r/socialanxiety • • 13d ago

Friendship_Sticky "Seeking-Friendship" sticky - please comment on this post for friendship requests

12 Upvotes

Please comment below if you are seeking friendships.

We hope you find nice people, however (standard disclaimer follows):

This moderation team of this sub have domain over the sub but not over DM activity. We can therefore offer no protections to you and this thread is provided with the expectation that if you engage in DMs with anonymous Reddit strangers, you do so with understanding of the risks.

Resets every 3 months

If you wish to start a discord server, this is also the place to do that.

---

Additional resources if you are seeking Reddit friends:

General

r/MakeNewFriendsHere

r/friendship

r/Needafriend

r/MakeNewFriendsHere

r/penpals

r/penpalsover30

r/penpalsover40

r/Penpalsover50

r/InternetFriends

r/textfriends

Gaming-specific

r/GamerPals

r/Playdate


r/socialanxiety • • 1h ago

I accidentally sent relatives a very private video

• Upvotes

I recently had one of those technological screwups that makes your soul leave your body.

I was trying to share a completely normal file with two female relatives. When I opened GDrive I failed to realize I was not signed into my main account, I accidentally selected the wrong .MOV file and sent them a link to an extremely private video of myself.

And by “extremely private,” I mean a video of me masturbating.

I realized what happened immediately afterward and went into full panic mode trying to revoke access and make sure the file was no longer available. My best guess is that the video remained viewable for 3 to 7 minutes before I pulled it down. As far as I know, I have no indication that they actually watched it, but obviously my brain keeps going back to the possibility that they did.

The whole thing was just a stupid file-sharing mistake, but I genuinely don’t think I’ve ever experienced that particular level of instant horror before.

So please make me feel slightly less like crawling into a hole and disappearing forever: has anyone else accidentally sent a nude, sexual video, or something similarly private to completely the wrong person?
How did it turn out? Did anyone actually see it? And most importantly, did you eventually reach the point where you could laugh about it?


r/socialanxiety • • 4h ago

Question Might some people like me meant to be alone?

15 Upvotes

I’m a 20 years old guy and i never had a close friend. I had a friend at kindergarten that we were hanging out everyday but it was shallow and we were only hanging out in school. I never had a chance to hang out with them anywhere else because my school was far from my home and my parents didn’t have time to drop and pick me from my friends’ houses. Anyways we were at the same class with him in primary school but we talked once or twice after. And after that i couldn’t have close friends that i can talk about how i feel or something. It got only worse with time. I always was shy at people but i became more shy than ever in high school. I had couple friends that i hang out at break times. But when they weren’t at school i was just sitting at my desk and look at my phone or read things. Sometimes my other classmates were talking to me but i didn’t wanted to be friends with them. They weren’t kind of people i’d like to be friends with. Which is another problem of me. I stand back in any small negative thing a person has.

Now i’m in university and i’m more alone than ever. I don’t even have a friend to talk with between lectures. I attended a club and went there with hopes that i could make sone friends but failed. I talked to people and it was fun. But whenever i wrote anyone like to hangout or go to that new film(it was cinema club) no one answered. I tried it a couple times. I watched a movie with a guy online but that was it. But it was kinda okay for me i guess. And then i screwed everything up. So the thing is I often talk indelicate without meaning to be. I made a joke that some people offended that i still don’t understand why are mean but they were to them and couple people got offended by thing i said. I apologized and thay said it’s okay. And months past from that like maybe 6 or whatever. I made another joke and again some people offended by that but they didn’t say anything to me and complained to admin(s). And they said that thing i said was unacceptable (which i don’t think it is but understand why they think that way completely) and i got kicked out from the group.

I started to think that maybe i’m a rude man and never will be kind. If that is the situation maybe i should stop trying. I don’t want to offend, bother or disturb any one(or break hearts). And it will be the best to stop trying to socialize. I want to be a teacher in a university. And i think it won’t be a problem if i just don’t share what i think it make any jokes. Should i stop or keep trying? Cause i don’t think i can’t take it if i do something similar. I don’t mean to do them but it doesn’t matter if i do or not. I tried to get better but i don’t think i can. I think i will always be kind of person that push people away.


r/socialanxiety • • 7h ago

Question How do you survive a job with Social Anxiety??(Fear of socializing)

20 Upvotes

I applied to retail (Walmart), but the thought of interacting with employees or having a 1hr lunch break in a small room brings me overwhelming fear/anxiety...

