Social Anxiety

[Yakshini]

I was diagnosed with Social Anxiety Disorder years ago. I am terrible in crowds of people and being in a confined space with too many people (my definition of "too many" changes based on the size of the space). I am also terrible with phones.  I can't answer phones and can't make calls unless they are very close friends or immediate family.
Though oddly enough, I am a fantastic public speaker and have spoken in front of more than three hundred people at once.

[Hurtfulsplash]

You can add me to the list. I usually avoid going out, but I try to once a week even if its just a ride in the car. Socializing on line might help a bit as well. I do alright answering the phone but making calls is difficult for me, so I often put off making them. I understand the fear and also find it hard to explain why I have it. I'm hoping T will help it even just a little. You're not alone.

[kyril]

I have social anxiety too. I don't actually mind crowds of strangers, but crowds of vague acquaintances with whom I'm expected to interact send me into panic mode. I'm also absolutely godawful terrible at one-on-one interaction. And I can't use phones. I can barely even call my dad every few months, and I've known him since I was a kid.

[Arch]

I had very bad social anxiety for years and worked on it whenever I could. I started small--chatting with a stranger in line at the grocery store, for example. I got a lot better over the years but then started to regress rather horribly after I went back in the closet.

I'm still learning how to shake that off, but transition has taken me to a whole new level. I'm uncomfortable with my transness, I'm insecure in my maleness...but I still have much more social confidence, generally speaking, than I EVER had before.

Wish I could make similar progress with other things. Coming out/transition has a way of dredging up all sorts of repressed crap, traumas, junk like that. I've got a boatload of that, and it often comes faster than I can negotiate it. Gimme another couple of years...

[elvistears]

I feel like I somehow grew out of my social anxiety. Or it grew into something else.  When I was a teenager I was so shy I could barely talk, hated making eye contact and would forget how to walk if I had to walk past a group of people.  I'd step all weird and out of rhythm.

I don't know what happened, but I don't seem to experience this anymore.  I'm still happiest by myself, but I'm also a loudmouth and I like to entertain people.  People never believe me when I say I used to be painfully withdrawn.