Social Anxiety- PLEASE HELP

Mental health
1

Hi

Well I have social anxiety and I have seriously reached my breaking point with it. I am at the point now where I dread life itself. I dread the thought of getting up in the morning and leaving the house. I even dread going to certain lessons because I know the teacher likes to pick students randomly to talk. I can't go shopping, I get forced to by my parents but I get headaches from it, my heart races, I sometimes start shaking and well you get the picture. I hate not being able to do the simplest of things like ordering food for myself at a restaurant or saying "hello" back to someone on the street. I'm not the most social person in the world and if I'm honest I prefer books to people and would much rather sit in my room all day reading, with no disturbances. Actually I don't even need the books there, I just feel more comfortable in my own company. I want to be like other teenagers but that seems impossible right now. Any advice or even just some comments??

2

I'm sorry to hear how you are feeling. Its fine to Prefer your own company, but if. Its making you unhappy,plz visit the Dr, you should get some therapy like cbt, I believe it can be as good as medication. Have you tried this before? Or been to the Dr?

3

As someone has stated before, you should go to a doctor, maybe they can get you to talk to a therapist, it can help you, I used to be like you at school, never wanted to go cuz it's meeting people and you don't feel like talking all the time, it's not a bad thing some people are just naturally quieter than others. However if it's making you feel uncomfortable you need to tell people, tell your parents how shopping makes you feel, they should understand you don't like doing it. If not I can't at anything against them as they are pushing you through it. You don't want to let it take over your life. I did and all I do now is sit at home on xbox. All day. It's not the life I wanted but I'm completely controlled by anxiety and social anxiety. You should get it sorted before it sorts you. We're always here if things get tough.

4

I totally understand.I was so messed up by panic attacks .In class the fear of getting called on was ridiculous and my parents still persuaded me to go to university..When I quit I was so relieved but no one understood.When I would meet someone I knew in a store I would take panic attack.So somebody taught me how to relax breath and do it everytime I changed environment or room.When I went into seminar room I would do a smaller version of breathing to ground me.I made sure I always had a question to ask .At first my voice was shaky but after awhile I was known for being outgoing.I soon enjoyed this .small risks.If somebody told me that someday instead of repeating scool years for skipping school to avoid panic attack to instead giving CBT sessions to groups of people I wouldnt have believed it.try to be aware and see if you are holding your breath in your situations like I was.You can get therapy for this .What a difference in my life.I wish the same for you

5

hi hanna

​having been away from the site for a few weeks, i thought i would check in today and also i read your statement,

​you dont mention if your getting help or on meds, which will help in getting you a better help result from others o here,

​from what i read you are correct in your diagnosis , but for how long ? you see i was diagnosed in march this year and i have been a very happy chappie most of my life, it.s a diliberating condition and i do feel for you, exactly the same as you , can;t even expalin how many stupid sensles things i did to try and figure out why i was like this, well today i have made a major improvment and i am so happy i never gave up,

​it will get better but A BIG FIRST FOR YOU is to stop others from making you do what you dont want to, you will get there with proffesional advice , help and yourself, not family members telling you differently,parents forcig you will make things much worse, but if they dont understand what is happening to you this will happen , the last thing you want is someone saying come on get up there is nothing wrong with you, that happens a lot with this awefull condition, what you need to do is educate them first in understand how you are feeling and let them read some of the stories on this forum i am sure it will help them and you.

if your not getting any help then please do it is very important to stem the problem now and not trying to simply put up with it.

​there is a very big light at the end of the tunnel and you will get there, it sounds like your not  a very confident person, not a bad thing, just a different approach is needed , take things easy and avoid the things that make your adrenalin rush which again will rise your anxiety.dont do the things you cant cope with until you are ready, not saying stay in forever, but do the things that wont make your symptoms worse, also if your going to read,if the weather on the day is fine read outside, constant 4 same walls wont help you much, also read sitting up try to avoid lying down , headaches also can be your own doing, when you do get one think of something else more positive and more thn often the pain will go, if you think about the headache it returns, your mind can be your best friend and also a pain in the posteria. i'm sure you will be fine just convince yourself your not quitting and you will be ok.,

​take care

​

6

I haven't been to a doctor because I'm guess I'm just too afraid to go but I really want to. I want to get rid of this. Thank you for replying to me I'm trying not to be a quitter and I hope to go to university which is why I want to get some help with this now

7

I haven't yet, I've been too scared to even talk to my parents about it but I really hope to build up the courage to go and talk to a doctor about it and try some therapy because I don't want to feel like this for the rest of my life.

Thanks for reading and replying

8

Thank you for replying I am going to try and get some help and hopefully it will all get better. I want to go to university but I just hope It's all gone by the time I go to university

9

Thank you I do think I hold my breath in this situation and I pray to god that no one talks to me because I just never know what to do or how to respond

10

I used to get up in classroom to leave .as soon as I did the feeling went away so I sat back down.Soon the rush would come back and I would stand back up and so would repeat this many times .Of course this was noticed by others.I sat in the back and couldnt really pay attention.Out of frustration.People would tell me I was just shy?But that was 1980.So not much was known then.I was actually studying psychology.I yhought I could figure out what was wrong with me.So when I went to big rehab a woman taught me how to practice grounding.As you breath put your hands on knees you can close your eyes or open.Take your awareness to your abs region and take what you feel and take that feeling down to where your hands touch your knees down to where your feet touch the floor.down into the floor to the basement down into the ground beneath .visualize the rocks and as you take it down to centre of the earth. contiuing to breath deeply.repeat again.If you practice this you can do it while standing and walking in store.Every step do a fast version with each step .If I was called upon yes at first I was shaky but I would talk and not focus on what I must look like instead I just took fear and shoved it down into the floor.I let go of how others perceived me cause I had to do this .I am very happy you shared.