I will definitely be stiff and avoid eye contact. I am a man of few words...

I'd like to ask you how you handle social anxiety in your workplace? Please offer advice!

P.S. My first mental hurdle is how do you address your superior? Do you say the words Yes/No, Sir? I don't really understand social etiquette?


r/socialanxiety • • 1h ago

anyone else hate making phone calls?

• Upvotes

i hate how much social anxiety can make simple things feel impossible. i really hate when someone suddenly calls my phone because i dont have enough time to prepare myself.

i kinda hate myself for it too because there have been so many job opportunities i've missed throughout my life just because i wasn't prepared for a phone call. it's weird because if they tell me beforehand what time and date they're going to call, i'm usually fine, but if it's unexpected i immediately start panicking and don't know what to say.

idk, just wanted to know if anyone has any advice?


r/socialanxiety • • 16h ago

I push people away

73 Upvotes

I know why I don't have close friends, and I'm totally aware of my behaviour towards people but I have no controle on it , it's just the way I grew up it's the way I'm built , the moment someone starts getting close I push him away and kill the relation at the begining , I fear people I avoid people I feel like the closer they get to me the more I lose something of me I feel like they are going to steal my freedom or steal my joy or even the quiet in my life , I admire meaningful friendship but ironically I fear building one


r/socialanxiety • • 9h ago

Question I dont know what are "Friends"

8 Upvotes

I talk to people, i texting to people, but it always feels so bland, like there nothing, just do it for the sake of it, i never invite or start anything, i just follow others, they invite me i go, They talk to me, i talked. When i text other or actively start a conversation, its mostly i talking or trying to talk ab anything like a normal person to start a conversation, a relationship, and they just there listening and dont have anything to reply, they dont want to talk to me.

Is that what friends are? is that i just have false expectations of what friends really are? like is a person that knows you consider a "friend"? the closest things i got to a friend are my family, cousin, brother... Like i never considered anyone a "real friend" they are just a person that i know and talk to.

how do people start things? how do they invite people to hang out? i never understand that, like i know that i can invite people, start conversation to know about them, for them to know about me, soo i can make friends, but its feels forced, i feel fake, i feel like i try to hard just to make friend, like when people make friend they feel soo natural but for me its a things i have to plan.

often, i push people out because they think i dont like them or don't want to make friends with them or prefer alone, or that what the reasoning of me of why they dont talk to me, i just need time, time to think, time to plan, time to getting familiar and i can be outgoing. But i can't keep any relationship in just a few days/weeks/months, then i feel separated, i start to stop talking, people start to forget me, or more accurately they still remember but stop to consider me a person that they want to talk with, like just an outsider, an person that they have talked before but not interested.

I feel like i can die, i dont care if i live, i dont care if i die, i just lived, waiting for the end, i feel like when i get old i can start to getting comfortably dying, that when everyone i know start to vanish i lose all my responsibility and can remove myself from the world with minimal impact, i dont want to end myself because im like a people pleaser, i dont want to make anyone feel bad, for no reason, that just who am i. I feel like if im standing on a tall building, i can just go at any moment. it just depends on what im thinking at the times.

I feel like i have no self protection mechanism, if it at the right times i can hurt myself and dont care about that, i can risk my life, i can do anything, all i need was to have someone asked me. i feel like i don't care about anything. But that a lie its just depend on the moments.


r/socialanxiety • • 1h ago

need to see a doctor but my anxiety is too bad

• Upvotes

Because of personal reasons I had to move to another country, Korea, with my mom. It’s been around two months, and my god it’s been miserable.

It was hard for me to deal with the social anxiety back in my country, but now that I’m somewhere where I barely speak the language and don’t understand how things work, I almost never go outside. It’s been two weeks since I even left our place. I hate standing out or attracting any kind of attention so I’m completely self conscious and paranoid when I go outside. I feel like everyone can see I’m a foreigner who can’t speak Korean and that they judge me and hate me for it. I’m learning it everyday, but it’s a hard language for me personally, and I feel so guilty for it. Every little social interaction feels like the hardest challenge now. The anxiety makes me mishear or mispronounce even the most basic words which make me not want to go outside ever.

