Social Anxiety?
Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at
3:38 am
I think I have social anxiety. I’m very shy around people .. I feel as though my personality falls flat. I can’t open up to people. Sometimes I even feel happier when I’m alone. I want to overcome this fear.. I have taken depression medicines but they just make me feel jittery/sick. I don’t know what to do! Any suggestions?
Filed under: Panic Attacks
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start socializing with unexpected people
i heard that gets you real and normal
Take a good hard look at yourself. You have so much to offer others, everyone does. Once you understand how unique you are you will see that you have a lot to offer others. You can be shy, it’s OK, but, you need to also give yourself to those who love you and see you as something special then you can go forward with strangers.
If all else fails, take a course in a community college and put yourself out there in class. You’ll be amazed at how much you can learn about yourself in a classroom situation. It helped me sooo much and I too was shy. I continued and got my degree in education and now you can’t believe the confidence I have!
Go for it and my best wishes for you.
Many people share your social anxiety, even some arguably "social" people. Please take a look at the books below; maybe they will help you as much as they did me. best of luck!
The Highly Sensitive Person by Aron and
The Highly Sensitive Person’s Survival Guide: Essential Skills for Living Well in an Overstimulating World (Step-By-Step Guides)
Yes, I highly recommend this test. It was very, very helpful to me in accepting myself.:
http://kts2.personalityzone.com/user/register.aspx
Once you’ve taken the test, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-briggs and scroll down to the paragraph titled: "Type dynamics and development" and look to the right at the rectangle titled "The Sixteen Types" and find your four-letter type and click on it, and read about yourself! If you answered the questions on the test honestly and accurately, you’ll be amazed at how well you’re described!
And read this book.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0688094554
NOTE: These recommendations are not given lightly.
REALIZE: There are no quick fixes for this anxiety. You will need to expand your social skills gradually and work at it over a period of time. How? Practice. Start small. That means 1 or 2 or 3 people at a time. You get with them and interact. If you are truly introverted (and I suspect you are–I am!–the test will help you know), you may never be completely comfortable in groups. I never am, yet I have given speeches to hundreds, etc. But you can learn skills in getting around that when you need and want to. What’s important is knowing that you are okay the way you are, unique, and valuable AND accepting yourself as you are.