Anyone on here suffer from social anxiety

[The Blue Nova]

I a few years ago was diagnosed with social anxiety it makes me have a tough time talking to others or having conversations.. I enjoy this forum especially the wrest of wrestling because I am talking to other people with the same interests. anyone else deal with social anxiety

[The Dark Order Inferno]

Intensely. It takes herculanean effort on my part to socialise, and all I want to do throughout is just run off and hide until everyone goes away. I think the worst part is I know it hurts others, they feel it's something they've done when it's just a part of who I am.

[karl100589]

To an extent. I try and be a sociable person but completely freeze when it comes to dating. I feel like a creeper anytime I try asking a girl out.

[Mighty Attack Tribble]

Kinda. I've always been pretty introverted, but for the last ten years I've been working night shifts (mostly solo) and it's kinda screwed up my ability to socialise. Hell, I even get stressed out when people want me to devote more than a handful of minutes to online conversations.

Also, having recently joined a gym, I have probably spent more time scouting out what times it has the fewest people in than I have actually using it.

Mar 6, 2023 16:58:20 GMT -5 karl100589 said:

To an extent. I try and be a sociable person but completely freeze when it comes to dating. I feel like a creeper anytime I try asking a girl out.

Dating apps are a nightmare for me. Every profile I look at is not through the filter of "Do I like them?" it's "Would they like me?" The irony being I'm never short of matches, I just always manage to talk myself out of actually making contact.

[MiLB Fan]

In certain situations. I hate hate HATE talking on the phone unless it’s someone I know well, because I hate the sound of my voice. I’m thankful that we live in an age where we can accomplish so many things online.

[Timeless Hayterade]

I do, and I also hate talking on the phone. I'm fine for a little while, but it hits the 20 second mark, I gotta hang up.

[Red Mage Riot]

I have a very limited reservoir of "social interaction" in me on any given day, and it gets exhausted QUICK. It's definitely caused issues with friends and family, but most of them understand, or at least try to.

[ace]

Yes and no. I can be outgoing if I want to…I just hate people. I’m naturally shy initially but loosen up quickly because I can get comfortable and I’m a good talker and a quick enough wit to get laughs. But mostly I just dislike being in crowds or even busy places a lot. I don’t know if it’s anxiety or just disliking humanity at this point.

[salz4life]

Yes... and I think the pandemic might've made it worse. I really hate having to go out in public and deal with people. A) I'm always afraid I'm going to say "the wrong thing" and B) I don't want to deal with "stupid" people.

The only public things I have enjoyed in the past 2-3 years is going to 3 Michigan football games (although the past Michigan/MSU game was a serious annoyance as I was sitting around Sparty fans that were incredible dicks.... they would classify as my B scenario above. However, Michigan beating their a$$ made it tolerable. LOL

[zrowsdower]

Went to the comic book store Saturday and felt so uncomfortable being in there. Felt so out of place and less than compared to everyone else. Then again, I feel this way almost everywhere.

[Toilet Paper Roll]

Everybody has anxiety to some extent, it’s human. Try to put yourself out there a little bit, nothing crazy. Building a general confidence in yourself is a good way to at least quell some levels of anxiety

[Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!!]

Yeah I have it pretty serious. Me and big crowds full of people I don't know are not a fun combo. I take a few meds that help, and my friends and family are pretty understanding.

[Jumpin' Jesse Walsh]

I have generalized anxiety disorder so I'm always worrying excessively about *something* even when I can't pinpoint the source of worry.

[Fade]

I think if I go periods or time being distant, or going through my ish, yeah. But it also works to expose myself to it too. The more I do it, the more it’s whatever.

Let yourself be curious or perceptive of people. So your attention is outward rather than inward. Also know, everyone’s going through stuff and they’re more concerned with their own ish. Like you. Just two little things that have helped as reminders in the past.

[Zone Was Wrong]

Yeeeeah. Oh yeah. It's baaaaad. My anxiety in general sucks ass. My meds help but only so much.

[Instant Classic]

Incredibly. It’s to where if I don’t know a person at a get together I don’t even try to talk with them.

[Secret Clown]

Yes and no.

I go to lots of things on my own (football, gigs, festivals etc) where there are lots of people so crowds aren’t an issue.
One on one I’m pretty good although I won’t usually initiate conversations but if someone talks to me I will talk back.

I don’t like being in a group of people I do know.

Having to be somewhat social at work (I work in an office) leaves me feeling drained at the end of the day.

[tirtefaa]

I did when I was younger.

So much so, that I was essentially held back in Kindergarten by going to something called Transition First, which was supposed to work on a few things for me; my social skills, prevent me from wandering, and to give me an opportunity to overcome my lisp. And while I was able to overcome the lisp and wandering, my social skills didn't develop due to having a VERY physically abusive teacher, who knew how to hurt you physically without leaving marks.

Anyways, I ended up moving soon after that. While a new school definitely helped, moving to a new state was brutal, especially when you move from the South to the North...the other kids absolutely treated me terribly, but I was able to navigate through it and make a few friends along the way. Not that I would ever condone bullying, but getting exposed to it early on helped me figure out how to overcome it.

Fast forward to middle school, and my parents were nervous about having me continue with where I was going to school, so they instead enrolled me in another school, for whom I didn't know a single person. This was rough because I had some awful people treat me bad, to the point I was second guessing everything I was doing (that includes walking, literally every step I took garnered hesitation out of me) and that all eyes were on me. Again, finding ways to just socialize with people helped keep that stuff at bay.

By high school, I just did whatever I could to be friendly and whatnot, sometimes needing to resort to being the class clown. One thing that I gravitated towards was becoming chummy with people who were less social than I was, somehow you could probably see that as being eccentric to an extent.

I eventually got out into the real world, and realized that most people out there are good people and that I didn't need to worry about individuals that tried to hurt me. However, a lot of these same individuals exist in the work place, especially those who are power hungry. Long story short, I got a job and worked way up the ladder because I was confident in my skills and trustworthy to upper management. However, there were always going to be a few people who would try to pull me down or destroy me, but I navigated that so often when I was younger that I knew how to handle them.

Lastly, I absolutely hated public speaking most of my life, but I ended up in a role where it was expected of me, and despite my nervousness, I overcame this as well just by doing it routinely.

So while I wasn't a natural born leader and was rather a shy kid, I worked hard at it and was able to develop those skills to where I was able to excel. It wasn't easy, but I'm rather proud of my journey.

[thechase]

Internet Tough Guy for this exact reason, rofl

[Totorob101]

Im extremely shy and horribly awkward to the point iv been in my home without leaving for many years. I avoid talking to people at all costs and even on these forums i do shy away from debating as i am afraid of if my opinions might be a bit awful or crap, i do have spelling issues too which makes it even worse.Honestly, i just love being with animals then humans, its very hard to really fully trust in people,