I was about 14-15 when my counselor at school said, "if I didn't know you better, I'd swear you were just off the boat!"

I asked what she meant, and she said, "Like the vietnam vets...they have DSS (what PTSD used to be called--delayed stress syndrome) and you are, in many ways, just like them (in terns of heightened awareness, always looking for the next "tripwire", etc)..."

I still am like that...if I let my guard down, I tend to get too careless.

eta: speelingk airears

Quote from: Kyle on July 19, 2013, 07:00:46 PM

For me, puberty came several years sooner than my peers.  It didn't take long for my (large) chest to become an open target of ridicule among my peers.  They often had a good laugh at my expense.  The dang things caused me enough inner turmoil as it was without that.

Wow that sounds awful. 

It wasn't fun.  Yet, as much as I hated it while in the situation(s), I've come to value those experiences & others like them. 

While I sat stalled in my life, affected by my social anxiety, all I could see was my own anger and sorrow.  Once that fog began to clear, I started to feel the appreciation I had learned for simple kindnesses.  So many little (& big) things in life are overlooked or taken for granted and yet, not only do they matter; sometimes they are the difference between life and death (or happiness and anguish) to others.

Those experiences also taught me a lot about how to treat others or how *not* to treat others, as the case may be.

I've come to think of it like this: 
Life gave me a huge pile of manure & several options.  I can choose to wallow in it & carry the stink of deeds long since passed, effectively ensuring I remain alone; I can choose to make explosives & inflict pain upon those around me, hurting guilty and innocent alike; or I can choose to fertilize and grow a garden, which will provide both food and beauty to share with my community.

Personally, I'm going with the latter choice.     Also, I apologize if I just derailed your thread.

Quote from: Kyle on July 19, 2013, 09:42:35 PM
It wasn't fun.  Yet, as much as I hated it while in the situation(s), I've come to value those experiences & others like them. 

While I sat stalled in my life, affected by my social anxiety, all I could see was my own anger and sorrow.  Once that fog began to clear, I started to feel the appreciation I had learned for simple kindnesses.  So many little (& big) things in life are overlooked or taken for granted and yet, not only do they matter; sometimes they are the difference between life and death (or happiness and anguish) to others.

Those experiences also taught me a lot about how to treat others or how *not* to treat others, as the case may be.

I've come to think of it like this: 
Life gave me a huge pile of manure & several options.  I can choose to wallow in it & carry the stink of deeds long since passed, effectively ensuring I remain alone; I can choose to make explosives & inflict pain upon those around me, hurting guilty and innocent alike; or I can choose to fertilize and grow a garden, which will provide both food and beauty to share with my community.

Personally, I'm going with the latter choice.     Also, I apologize if I just derailed your thread.

Not at all. Good comments. 

I feel a lot of the exact same pressures and anxiety when placed in the same situations.  I don't think it's necessarily a gender thing but more a personality thing. But then again I'm not a psychiatrist which is the person you should be talking to,  not the internet lol.

Anyway, post back if/when you've found an answer or an explanation to your anxiety. I'm sure we can all benefit from it  :-)

I have social anxiety but not because of my identity issues but because I suffer from hypochondria and OCD, which in turn gives me social anxiety.

I have been diagnosed with sad and gad.  Also adult onset Tourettes that kicks in if I get tired.  I would be amazed if we weren't suffering from a higher rate than the general population.  Those of us who haven't transitioned or who have only partially done so have to constantly monitor our responses in social situations.  I compartmentalize my life and try to respond to each social group differently.  It's a lot of work!  and failure could bring about bad financial consequences for my wife and I. 
 

Scary to see how many people who wote for thinking they got anxiety or dignosed with it.
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For my point I also voted yes, In general i'm a pretty social person but I have experience anxiety who made me afraid of small things as just walking outside the door, or down the street.

I think my anxious is understandable, I got a few threatning from diffrent people Toward me or people I worked with. Some more indirrect but generally about killing torturating me or others, or general saying mean stuff.
Not too long ago I had resived alot of hate dirrectly or by message. At a time I got death threat for someone I worked with, It was very unpleasent to be read and be invold and after reading the message my whole body started to shiver, I had to call sick and use alot of energy to simple be able to walk outside and back to my house. I been open about it at that place I was and my boss where understandable of my situation and gave me some lectures from someone who where doing stress/anxious programs which helped. Beside I just try as hard as posible to push myself not to let it scare me. I had OCD and tried threatning before so I know the best way is to not let the fear take over and then in time it will get better.

I am unsure if im anxious, but I do still get nervous specially in the work I do and been invold with.

Had a bout with it. I say HAD because I feel I've put it behind me. Between going to a Chinese doctor (herbs and acupuncture) and doing EFT (http://www.emofree.com/) I managed to kick pretty debilitating panic attacks and anxiety. I thought EFT was total b.s. too until I was desperate enough to try it and it actually worked. Works great on phobias too. I hadn't flown anywhere for over 16 years because it would just induce a massive panic attack and after one session of the stuff I got on a plane and flew to NYC. So even though it sounds silly, you might look into it, you never know it might work for you too.