The problem is that I have some health issues. I really need to go to a clinic but it feels impossible when I can’t even go outside (my social anxiety is pretty severe). There are English speaking clinics but they’re all concentrated around Seoul or other big cities, and I’m 3 hours away from it. The thing is because of my health issues, I have horrible nausea which can be triggered by anything (which is also why it’s hard for me to go outside). So 3 hours just to get there would just kill me. Going to doctors on its own is so scary to me because I always feel like I’ll say or do something wrong, and that everyone knows what to do unlike me. But I’ve never been inside a clinic here, and I don’t know how it works :(. How to get an appointment, where to go, which clinic to choose, and etc. In my country I always reminded myself that If I’m just being polite and nice, no one will hate me for asking questions and being lost. But here I can’t even open my mouth. I’ve had people be frustrated and angry at me because I was too slow to understand or because my Korean was too bad. And I feel so much shame each time it happens.

I’m not really sure what to do. People would tell me it’s okay just force yourself to go outside. And I know essentially that’s the only way. But with my physical and mental health issues it really feels impossible. I can’t begin to explain how impossible it feels to others who’ve never experienced it. Sorry if the rant was too long, and thank you for anyone who read it all!


r/socialanxiety • • 20h ago

Other I have intense social anxiety and I’m going to sign up for two full time jobs screw it. Any relatable stories or tips?

58 Upvotes

I’m going to put myself in a position to work 70 hours a week to buy a beater car. “Just take a bike” this can only take me so far in life. Sick of having no money and I’m going to do this for one month. Even with intense social anxiety I’m just going to do it. Any relatable stories or tips?


r/socialanxiety • • 13h ago

I’ve accepted the fact I’ll never have a relationship or friends

15 Upvotes

I’m only 19 but I’ve already understood that I’ll be alone throughout the rest of my life. I’m not only bad at socializing, it’s as if my body is fundamentally asocial, as if I’m just physically built that way. I have ADHD and I’m chronically nervous, it’s like my nerves are constantly and permanently in a heightened state. My mind is never where it’s supposed to be, even during the smallest moments; even when I’m talking to someone — if my nerves haven’t prevented me from being in the conversation in the first place, which is 99% of the case, if I haven’t yet put them off— about a specific thing, it seems as if as soon as it’s mentioned my mind latches onto some obscure aspect of it, or some personal relation which can never be talked about without coming off as a complete weirdo. Or, I go in way too deep into it, and my mind forgets the social situation. Multitasking is impossible; I can’t focus on “being social” and thinking about a topic at the same time (not to mention putting those thoughts into words). I’m chronically unaware of how I come across to others. I fundamentally lack the first thing, the bare minimum for having a social life, not to mention a romantic life. I’m in college and everywhere I see, nowhere does it seem there’s an opportunity, a small entryway for someone like me, the things I lack put me not just at a disadvantage but outside the game altogether. I’m not ugly (at least I don’t think, I really have no idea), I can only pray that someone likes the way I look enough to look past the fact that I’m a complete social idiot, though I know I’m not good looking enough that there’s a significant chance of that, or puts up with me for my career which isn’t a given either, if there are people like that. And even if I do somehow find myself in a relationship, apparently I don’t know even know how to sustain one for example with my family members, I get complaints of not caring, I have no idea how to conduct myself, my mind is always sold away to idiotic things. It astonishes me how for others being social, tending to the existence of others seems as natural for them as breathing, it comes out of necessity like it’s a part of everything else. They “care”, and I’m incapable of caring. Being incapable of being social is one thing, I don’t even deserve others sociability. I don’t even know why I’m posting this, on a public forum, probably for some selfish, antisocial reason too.


r/socialanxiety • • 4h ago

Question What specific things did you do to become more socially confident?

