Living with Social Anxiety

Social Anxiety is defined as "An experience of fear, apprehension or worry regarding social situations and being evaluated by others." Anxiety is an ailment that many more people suffer from than you would think. Some people have worse symptoms then others with anxiety. It is something that can be hidden and you may not be able to tell when someone has it.

I've suffered from social anxiety for as long as I can remember. I didn't realize that I had it until a few years ago. I always knew that I was different somehow because of how I felt in certain situations but I didn't understand. It can be something that's very hard to deal with and can hold you back, making you feel like you can never be the person you want to be. Anxiety keeps you from feeling like yourself.

This "condition" has made it very hard for me to feel normal. Every time I come into a situation where I have several people's attention, I feel like I am under a microscope and it makes my skin crawl. It has been as mild as feeling uncomfortable and my pulse speeding up to very serious where I felt like my heart was going to pop out of my chest and I start to panic and can't even speak. Public speaking is usually out of the question, or at least very hard to do. Once I become familiar with someone and am around them for awhile I don't usually have a problem. If I am speaking to someone I have never met before, usually I am very nervous and it's hard to think and speak clearly. Job interviews are situations that people with social anxiety don't do well in. Sure it's something that most people get nervous about, but for me it can be almost unbearable. It's been so bad that I lose control of myself and my eyes dart around and I stutter. It can be very hard to make eye contact with people when you have social anxiety. If you don't know the person it can make you very uncomfortable to have their attention. Buying things at stores where you have to talk or look at the cashier can be especially difficult. Social anxiety can show its ugly heard virtually anywhere.

There are many different ideas as to what causes social anxiety. It's been said that it could be passed on through genetics. There have been case studies that have found that children are more likely to develop a disorder if their parent has it. Another cause of social anxiety comes from social experiences. There are many negative experiences that could trigger a social phobia such as this. You could have not fit in as a child or been bullied. Experiences like these can cause social phobias in many children.

There are several treatments for social anxiety. You can take SSRI's (Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) such as Paxil, Prozac, Lexapro and Zoloft to improve the condition. The improvement patients get from taking these drugs vary widely. For some people it works fast and they see a big improvement. Others take awhile to see an improvement and some people don't see any improvement at all. Unfortunately I am one of the people that have not seen much improvement. The anxiety was still there. I was taking Paxil for several months until I finally stopped taking it. Other treatments include different forms of psychotherapy that help the patient change their thought processes to overcome their fears.

One of these forms of treatment should help you, as long as you stick to it and are really serious about getting rid of your anxiety. It's a long hard road, but you can get over it. Subjecting yourself to the social situations that are hardest for you often help you eventually get past the negative effects that come with them. It is definitely something that you can fix, so don't give up hope. Do your research and put a plan into action. There is a lot of good information online, just search for social anxiety. Make sure and ask your doctor about it, they can prescribe these drugs and give you helpful tips on how to proceed. Good luck and feel better!