How does one make friends when they have social anxiety?
I was the same as you. I too had social anxiety and fought against it and also the social anxiety had left me with a lack of social skills because of my years spent without any friends. The way I overcame my social anxiety and shyness was by confronting it, which meant talking to people and doing whatever was triggering the anxiety/shyness. The more I spoke to people the better I got at it. Yes it was trial and error but over time I learned what to say and what not to say. Now years later I am totally free of the social anxiety, shyness, social awkwardness, low self esteem, and any other symptoms of it.The way I talk to people now is I start by saying ‘hi’. If they say hi back, that is a good sign, so next I ask ‘how’s it going?’ or ‘how are you?’ or some variant of that. They have a choice of either saying ‘fine’ or some other short one word answer or of actually saying how they are doing. If they say fine or a one word answer then I will follow up with a general comment about the weather or something in the news or something about where I know them from. This is ‘small talk’. The object of small talk is to get the person to agree with you and to see if they really want to talk at that time. If they give short one word answers then perhaps it is not the best time to talk. On the other hand if they reply to the comments then the conversation keeps going and may reach the next phase of the conversation where I say what I really wanted to say like ‘are you going out this weekend’ or whatever I wanted to say. Some conversations don’t get out of the small talk phase and that is ok, I accept that. On the other hand, once the person consistently gives short one word answers then you know now is not a good time to talk so you close with ‘it was nice hearing from you’ or ‘I have to go now’ or ‘I know you are busy so I better let you go’ and then you say bye and close the conversation. I hope that is not too complicated for you but in summary you have the hi part, the small talk part, the main part if you get to it, and then the closing.If you do these talks over and over and keep asking how someone is doing, and showing that you are interested in them, eventually they open up to you and you become friends, the best way to get someone interested in you is to be interested in them.
Is my friend lying about having social anxiety?
so there is this girl I met who is funny, talkative and loud. plus she's super pretty and the kind of girl who is constantly getting comments about her looks . but she says she has really bad social anxiety. when she told me I felt sad for her. but after a couple of days I realized how can she have social anxiety when she has so many friends, so many people liking her and how can she have it when she is talkative about herself? I brushed it off and I just figured she must be taking some medication that helps it. but when I went to her house, I asked if she was taking any medication and she told me no. also I just recently got a Facebook. and when I went to her wall she had a bunch of those sad tumblr pictures about depression, suicide, cutting, and all that other stuff you find on tumblr. and when ever she posts these pictures she keeps getting comments saying thing like "im always here for you" or "your so beautiful"
Should I tell my friends I have social anxiety?
I've had social anxiety for a while now and I want to tell my friends, but I don't know if I should or shouldn't. Someone told me that I should, but turned around and told me I shouldn't. I really want to tell them since they can tell that something's not right with me, but like I said before I don't know if I should. I also don't know how. If someone could tell me if I should or shouldn't tell them and how I should tell them (if I can tell them) that would be great! Thank you!
How to get rid of social anxiety about a sleepover?
My friend is having a New Year s Eve sleepover tonight. I m really nervous because 1. I haven t been to a sleepover in at least 2 years and 2. There are going to be people that I don t know there, and I have really bad social anxiety. I ve been really nervous about this since yesterday, and I just wanna stop panicing and have fun. How can I get rid of this anxiety I m having?
Dating someone with social anxiety?
I am currently in a relationship of ten months with man I love quite a bit. We are very complimentary to each other and we communicate well enough. The issue is with two things. When something bad happens he clams up and doesn't talk. He won't even respond, he just freezes. If I'm lucky or if it's important enough he will open up a little bit enough for us to resolve the issue. The second is with people that are important in my life. Both my Mom and Dad don't know him well and neither does my best friend. These are the three most important folks in my life outside of my boyfriend and it's important to me that they get a chance to see the side of him that I see. We have discussed these issues before, but he just clams up and doesn't talk. He has already struggled with social anxiety when he was younger as well as extreme depression which we have painstakingly overcome together. My question is for those who are dealing with social anxiety or know how to treat it. How does one who dates them help them overcome it? What is the best way to talk with them in order to help them open up? I'm at a loss to find any help online for this and can't seem to get help from his Mother. Thanks for any help or guidance. This is really important to me so please forward the information to people you might know who could help.
I think social anxiety is fake?
Ok don't freak out at me or get mad, I'm not trying to offend anyone. It's just that I have a friend who claims to have social anxiety, yet she is never scared in any social situations. I'm beginning to think that this is actually a very rare disorder, and very few people actually have it. Everyone gets anxious, but I think some people claim to have social anxiety but actually just use it as an excuse for being a coward. How do I tell this to my friend who "has social anxiety" (because she won't shut up about it and I want her to stop) without her hating me?