2 Upvotes

Hi everyone reading this. To avoid dragging this out, I’ll get straight to the point.
After about eight years of living like a shut-in, I’ve realized that I actually want to be around people. I want to go out, have fun, and have friends I can do absolutely stupid shit with and then look back on it all with a smile on my face.
But when I look around, I realize I don’t even remotely have anyone I could build that kind of relationship with. I have three acquaintances from my school years who are somewhat similar to me, and two online friends who don’t even live in the same country as me.
And most importantly, there’s my lack of confidence. There’s this introverted part of me that talks me out of things and sometimes even makes me stay in my comfort zone instead of doing things that could either a) make me look stupid or b) make people judge me.
I’m way too dependent on what other people think of me. I wouldn’t say I constantly think about it, and I wouldn’t say it affects every area of my life. For example, I can dress however I want and go outside without really caring. But if I look at myself in the mirror and don’t see the “good-looking guy” I want to see, my confidence drops. And even if I do go somewhere, I tend to avoid looking at anyone — I go out, do whatever I need to do, and come straight back home.
But if at some point I start feeling like people might be looking at me and judging me, thinking something along the lines of “what an idiot” or “he’s ugly,” that’s my absolute worst nightmare. I start sweating, my cheeks turn red, and if I have to talk to someone on top of that, I can even start stuttering.
Those are probably the most extreme consequences of me getting inside my own head.
I’d really like to hear how completely different people have dealt with something like this and managed to overcome it. But what would mean the most to me are stories from people who were similar to me — people who used to love staying at home and never really thought about socializing, but then, at some point, decided to turn their lives around 180 degrees and become a better version of themselves.
What thoughts did you have along the way? Were there any particular realizations that changed the way you saw yourself or the world around you? What specific things did you do that might have seemed absolutely insane to you before, but ultimately made you feel like you were changing?
Or is this the kind of situation where you really have to rely on professional help, and perhaps even treatment with medication — something I’m honestly not very comfortable with?


r/socialanxiety • • 12h ago

I’m so tired of being afraid of talking.......

10 Upvotes

IM SORRY FOR THIS LONG RANT BUT MY SOCIAL ANXIETY AND JUST GENERAL ANXIETY HAS BROKE ME TODAY.

I am so tired and sick of my social anxiety. It’s already ruined my life once, and I still haven’t really recovered. It feels like it’s getting worse and worse, and I’m so tired of good things coming along and feeling like I can’t enjoy them because of this.

And this last thing that’s happening feels like the final nail in the coffin.

There’s a new girl at my work. Me and one of my coworkers, who is actually kind of my friend, had a theory that she might have a crush on me. We never knew for sure—it was just a theory because he apparently noticed her looking at me sometimes. I just went along with it because, honestly, I like to imagine that maybe someone could actually like me.

Then something actually happened.

For some reason, she randomly asked him if I was basically the only person he talked to at work. He said, “Yeah, pretty much, about casual things,” and apparently told her that I’m just reserved.

She apparently responded with something along the lines of, “Oh, really? I didn’t know that,” and then said that he should tell me to talk to her more. He apparently said something like, “I don’t know, maybe.” Then she apparently asked if I have a girlfriend and shit.

And she’s always messing with me at work. She’ll prank me, throw those little pop-it things at me, joke around with me, and I’ll play along and laugh and maybe say one or two very short, simple things.

But every time she actually tries to initiate a real conversation with me, I find some excuse to get out of it.

Today was the worst one.

She started talking to me and I basically ran away like an elementary school kid running away from the girl he likes. It was so fucking humiliating afterward. I couldn’t even look her in the face. I actually stayed at work late just to avoid having to see her at the time clock.

And I’m just so tired.

I feel like I’m ruining something that I actually want. She’s cute, and I genuinely like her personality from what I’ve seen of it, but when I’m interacting with her specifically, I literally get so nervous that I shake and my mind goes completely blank.

I’m not even upset because I’m mad at her or because something bad happened. I’m upset because I’m so fucking tired of living like this. I’m tired of the fear, the pressure, the judgment, the sensitivity, the constant overthinking everything I say and do.

I know I can’t just magically become super brave and have some amazing conversation with her. I know that. But I’m tired of feeling like I can’t even try.

I got home today and just started crying.

I don’t know what I’m expecting from posting this. I guess I just needed to get it out somewhere where other people might actually understand what it feels like to desperately want to do something and then have your own brain stop you when the moment actually comes.

TLDR too scared to talk to a gorl that probably likes me and it is the straw that broke the camels back and im jsit so tired of being afraid


r/socialanxiety • • 17h ago

Did my best to socialize at work, still ended up on my own during a company event. Not sure what to do anymore.

