Social anxiety and social justice

Hey Sarah,

I have a pretty bad case of social anxiety as well so I know exactly what you are talking about and how hard it is and what it does to you but I'm going to try and be as helpful as I can.

Things I always try to remember is that people always recognize the difference of someone who is nervous , uneasy or insecure and someone who is just dumb , this always something I struggle with that people think my opinions are dumb stupid or I can't bring across my point but no opinion is stupid or wrong , they might not agree with what you say and they might let you know that but they will still respect that you have your own opinion and of course there are a bunch of jerks out there but it's worth taking the risk if you ask me and if you regret saying something just laugh it of like it wasn't serious they won't waste their time thinking was it serious or not if you just say so ,they will take your word for it.

hope it helped because it's a waste to let people not know the real you , the you with your own view on the world, trust me people are interested in how you see things.

Joost

It's better to be yourself. I've done both - stay silent sometimes, speak out others - and as long as you claim your values respectfully it should work out fine. And consider this - suppose others react negatively to your taking a stand. Isn't it better to know who they are, and to let them decide for themselves whether to accept the real you, than to have them make incorrect assumptions about your beliefs and "accept" you only because they are mistaken about who you really are? And remember that often there are others who may be too timid to say anything, who will see you in a new and positive light when you voice what they wish they were brave enough to say. (Think about how relieved you would be if someone else in your group said the thing you feared to say!)

At the same time... don't beat yourself up if you find you can't always muster the strength/energy to "speak up" in every instance. It can be hard, even if you don't have social anxiety!

I feel ya. I always think of the perfect comebacks after the fact haha. I usually just give em a weird look & say "that was mean" or racist or sexist or whatever. I keep it short but let em know I really hope they don't actually believe that. Ya never know it might be the 1st time they realize maybe they shouldn't

thanks everybody for your responses. follow up question: is it ok to take time away from the type of people who get really defensive and spend more time with more like-minded people? i feel like my social anxiety makes me a selective extrovert sometimes, like I get energy from people if I feel like I belong better with or if we have mutual interests.