Buttholedeath

I have it. It's not too bad but it does affect me to an extent.

Me (via a self-diagnosis). It's not nearly as severe as it was a few years ago, but it still affects my daily life and my mental health to an extent. I get by.

It often feels as if I'm the only one who has trouble with something that comes so naturally to others, so it's nice to meet some comrades every once in a while :'-)

What does it feel to have social anxiety?

I feel exactly as the person who asked this question, so I never considered having social anxiety, and I'd like to know how is it for someone who's had it first hand and not just read a bunch of symptoms on the internet.

I can't speak for all of us, but this is coming from personal experience:

• we're afraid of being:
° criticized
° the center of attention
° rejected
° seen as boring
° watched while doing something (such as eating)
° initiating conversations
° going to school
° social encounters in general
(not all of these need to be met to qualify)

• we feel intense anxiety when any of these criteria are met (in the form of blushing, sweating, nausea, lightheadedness, etc.)

• we are aware that our anxiety is irrational, but these feelings don't go away

• after social encounters we've perceived as failures (most, especially in my case), we dwell on them for periods of time ranging from a few hours to years afterward

• our social anxiety often leads to:
° low self-esteem
° loneliness and depression
° poor social skills
° intrusive thoughts

i have a pretty severe case of social anxiety myself! i have barely left my house in ~2 years. during the first year, i didn't leave at all. i'm wishing you the best with this! i hope you'll be able to get treatment/a therapist that works for you. ♂

You could still just be shy. I used to think I was, until I realized that one's initial "shyness" shouldn't persist for years around the same people, and to such an extent. Do any of the things I've listed trigger real anxiety, or just a bit of discomfort?

A lot of those things cause me real anxiety. I honestly didn't even know what anxiety was until I went on my first interview job ever it was soooo many people and I couldn't breath, I couldn't write stuff down cuz my hands wouldn't stop shaking, every time I talked to someone I felt like I didn't even make any sense.

Then I told my mom and she took me to a therapist and she started asking me questions like what u wrote and it all made sense.

I hate being the center of attention, I hate talking to people on the phone, I hate when instead of people leaving me be they start making small talk which I suck at and feel like every time I do it I seem like a bitch, I hate when I have to compete with people that also makes me feel bad cuz I feel like I'm not gonna win and don't wanna win cause that's more attention, and it just goes on and on and on ughhh