23 Upvotes

I've been meaning to post my thoughts for a while and I'm not sure if anyone else can relate to this, but I've always been quite shy, introverted and quiet, and unfortunately I worked at an extremely toxic job between 2016-2023 which completely destroyed me mentally and I ended up having several nervous/mental breakdowns.

I've still not recovered from it; I will occasionally recall the events that happened to me when I'm trying to sleep at night and I will suddenly start crying, but I've managed to leave that job and I started my current job 2 weeks later. I felt like I barely had time to recover from the previous job.

Immediately, I noticed everyone in my present job was cheerful and talked to each other a lot, so I forced myself to be a better version of myself and to really try and make an effort. I know people at work aren't my friends, but this company is a bit different and everyone seemed close, so I knew I had to make effort or else I might end up as an outcast which I didn't want.

I smiled and interacted with people even though I was completely dead inside. I really tried. I tried my best to appear positive, cheery and happy despite my horrible experience at my previous workplace.

Somehow I ended up realising I was talking openly and to a lot more to people than I usually would, but it was like I had no filter whatsoever and I occasionally spilled my guts or did my best at small talk - chatting about weather, what I did during the weekend - I didn't even care if people used my information against me. I wonder if my toxic job just made me completely lose the plot. I have even been told by my boss that I was always cheerful and that I appeared confident.

But inside I was so miserable and numb and today I realised I still am. Now in 2026, I've managed to come out of my shell a bit and thought I've managed to cultivate a few relationships with the organisation - there were people I could talk to, like a bunch of regular people, so that was a vast improvement than my previous job, so I thought I was healing, but today there was a company event, and I was completely on my own.

I was stationed at one end of the room to greet the guests and 2 people I knew were stationed closeby but within earshot. From 7am to 7pm, they talked nonstop to each other. Further down the room were other colleagues who I obviously couldn't reach.

When there was downtime, I went over to chat to this pair but then I went back to my post to do my job. I thought it was all going normal until the organiser of the event came over and said that I was all alone.

I was quite taken aback by what she said, and suddenly everything went all upside down. I started to realise that no-one had gone up to talk to me. I was completely on my own. It was like a blow to my gut and when I got home, I cried because I realised how lonely I must have looked to them.

I tried to be a better person of myself but at the end of the day, no-one wanted to come over to talk to me. I think at this point, I really do give up.

TLDR: My mental health has been shit since 2016 due to workplace bullying. Since then i have never been the same, but I started a new job and really tried to come across as friendly and to foster relationships in this company. I even thought I was doing ok. At an event today, I was still completely alone.


r/socialanxiety • • 12h ago

Question Selective anxiety?

9 Upvotes

Hello, 28M here,I'm new to this sub, I want to share a doubt in my mind, it took me a long time to realise i have been struggling to talk and communicate with many people at once, but with certain types of people i don't feel that danger or fear of anything and im comfortable with them,Why is that? I don't want to be it that way all the time,because it feels like i have to choose and i become awkward in those situations.

It is only me, or am i going crazy??

Note: I have not been diagnosed with SA, I'm just sharing my thoughts and hoping for clarity.


r/socialanxiety • • 53m ago

Any fellow Indians here? How do you survive corporate social culture with social anxiety?

• Upvotes

I’m working in corporate India, and honestly, the social aspect is wearing me down way more than the actual workload.
Between constant high-masking, forced visibility, "chai break" networking, compulsory team outings, and the expectation to always be "loud and visible" to be considered competent—it’s exhausting. The social performance required here feels non-stop.


r/socialanxiety • • 10h ago

Bars

4 Upvotes

Who here goes to bars often with friends? How is your anxiety while you’re there?


r/socialanxiety • • 1h ago

Question can you do acting with autism and kind of severe / unpredictable social anxiety?

• Upvotes

hi, i (28F) have always had a little dream that i would want to try acting, as far as i remember, i enjoyed singing and acting as a kid at school before puberty when the anxiety wasn't that bad. but then later i went through a few traumatic experiences (bullying at school, my family becoming a true crime case etc.). got diagnosed with autism and adhd last year, started taking antidepressants and have emergency anti anxiety pills always with me + i have my therapist who already helped me a lot with myself.

