Socialanxiety

I need help. I'm completely socially isolated and inept. I have been for the majority of my life. I'm in my late 20s now and I've never had a friend, or any kind of relationship. I feel I'm too depressed to begin extraciting myself from this deep chasm I've drifted into now. I work as much as I can, never turning down a shift, but if I'm not at work I sleep or lay on the floor at home, crippled. No energy or motivation to do anything, even eat. Work is my only chance to socialise. I'm grateful my coworkers are nice to me, and they're the only good thing in my life. I'm far more attached to them than they are to me. They're not friends. They just put up with me.

I can't do this anymore. I've sold all my possessions of any value, and I'm ready to go. I've already attempted suicide and ended up in the psych ward before. I don't know how to form relationships. I'm too fucked up. I want friends, but what do friends do? How do you know if someone's your friend? I've been isolated for so long I don't know how to be with others. I'm past the physical symptoms of social anxiety. I used to shake, sweat profusely, stammer, feel like my clothes were choking me, etc., but now I'm just numb all the time. My mind still goes blank when I attempt to converse though.

I'm miserable and repulsive. I know that. No one wants to be around people like me, but I can't fix this alone. I don't know how to fix this. I'm too ashamed. I can't face people.

What are your go-to safety behaviors? Have you tried challenging yourself to reduce them? What happened if you did?

If I have to communicate in written form, there is no to very little anxiety. But if I were to make the same arguments in person, it may not go so well....

I am mostly looking for healthy ways to cope with stressful situations. what do you do when the panic kicks?

It's really important to understand this cycle. Every time you decide to avoid a social situation, your anxiety lessens, which feels great in the short run. But in the long term, avoidance only leads to more anxiety because you don't get chances to practice skills and to discover that the reality is often less scary than your imagination.

The best way to reduce social anxiety is to practice socializing intentionally. You can set measurable and realistic goals, like "I will spend 3 minutes making small talk with the barista" or "I will compliment my coworkers twice weekly" or "I will stay at the party for an hour and talk to 2 different people, asking at least 3 questions each time."

Find a small way to start exposing yourself to social situations, even if it's just getting out of the house and going for a walk in the park among other people. The more you avoid, the worse it gets - even though it will feel great initially when you avoid.

Hello, I am struggling with my selfworth and always think that nobody likes me. My therapist suggested that i ask around how often others interact with friends because she thinks that my belief of how often that is is very wrong. i am not so sure of that, so lets see:

How often do you see friends? How often do you get contacted by them without contacting them first? Are you satisfied with that? What are interactions like? Are you missing something? Do you think the amount has anything to do with you?

Thank you for answering (:

This workbook is great (if you have the discipline and patience to take yourself through all the modules, which applies to everything in life).

Even just browsing it teaches you a lot and gives you an idea of how social anxiety is addressed. I hope you find it useful!

A comic tragedy for anyone flailing in the sea of their own inadequacy. Sony Radio Award winners Geoff Lloyd and Annabel Port steer a life-raft through the choppy waters of being a functional human.

I'm retired early at 35 and haven't worked since before I was 30 (injured veteran.) While limited, I had a fairly functional external life pre-rona but since then my ex I was with for a decade left at the end of the pandemic and I hadn't been around anyone else my people muscle has atrophied.

I'm bad with people because I'm not around people much, but I'm not around people much because I'm bad with people. I'm bad with people because I'm not around people muchbecauseI'mbadwithpeoplebecauseI'mnotaroundpeoplemuchbecauseI'mbadwithpeople^becauseI'mnotaroundpeoplemuchbecauseI'mbadwithpeople^

AHHHHHHHHHH

I think we all had these annoying situations where an uninformed people doesn't know what they are talking about. Do you have any particular one that grinds your gears?