into depression and that's another cycle I can't seem to mend. I start thinking negative about myself and how I don't deserve anything good in life because I probably wouldn't be able to show up for it anyways. I live in America so having health insurance is pretty much unattainable for me, and therapy is expensive so that's not really an option but it feels nice to actually let this out. I don't ever talk about my anxiety. Also, this pandemic has magnified my social anxiety by 10000. I got an email one of my professors tested positive for covid and now I'm terrified to go back to class. I mean, I was already anxious with there being so many people crammed into one room and everyone so close together but now? Oh, man. I drove all the way to my college just to turn around and go home because I couldn't get out of my car!

Everyone is trying to defeat depression and anxiety in their own ways. Who is shy and never wanting to talk to someone feeling anxious at most. Anxiety is the thing that you can fight by sharing your problems with your close friends and family members. Sharing keep your head clear and you feel freer. Today's modern technology provide solutions in every field. Mental health industries now use tools to help people and save them from this suffering. MARCo is one of the latest technology that helps people fight mental issues.

@Jenn7Cups

hi! I'm Leah and I'm in high school. It's a nightmare for people with social anxiety. My problems are probably not as big as others, but I still have a hard time with it. The thing is, my social anxiety ( I'm going to abbreviate it to SA for the rest of this btw) can be kind of selective. I can ask a question in class, with only a little anxiety, but if I am asked to talk to my classmates or discuss something, I lose the ability to speak. I can't give presentations because my moth gets so dry, I can't say the words. I can never blow my nose in class, or draw attention to myself. And even when I'm not doing anything, I'm scared something will happen.

the other day, I gave a presentation. I knew the material, I had practiced, all the things to prepare, I had done. But when I got up there and saw that the ALL the attention was on my, I panicked. My presentation was a mess, me mixing up facts, having to say words over again because my mouth was dry, and literally shaking. And to make it worse, I don't know anybody in that class, an d being a quiet person, this was one of the first impressions they got of me. I kept my head then the rest of the day and didn't say a word.

Hi! I wasn't aware I have social anxiety. I'm an quiet person and don't usually mind spending time alone but I can remember when I was a child I was afraid of meeting new people. I used to panic and hide or made excuses to avoid meeting them. Pandemic is both good and bad for me, as I don't have to make unnecessary contact but I like being alone not lonely. I like spending time alone because it's like my safe space. I don't have to care about being judged but still I need company from time to time. After spending time with people I also need to be alone to recharge because I constantly worry about things like did I say or do something wrong ? It made me insecure as a person and wishing what it's like to be confident without worrying and just have a good time, not feeling like running away. The bad thing is when I want to approach people but still I can't. I want to speak but I can't, it's just too hard for me. I often feel like an outcast among people. It's sometimes too lonely among them. It's weird that I don't feel lonely when I'm alone. I felt like something is wrong with me and why am I not outgoing like others? Why can't I talk like others ? I used to blame myself for being shy, having this quiet personally and not good at conversation etc. Like it's my fault that if someone doesn't want to be friends with me or is avoiding me. So I try to remind myself it's not my fault for struggling with this. I'm like this for a reason. It's not like I chose to be like this. It's not like I have a choice over which struggle I have to deal with. If I have a choice, I wouldn't deal with it in the first place. Still I am trying to have an open mind, trying to get over it at my own pace. I'm trying my best I can to deal with it.

I've had severe anxiety all of my life. I worry about everything even when there's nothing to worry about. My mind will make up something to worry about. It has created a ton of problems in my life. I am agoraphobic and severely social phobic as well along with other severe mental illnesses. I have a meeting at work today and I'm very anxious about it. My mind goes blank, I forget how to do things or find things, I get flushed, my stomach twists and turns, I get extreme hot flashes, my vision gets blurry, I get tongue tied and just cannot think straight or function very well. It is a nightmare for me.

I have social anxiety. I just have nothing to say. And that makes it akward for me to be around a person. I hate that my boy friend makes me go out which makes want to break up with him. I hate just not saying anything when people are around. I accepted myself this way and only way is to avoid socializing

hola, me llamo ianca, desde muy pequeña me eh sentido incomoda y nerviosa estando entre un grupo grande de personas, pero sin duda alguna lo peor para mí fue cuando tuve que ir a cenar en un lugar de comida rápida junto a mi hermana menor y mi padrastro, había demasiada gente, me sentía extremadamente nerviosa, no me atrevía a quitar mis ojos del celular, tenía ganas de llorar y apenas lograba respirar bien además que sentía mi cuerpo temblar un poco

I only just found out I have social anxiety. I was an extrovert until 2 years ago, when my dad traumatized me. (I won't go into detail) I stayed locked in my room for 2 years. Covid made things worse because I couldn't go out even if I wanted to. When covid was "over" and it slowed down in my area I emerged and at the moment I have friends and I'm in a drama show. But now I suffer from severe social anxiety. If I talk to anyone besides my closest friends I'll sweat and turn bright red. I'll cry and everything will be dizzy. I'll start shaking and I have to sit down. I didn't talk to my best friend for a month and now I'm scared to talk to him. This is ruining my life. I can't do anything. On social media I have to turn off notifications because I'm afraid of being judged. I hate myself so much.