social anxiety?
16 July 2010
11 Comments
babi_gurl1669 asked:
I’m 16 and i have social anxiety and it seems to be getting worse.
I am absolutely terrified of doing some of the things I used to love.
If you have social anxiety or know someone that does could you tell me somethings they do that helps me not freak out as much? Also I want to get a job but I am so scared and can’t imagine how I’ll handle it.
Any thoughts?
I’m 16 and i have social anxiety and it seems to be getting worse.
I am absolutely terrified of doing some of the things I used to love.
If you have social anxiety or know someone that does could you tell me somethings they do that helps me not freak out as much? Also I want to get a job but I am so scared and can’t imagine how I’ll handle it.
Any thoughts?
And I tried medication but it didn’t help.
Medication is not necessarily the answer,no. you have to find out what exactly is triggering your anxiety, is it situations, people or something about yourself that makes you uncomfortable. once you figure this out you can slowly reduce your anxiety. Remember this doesn’t happen overnight and your completely normal. Just be proud of who you are! the rest will all fall in place.
Not all medications work for everyone. I would suggest trying a different one, and talking to a doctor about it. Maybe see a therapist, also. Feel better.
i think if yiu avoid social situations it will only get worse.
Meds have always been the best for me. Often, you have to try more than one kind of medicine to find the one your body best responds to. Talk to your parents and your doctor, please.
The only thing I know of is setting out to change your thinking – realising that most scarey things are not actually as scarey as you think they are. You have the power within you to cope with whatever comes your way in life – you have to believe this about yourself.
You could try meditation and learn to live in the moment meaning just deal with things as they come up without projecting forward or worrying about the past. The key is learning to relax without the use of drugs, breathing techniques may help along with some therapy which helps you to find what led you to this. Take care you can be strong.
We’re learning about about anxiety in my psych class right now.
What is it that frightens you exactly? How people will treat you or how you will react given a certain situation?
The key to remeber is that most of your fears are all in your head. Take little steps to getting out of your comfy zone. Take deep breaths and remind yourself that its all in your head.
for example, I took my [new] friend to a party and she keep “warning” me how bad she is at socializing. She said it so much I almost wanted to take her home, but I told her that Ive seen her socialize and shes not bad at all, its in her head. She calmed down a bit, we went to the party and she did just fine. Every now and then she would ask if what she said was ok but I do that too. lol
That may help you too, let a friend know your plan on getting out, and if you feel insecure lean in and get a little reassurance. Of course dont do that all the time, that would get tiresome. Baby steps.
I used to have it, back in the late 80s/early 90s before it was something that was even easily diagnosed. So I never had any medication for it or anything.
Honestly, the only thing that did it for me was realizing (at the age of 12) that I was letting IT control me, instead of the other way around. I decided right then and there to take the control back. To make myself become a control freak over it.
I don’t know if it would be that “easy” for everyone, but if it would help others, it’s worth them trying the same. And I use quotes because it wasn’t easy, and my anxiety issues were pretty bad. But for me, that is the thing that helped, taking the power and control away from it.
And over the years when I’d start getting that anxious feeling, I’d make myself and mentally telling myself to “look around, nothing is happening, everything is fine, put your mind on something else.” And that helped. I haven’t had an anxiety attack in many years, and actually not since I decided to take it back. I’ll never be the bravest person in the world, and some things will always make me really nervous, but I do good now though without any anxiety attacks.
i know what you mean and it’s a terrible thing to have. there are more than one type of medicine.—xanax for one–stay in touch with a real psycharist [spelling?] xanax is pronounced like [zanax] and there are varying strength’s–good luck
As simple as it may seem, just accept it. I use to think “What if I fall in front of everyone or what if…” if I reacted like “OMG!!!!” The fear would escalate but if I reacted like “If I fall, I frigging fall. ” then it would slowly subside. Taking deep breathes would help particularly with a mint.
Both my sister and I go through this. I started experiencing social anxiety when I entered Junior High. It is now about 15 years later and I still deal with it. It is not as bad. My husband helps me out a lot. I used to not even be able to go to mall. To help me in certain situations I sometimes arrive late to an event. That way there may be a few more people that I know and I don’t look so scared standing in a corner some where. It always helps when I have a friend or family member with me. Now for a job….jeez that was hard for me also. I would start a job and freak out and end up not showing up for work. Once again my solution was, I found a place where I knew someone. That helped. I just kept telling myself that I could do it. I would go home crying all the time. I didn’t want to go. I was scared. I was scared to eat with people. But I stuck it out. After about a month or two (I know that’s a long time) and it got better and easier. You just got to stick yourself out there. Now my sister did the medication. I cant tell you here experience, but from my point of view it made her worse. But that’s just one person.
I’ve been suffering from social anxiety since I was about 6. Im 20 now. I’ve gone through times that were harder than others. I hid it from my friends all my life though. If you do that tell them. Pick and choose which you feel comfortable with and then tell them. I just recently did this and it makes a huge difference. Also talk to your doctor about trying different combinations of medicine it takes some people a while. Also the more you put yourself into the situations that are hardest for you the easier it gets. But that’s why you need the help of family and friends so you can get through the scary times. I’m still learning ways to cope but if you find a good combo for you it will get a little easier daily. When you find that combo though don’t stop not even for a day especially meds or you’ll set yourself back. No matter how good you feel don’t stop your meds until your dr tells you too. I did that and now I’m back where I started. Also try therapy too not just a psychiatrist and if u have a group therapy thing in your area try it. Being around others with similar problems and just knowing there ARE others helps big time. Look around the net too there are a lot of forums and sites for people with social anxiety. Hope this helps!
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