Social anxiety

[Renate]

There seems to be a lot of folks here who speak of having social anxiety.

Now obviously everybody has different feelings going to an important job interview with three interviewers
as compared to hanging out in your own basement with three long-term friends.

For some people social anxiety seems completely debilitating.
Does anybody get over it? Is there a cure? Is it just a question of expanding your limits?

Even if your "social discomfort under extreme conditions" falls under the limit for social anxiety
I think that many here benefit from their expanded limits post-transition.

Personally, I try to push the limits.
I'd like to sing the national anthem at a baseball game with a crowd of 30,000.

[Devlyn]

I like anyone that wants to sing the National Anthem! I've always wanted to spend a day being the hot dog vendor at the ballpark, going up and down the aisles yelling "HOT DOGS! GET YOUR HOT DOGS!" I'm extremely loud, I know I could do it! By the way, have you ever heard the National Anthem on Bostons WJIB AM 740 at noon? It's done as maybe chamber music, sounds like a piano and a violin? I know little about classical music lol, but that is beautiful.

[Barbara]

I believe we can accomplish anything we desire,if that is what we really want to do.

[MeghanAndrews]

I think many more transpeople suffer from social anxiety or whatever language we want to assign to people who are on a socialization spectrum that spans from like wanting to be around people, ANY people, ALL the time and HATES the idea of being alone to people who stay indoors 24/7 and have no human contact. I think that many people online have severe forms of social anxiety but interact with humans via the computer. I'm not sure what these people (mostly <30 from what I can tell) would have done if they grew up before computers. I think it's impossible to transition successfully staying indoors 24/7. I do think socializing with people online is better than nothing but it isn't healthy to stay online 24/7 and have no human contact, right? I dunno, maybe I'm off-base here. Playing WoW, interacting in forums and chats, etc. without going to the grocery store, bank, school, work, making irl friends, basically having some kind of social life, kind of seems like it would make someone's transition less than ideal.

Well, I guess it would depend on why they are transitioning. If the reason is to feel ok inside and interact in an online world where people just accepted who you are without meeting them and taking them at the words they type and pictures/video they post, that would be accomplishing what they set out to do. I would hope that someone who was shy or socially anxiousness or whatever would be able to have a new feeling of optimism and overcome the social anxiety they have without medication just by virtue of finally being who they are and taking steps to be who they are. These are just my thoughts, I have no problems with socialization personally. I don't even know if I can realistically comment on these issues, just joining the discussion. Can you tell chat isn't working, lol? Meghan