Anxiety Support Group

Anxiety is a physical condition marked by intense and persistent feelings of distress, fear, angst or dread. General anxiety caused by routine day-to-day stresses usually passes quickly and is experienced by almost everyone at one time or another. However, such feelings that linger over time and are very difficult to cope with, and which lack a clear cause, may indicate...

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Anxiety Disorders
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Social Anxiety

silenceisviolent1
silenceisviolent1

Hi... I know I have social anxiety, I went to a therapist, but I just felt like they never listened to me. I also went to a support group and that was pretty cool, but it ended. I don't know how my social anxiety developed but I basically just shut down whenever I'm nervous and when I'm around new people and it sucks cause then everyone thinks im a loser:( I wish there was a way I could just be myself around everyone and be more confident 

Community LeaderMid
Mid
Take a moment to really practice in front of the mirror. Look at you, and practice watching your feelings and how they make your body move.
I did this, and was able to break the social sensations from overwhelming my desire to be social.
You have to be strong, call yourself strong, and show strength...it really does work to be positive with this!
Sage7
Sage7
Hi-sorry you’re having such a rough time right now! It is a bummer that the support group ended. Are there others in your area? If not, perhaps an online support group would be an option? Meanwhile, I encourage you to continue taking care of yourself and doing all the things that help reduce anxiety- like getting enough sleep, exercising and eating a healthy diet. (Yogurt and Kefir are two of my favorite anxiety reducers, and I avoid junk food most of the time as I find it increases symptoms).
question
question
Hi, fellow social anxiety-sufferer here. I've been dealing with it for a long time but no therapist really approached treating it much until the last year or so. My heart races when people talk to me sometimes, and I get easily freaked out in groups, and I only make eye contact with a small, small group of people, unless I have to for some reason. But perhaps the worst symptom for me is the endless reviewing and analyzing things I've said, the worry when someone doesn't respond to a message right away, the agonizing over how to word things. I obsess that I've done something wrong in a social setting and it's exhausting!!
Anyway, enough about me, back to you. I'm not sure if your symptoms are anything like mine, but for me it actually did help to do a kind of therapy called exposure response-prevention (ERP). That said, while it did produce results and seriously affect a couple small things, it didn't really "fix" the problem long term because it really requires continually stressing yourself out so less things make you anxious... sounds weird, maybe if you google it it will make more sense? But I know it can help some people long-term, so if you want to give that a try and find a program or ERP therapist (I went through a day program) it might help things improve. I really encourage you to see a psychiatrist. Psychiatrists can try meds, and for me meds have better lasting effects than any form of therapy has.
Really my faith has given me the most endurance of everything (I am a Christian and God has really done amazing miraculous things for me in the midst of my challenges).
Prayed for ya! Social anxiety/mental health conditions of any kind are a hard battle.
Feel free to add me/message me if you ever need to talk about social anxiety. I'm pretty active on DailyStrength.
Best wishes!
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