how to overcome social anxiety?

Question

since 8 years and a half now, I'm always at home, NOT socializing with anyone except for family.

I don't work, just stay at home. Whenever I go outside, there are a lot of people, I get serious anxiety.

I feel like if I played outside with kids when I was little and socialize with people outside instead of staying at home by myself all day, I wouldn't have social anxiety

since now, I do have social anxiety, plz tell me how to overcome it?

Answer 1

I've been through it all for social anxiety. Meds, counseling, group therapy, etc. Some of the meds really messed me up for a while and made my situation worse. I got off all of them and soon I started to really learn alot about myself. I realized I'm not a social butterfly and I never will be but there is nothing wrong with that because its just the way I am. I also realized I'm more of an introvert and like being alone sometimes. After figuring this all out I built up much more self confidence and soon I didn't give a **** about what anyone thought about me. I realized that everyone is not judging me either. I also realized how when I was drunk that everyone accepted me. I looked at this and thought wow if I wasn't so worried it would probably be the same if I was sober. I used to take a prescribed anxiety medication as needed but now I rarely do. Accept your self for who you are and work on your self confidence and you'll be fine. Take it slow and start to force yourself to do things that seem out of your comport zone. Your not alone and alot of people you know suffer from the same thing even if you don't realize it. I understand exactly how you feel. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 2

You need therapy and like someone above me said, a medication to deal with this. Serious anxiety is caused by neurotransmitters in the brain that are telling you to freak out when there isn't anything to freak out about. My friend has an anxiety disorder and she tried the whole, "mind over matter" thing; but it didn't work. She got to the point where if she was forced to leave the house, or go to school, or do whatever she'd start crying.

You should see a doctor about this; tell them about your symptoms and see if you can get diagnosed. I can tell you though that some doctors are idiots and will tell you there is nothing wrong with you so be persistent. (happened with my friend, took her about a year or two) Don't take no for an answer, and try not to be in denial. Something that will halt a recovery is if you spend the better half of your time telling yourself you don't have a problem. I don't think that will be a problem with you because you've admitted to it.

Good luck! Hope that helped.

Answer 3

I can't relate to social anxiety, but having self esteem issues, I can ask you to stop and think exactly what makes you nervous. Whenever you're out somewhere take a close look at who is around you at the time. If it's mostly friends or people you are used to being around and feel comfortable with, then why the need to be nervous or feel like you have to try so hard? Also, people will probably be off doing their own thing and not paying much attention to you anyway. Gladly accept compliments when you get them- that's what I have trouble doing sometimes. It's normal for everyone to get nervous (even the people who appear to be the most relaxed), especially when you're at formal events or crowded places where you feel like you're on display. Just act how you feel is appropriate and don't worry if you make mistakes. If you need to give yourself a pep talk then do it in your mind so that you don't end up talking to yourself- which wouldn't be a good idea. Keep believing that you're out to have a good time, not to be worrying constantly and if you make any mistakes it's ok.

Answer 4

I was very shy and had anxiety as a child and young adult as well. Now that I have children and i see them being shy I heavily encourage them to walk up to other kids and start talking. Some people naturally make friends and some have a harder time. I think the key is to practice. I am doing much better now but at parties i have to make an effort to speak with people. it's like playing an instrument you have to practice the more difficult portions of the music a little more than the rest. Make a point of saying hi to one stranger a day. then one conversation a day. Joining clubs is another good option. If you work on it it will become easier over time.

Answer 5

I used to have really bad social anxiety disorder.

One day I got a dog...and read a book on dog training. One of the chapters was about timid dogs. How you cure a timid dog is you let the dog win at the game of tug-of-war over and over again until it gains confidence. This notion blew my mind. I realized I was the timid dog...and that nothing really was wrong with me...I just needed confidence. This gave me courage, the next thing I needed was better social understanding.

I read some books on leadership from top ceo's as well as some books on the art of conversation, and how to be social. I read a large variety because I wanted different views and angles for each subject.

I used to feel so awkward around my own species....now I feel fine and better yet, I'm totally enjoying my social life.

Answer 6

You can overcome your social anxiety by working and be with people,it is painful at first but soon you will enjoy interacting with people. Or do some volunteer work to meet people. Good Luck, it is happiness to have some friends.

Answer 7

Overcome Social Anxiety And Shyness - http://tinyurl.com/9ERT0nTBdg

Answer 8

Hey, you couldn't be more socially anxious than I am! I'm 25 and have never been on a date.

For about a year I had friends and went out, and even met some girls, all of whom I had a crush on. What helped me? Alcohol. I wouldn't recommend it for a female, but you get the idea... Sedative-type meds like Valium may be the key.

The side-effect of using alcohol was that all of my "friends" said I was getting too carefree and wreckless. Eventually they all disowned me at the coercion of one of them, who told everyone to hate me, and like a bunch of lemmings, they all disowned me at once.

...Anyway, I got accustomed to carrying a flask around. Drinking in itself didn't make me braver, but if I would take a huge swig and THEN try the action, it would work if I did it right away.

Of course, nothing will help unless you have someone you can call to hang out with. You can't really go out by yourself. I mean, you can, but meeting people is awkward that way. I have not figured out how to meet people by myself. That's a true socialite, and I'm a recovering shy person.

I am the king of shy. I was so shy I couldn't order my own food at a deli or McDonald's. I couldn't shop because I felt awkward browsing through stuff. I've never conversed with a girl on the phone. I was also afraid to answer the phone when the caller ID would show an unfamiliar number. Heck, I was even afraid to drive by myself. Alcohol would just obliterate that fear. Be careful with that, though. There are horror stories of what happens to some people when they drink too much. I only passed out once. I wouldn't recommend the same use of alcohol, but my point is, some sort of psychological "excuse" not to be afraid may be all you need.

Answer 9

Paxil seemed to help me a great deal ... that's about all I can think of. It's hard to come out of something you've been doing for so long like that. Especially anxiety, it is very hard or impossible to geto ver yourself unless you have some sort of medication help, well for me anyways.

Answer 10

Drugs. Go to a good Doctor. A psychiatrist if you can.

It is possible to just go do what needs dong. Set your goal, and stay focused. Ignore the distractions and other people.

Meditate. Find the calm place within you. You can relax, and learn to be relaxed in any situation. It takes time. Maybe some good counselling, a trusted teacher to help. Don't just close yourself in.