Social Anxiety Community Group
Social Anxiety is a term used to describe an experience of anxiety (emotional discomfort, fear, apprehension or worry) regarding social situations and being negatively evaluated by other people. Be kind, considerate to all members & help support each other. Please join us, you don’t have to feel alone anymore!
Hello everyone,
Recently in my life I have been afraid to speak out to my friends and I call myself the "background friend". I always am afraid to speak due to the fact that I think they might judge me for saying something wrong or think I am stupid. A lot of my friend group is guys and most of the times they talk about things I don`t know about enough or at all to join the conversation. No body stops to explain it either but I guess it`s my fault because I don`t ask questions. There is another female in our group, but she has much more in common with everyone else than I do. I`m more of the girly girl I guess making me alone.
My social anxiety gets really bad talking to people I don`t know or when I have to give presentations in school. My palms start to sweat, my heart races, and my voice gets really shakey and I will start talking fast. I have been having trouble with this for as long as I can remember and I am tired of it. I am tired of being afraid to ask or answer questions. I am tired of not voicing my opinion or standing up for myself. I have not done anything professional regarding my social anxiety. Joining this group is my first step to help me out. I also recently started writing my thoughts and feelings down. Does anyone have ways to control it? I appreciate the help
Thank you.
I am new to this site as well, though I have already received professional help, and it worked SO well. I don't know your full experience, but I can tell you that from what you've written here, your situation seems VERY similar to mine. If your anxiety is interfering with your daily life and is preventing you from making connections you want to make, you might have social anxiety disorder like me (or something similar). The truth is, if you do have SAD, the only way to know for sure is to be diagnosed. Also, SAD, like many other disorders, can only be permanently reduced with specific types of therapy, like CBT. That is why it is really important to find out whether or not you may have something like this. Writing down your thoughts is something I also strongly recommend, so it is good that you are doing that. However, smaller things like this probably will not solve your issue alone.
It will be very hard to get the solution to your problem if you don't know what the problem really is. By seeing a therapist, you will find a specific name for your problem that comes with specific solutions, some of which may be easy and quick, others which may require patience and a lot of work depending on what degree of anxiety you turn out to have. Getting professional help was hard and scary, but it may have been the best decision of my life. Without it, I'm not sure I would be be here today, as my anxiety was getting unbearably worse and worse. I have never felt happier or more free, and I know you will feel that too with time.
Good luck with whatever you decide and to do. Stay strong.