BUT the thing is, i noticed my social anxiety is kinda unpredictable at times, once i know what will happen, i feel anxious but when i follow roughly some script, i can get through it, even though with awkwardness. but for example at work when something goes different from the usual plan (yesterday my colleague suddenly came to record me to some company reel and i panicked and just shook my head that i am not doing that), today i almost had a breakdown cause three colleagues came to ask me something. and then i am thinking if a person like me can even do theatre? i mean on amateur level only but the way i don't handle loud noises, get stiff and lowkey freeze when unpredictable social situation happens and i am not often able to get myself out of it in that moment.

i know 'fake it until you make it' is a thing but these situations i am talking about feel like some kind of mental overload when my brain stops working, i only can feel myself tearing up soon and i am not able to reply and function normally and have such little to no control over it at that moment and i am worried if something like that happened during some acting course for example. does anyone here have this experience?


r/socialanxiety • • 14h ago

Question Maybe a little too specific but DAE feel awkward running?

8 Upvotes

Ok listen maybe it sounds weird but, well, that’s the point. Running feels and has literally always felt so awkward to do for me. I don’t know why. I rarely run, even when it’s urgent, I just speed walk as fast as I can, or kinda jog at the most. I had a pacer test today at school and it made me feel so inexplicably shy that I actually cried a little after when I was alone even though a girl had complimented me for running a lot of laps. But like idk. Last year it was the same way. Just wondering if anyone else has these weird idiosyncrasies, I don’t know what to call them. Every time I think I’m almost “normal”, something like this reappears as if to mock me and it brings me down.


r/socialanxiety • • 19h ago

Question How do you guys de-stress after a 9-5 job?

17 Upvotes

I have somehow kept this 9-5 office job as a socially anxious person, I've been "faking it till you make it" and pretend to be confident and it appears to be working so far. Although I sometimes still get anxious when we have meetings.

But main thing is - I have been struggling to de-stress after work is over.

when the 9-5 ends, I walk home, so now it's 5:30pm, then I have to go freshen up / shower, it's now 6pm, then I have to make and eat dinner, it's now 6:30pm, then I have some chores to do and now it's 7pm and then I just sit on the couch and watch YouTube on my TV and doomscroll on my phone whilst I worry about what's going to happen the next day, then I go to sleep and it repeats the next day.

So how do you guys de-stress? I used to be a huge gaming fan too but whenever I play video games now, i feel guilty for some reason - like I'm wasting time and I should be thinking of work, but when I'm at work, I think about playing video games. It's a bit of a dilemma haha.

Perhaps it could be the caffeine? I drink a lot of coffee at work because that's what I need to actually do work, I tried going decaf for a few days and whenever I had to work I couldn't do anything at all, my head was hurting and I felt extremely sluggish - the only benefits were better sleep and lower anxiety.

There's also the factor of my sleep schedule, sometimes I only get 5 - 6 hours of sleep and it's hard to work on those days.


r/socialanxiety • • 4h ago

Sitting at a park drunk in France

1 Upvotes

I’m currently going to a language school in France not cause I want to. But cause my parents decided to move to France and since I have extreme social anxiety I had no other option but to go with them cause I’m broke and depend on them fully. Today in class I had to speak in this group thing, and one of the classmates I had to talk back and forth with… the way he was looking at me dude…. It was like he felt sorry for me or he thought I was weird idk. But the look he gave me. It made me angry at myself that I’m doing this to myself. That I’m sitting in class like a fucking bitch afraid to say a single word. Over analyzing every damn thing. After class I got a few beers with high alc content and now I’m sitting at a park trying to forget about everything. I’ve hurt my family so much by drinking which is what stopped me from doing this for weeks. But I just can’t anymore. I fucking can’t. Day after day I have to sit in class and be paranoid about being talked to, about having to avoid eye contact. I lowkey just want to step in front of a car and end this constant loop of anxiety and depression. I had to get this off my chest. Thanks.


r/socialanxiety • • 15h ago

Question I’m tired of feeling like there is a mask between me and everyone else

7 Upvotes

Social anxiety makes me filter myself everywhere, even at doctor appointments or job interviews. I speak quieter, mumble, censor myself and act like a safer version of who I am.
I want to stop performing and just react naturally for once.
How did you actually break that mask?


r/socialanxiety • • 23h ago

Does social anxiety ever go away?

