A question concerning social anxiety disorder?!
Question: people who have social anxiety disorder, how do you overcome it? without medication, i mean. i'm trying so hard, so very hard! i'm tired of walking towards someone on the street, and having my eyes flicking everywhere to avoid them [only making myself feel worse, because i think they're laughing at me for looking like a freak]. i'm tired of thinking everyone in a closed, crowded space is talking about me and giggling at my faults.
please, i need advice. i need to find a way to beat this.
note: already going to therapy.
Answers: people who have social anxiety disorder, how do you overcome it? without medication, i mean. i'm trying so hard, so very hard! i'm tired of walking towards someone on the street, and having my eyes flicking everywhere to avoid them [only making myself feel worse, because i think they're laughing at me for looking like a freak]. i'm tired of thinking everyone in a closed, crowded space is talking about me and giggling at my faults.
please, i need advice. i need to find a way to beat this.
note: already going to therapy.
Hi--I am truly sorry. I have social anxiety disorder too. I get what you mean. I am 15 and do therapy and I am on medications. They have both helped me, but If your parents are against med's, then therapy is the right route to take. I have had a lot of troubles also; being in Residential treatment for that & depression & even in a local lockdown psych unit 3 times...it's hard. Even having no friends is difficult. I feel like my family really doesn't understand. Believe me, You are doing the right thing by going to therapy, that has helped me tremendously. Do you believe in anything like a higher power? Having faith has helped me too. I am not one of those perfect christians, but I try to believe that God is in control. I used to not ever leave my house on the account of what others think of me. As I have gotten older, I don't really seem to care as much, though it's still there. I am always afraid of situations like the ones you described too. I do online-school, so that has helped me avoid some situations that I can't handle, but avoidance isn't always good either. Overall, I would suggest to keep going to therapy. There have been a lot of times when I felt hopeless & just didn't think I was getting better--but I stuck with it, & am still getting better. I absolutely hate having anxiety & depression. I have to accept that I have it to get better like I have, and then keep exposing myself to certain fears.I would say 90% of the time; things work out & a person's thoughts are totally irrational. Please try & take care. Feel free to write me if you want. I am not a therapist or anything since I am only 15; but I will listen since I know what you are going through since I go through it every single day also. Best of Luck. =]
without medication, you'll not be able to get better.
please, don't be stubborn. you're already taking therapy
take medication to. you can't do this on your own,
antidepressants or anti anxiety medications will help you
out a great deal. just schedule an appt. with a psych
and take it. you can't do this on your own, obviously
you haven't helped yourself at all.
get medication. do yoga. you will eventually get over this.
I have the same problem.
Try telling yourself "just get over it" i know it sounds dumb, but doing that when I'm in a situation where I'm surrounded by alot of people or I'm at a store(the grocery store and wal mart are the WORST for me) if i just talk to myself inside my head, or tell myself that "i can do it" i usually can contain myself long enough to get out of the situation. just keep reminding yourself that everything is going to be alright and there is nothing to be worrying about, trust me, if you do it enough, it really does start to work
although i currently on Prozac not initially prescribed for social anxiety, but Ive noticed that it has helped. why don't you look into medication?
I'm like that and I didnt realise there was a name for it so thanks. I learnt something
Been there done that. Take a risk find your icebreaker and run with it. If you really think they are laughing at you for some reason then you probably wouldn't want to talk to that person in the first place. Think about it a total stranger has no idea what your about so you shouldn't feel bad if they give you a strange look or something. What they don't know is there loss. Take that risk and let them know who you are!!
My son has battled this for about 5yrs. and with therapy and meds. (paxil) has changed his life around completely. I understand the torture you're going through. I have spent nights crying with my son wondering if he would ever get through another day. Even a low dose might help to take the edge off the anxiety. Have you tried herbs? Or some sort of teas? I hear Eucolyptis calms the nerves. Hope that helps. Best of luck.
My problem is I am always looking for that person(s), that want to hurt me. I am 37 y/o, and there are times I can not go to the store by myself. The only way to have something like a normal life is with medication. There is a chance of side effects, but it is worth the chance to be able to walk down the street without having a panic attack, because you don't know who is just laughing, and who will try to kill you, or worse.
Please ignore most of these medi-freaks. Recent studies (in The Lancet) have proved that these drugs have no real effect and worse just addict you to a life of mental slavery of not taking responsibility for your own thoughts. YOU ARE NOT PSYCHOTIC. YOU ARE NOT MENTALLY ILL.
YOU DO NOT NEED TO TAKE MEDICATION.
You feel social anxiety. Most people do. Most people never talk about it. Please for the love of god don't start taking drugs for this.
You are a sensitive, young , and wonderful person who is trying to make sense of the world. This is normal.
I agree with the person who talked about positive reinforcement words like " I CAN handle this". "It doesn't really matter", etc.
Millions of people (including me) feel the same way as you. But PLEASE don't buy into this medication culture, or you will be locked into it for the rest of your life, because like Pringles: once you pop you can't stop. Take responsibilty for your own pain and God bless.
a LOT of people have this. I hate being around people, and I always think everyone is looking at me. But THEY ARE NOT! You are just as worried as everyone else. Everyone is worried about little things, that no one even notices, like a pimple, or your hair. People are SO worried about themselves, that they don't think about you.
Think of it like this, no one cares about you, because they only care about themselves..