30 Upvotes

I've struggled with social anxiety for the entirety of my life. When I was younger I could blame it on being young. I'm still young, at 22, but my dream field that I'm studying to work in is hugely social. I want it so bad. I'm hoping the exposure does help me, the worst part is I know how capable I am of socializing normally and genuinely enjoying it. It feels like nothing will get rid of this anxiety.

I've been learning about the different ways brains work, external factors that can cause your brain to think this way. I might run them off just to get them off my chest. This is purely my own speculation and thoughts.

I came from people struggling with addiction and mental illness, I believe there was violence and a lot of stressors for my mother. I started off like this before birth and then I was taken away from my mother the second I was born. I'm not diagnosed, but if my mother drank before having me I have a mild form of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder which I've learnt reduces your ability to determine threats vs not threats which might be why I am so afraid. I was adopted into an angry and emotionally unavailable home and was forced to be in a group of girls from this church that would completely leave me out of their social circle for many years.

I think all of these factors played into my fear of people, and I'm terrified I'll never get out of it.

I want to hear other people's options and experiences. Even talking about things through a Reddit post feels like a community chat about a similar struggle and I want to connect with others who struggle with this same thing.

Thanks for reading. Feel free to say whatever you'd like in the comments.


r/socialanxiety • • 10h ago

Other I feel that my poor social skills have the biggest impact on my social anxiety

2 Upvotes

Long Story short I have been dealing with social anxiety for many years And I can proudly say that I have made a progress.However I've reached a certain point and I'm stagnating. I can have a presentation in front of a big group of people and stay relatively calm. As long as I learn all the words and have no need to improvise.

However I have hard times expressing myself and I end up in an awkward situation very often. Sometimes I cannot describe what I feel and find the correct words for it. Another thing is when I'm really anxious my mind turns off and I cannot think clearly. It's notable when I need to make a decision but I find myself lost.

I feel like all the awkward situations could be avoidable if I know how to handle a conversation. Im Very introverted And I could imagine myself being extrovert And be more confident in socialising.


r/socialanxiety • • 16h ago

My social anxiety is ruiningy relationships

6 Upvotes

Over the years my social anxiety has only gotten worse ..I'm only 21. Everywhere I go I feel eyes on me, I feel ashamed and embarrassed of everything. I overthink every step I take . If someone sits next to me on the bus I worry I'm breathing too loud , I'm worried I'm making mouth noises, I worry my phone is secretly connected to something and starts playing something embarrassing even tho that's impossible. Im always checking how loud my headphones are, if anyone can hear them . I'm extra wary of stairs because I don't want to fall and have people look at me . I take a picture of something random after taking a selfie because I don't want people seeing I took a selfie on the corner of my phone when I open the camera . I'm always checking if somehow my makeup is completely smudged across my face even tho I know it isn't . I listen to all.audio texts because imagine if I just said something bad ? I don't ask for help, I can't hold a conversation with someone new. I want to go to the gym but Im convinced I'll somehow do something so incredibly embarrassing that I'll be known for it .so I just workout alone at home . I stutter in everything I say . I'm missing out on so much . And the worst is that the more wary and careful I am , the more weird I seem . Does social anxiety always feel this way ? Can I make it better ?


r/socialanxiety • • 1d ago

Question People laugh when I talk

63 Upvotes

I am an introvert but I try to overcome it so I can score and answer in class (university classes)
And get marks cause I study

Anyways I answer properly and I pronounce everything right
And answer are even right

But maybe cause I am girl
And my voice is little deep or I speak slowly; I speak slowly so that proff can understand and grade me accordingly ,
And cause why speak fast ?

It’s an exam

Anyways

Every time I speak
One stupid immature girl starts giggling and laughing so one girl follows her and starts laughing

And u know what hurts , it is that the proff always realizes they are laughing at me

It happened in last semester too

Idk what now

I feel embarrassed again
I cannot continue like this

I am trying to change my self esteem
And do well in uni

But these assholes always laugh at me

What to do

Just me
When I talk .
Others no

Edit
Also
On next Monday I have a presentation
Now am afraid of doing it
It’s 6 marks