First things first: You should, if at all possible, see a doctor. Don't minimize this; it's causing you to go whole days without eating sometimes. That's not "nothing", that's a serious side...
First things first: You should, if at all possible, see a doctor. Don't minimize this; it's causing you to go whole days without eating sometimes. That's not "nothing", that's a serious side effect of what SOUNDS like chronic anxiety. I dont know if that's something you can do but I hope it is.
Failing that, you might read up on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or just general Mindfulness of yourself and try using some of those techniques to ease your burden. When I first started trying to combat my anxiety (which doesnt sound too far off from what you're experiencing) it helped a little, but eventually I still ended up needing medication. And that's fine! Sometimes people need meds to overcome their illnesses. It happens, don't let any social stigma around mental illness or medicine-taking prevent you from getting any and all help you need.
Chronic anxiety isnt something to take lightly. It can be just as debilitating as most other common mental illnesses if you let it go untreated. I hope you're able to find whatever help you may need, but remember that we're always here to help however we can.
Echoing the advice of seeing a therapist, I will also mention my experience: I was the shyest, most timid of adolescents. I believed I was not normal and spend my life with others pretending to be...
Echoing the advice of seeing a therapist, I will also mention my experience: I was the shyest, most timid of adolescents. I believed I was not normal and spend my life with others pretending to be what I perceived everyone was like. This would cause a constant fear of "failure", e.g. would I or did I fail using the "normal" argot, making the "normal" remark, behaving the "normal" way. This would hinder my social life both with friends and in public situations quite similar to your experience. The way I dealt with this was, I found out and taugt myself that normal was just a boring imaginary and abstract ideal, and that most of "mistakes" were either peculiarities which are beautiful and valuable, or actual mistakes often caused and always augmented by the stress of the effort to absolutely avoid all mistakes at all costs. As I started to let the real me out and learned to love myself, I got orders of magnitude better at social occasions and happier in general. People seem to sense these insecurities somehow and reacr negatively to it.
That sounds like a form of social anxiety, and I can only repeat the advice to see a doctor. Let me respond to this though: I've been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. When I spoke to a...
That sounds like a form of social anxiety, and I can only repeat the advice to see a doctor. Let me respond to this though:
To start of, I will try to describe how I feel, because I am not sure if I really have social anxiety. I am like extremely anxious to do anything where you have to talk to people you don't know. An easy example which I deal with most work days is going out to lunch. I am way too anxious to go to lunch somewhere so instead I just skip lunch quite often to not have to deal with it. When I am at school most of the times I go to a menza (is that a thing in english? it's like just a school lunch cafeteria), which isn't a problem at all when I go with my friends and isn't too much of a problem when I go alone, because I got used to it pretty good. Still even here I sometimes skip lunch, particularly after a stressful day.
I've been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. When I spoke to a psychologist, she asked me questions about various situations and how I handled them. She was a bit surprised to learn that I had few problems, say, shopping for groceries. I explained that I have a hard time with situations that require extensive or substantive social interaction with strangers. I've learned to handle situations where I have a "script", so to speak. Where I may be out in public, but only have to interact minimally, in an impersonal manner, employing the same empty, polite stock phrases. Thank you, no thank you, yes I will take a bag for my groceries, no thanks, I don't need the receipt. However, if I actually have to speak to someone for more than a minute, and I can't just throw out meaningless stock phrases, I get uncomfortable. Or if I have to go into a situation I haven't been in a thousand times before.
Some psychologists make a distinction between generalized social anxiety and more specific social anxiety. It's mostly a difference in degree, in the range of situations you struggle with. The treatment is largely the same. Both can qualify as clinical anxiety. It sounds like your anxiety is having a significant negative impact on your life, and that needs to be addressed. Don't be afraid that your experience isn't "typical" or doesn't fit neatly into a box. The important part is that it's a problem that impacts your life in a tangible, negative way, and you want help. You will get help if you seek it. There's no guarantee that the help you get will solve all your problems, but you will not be turned away, your problems will not be dismissed as not serious enough.
At one point I did the old Myers-Briggs personality sorter and sort of left it at that. Lately I've located a group of Myers-Briggs subreddits that are extremely interesting. The important thing...
At one point I did the old Myers-Briggs personality sorter and sort of left it at that. Lately I've located a group of Myers-Briggs subreddits that are extremely interesting. The important thing here is that I found a group I seem to have an affinity with, and that has led me to a better appreciation of the social anxiety that I have to deal with. You aren't alone, no matter how lonely it may seem at times.
First things first: You should, if at all possible, see a doctor. Don't minimize this; it's causing you to go whole days without eating sometimes. That's not "nothing", that's a serious side effect of what SOUNDS like chronic anxiety. I dont know if that's something you can do but I hope it is.
Failing that, you might read up on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or just general Mindfulness of yourself and try using some of those techniques to ease your burden. When I first started trying to combat my anxiety (which doesnt sound too far off from what you're experiencing) it helped a little, but eventually I still ended up needing medication. And that's fine! Sometimes people need meds to overcome their illnesses. It happens, don't let any social stigma around mental illness or medicine-taking prevent you from getting any and all help you need.
Chronic anxiety isnt something to take lightly. It can be just as debilitating as most other common mental illnesses if you let it go untreated. I hope you're able to find whatever help you may need, but remember that we're always here to help however we can.
Echoing the advice of seeing a therapist, I will also mention my experience: I was the shyest, most timid of adolescents. I believed I was not normal and spend my life with others pretending to be what I perceived everyone was like. This would cause a constant fear of "failure", e.g. would I or did I fail using the "normal" argot, making the "normal" remark, behaving the "normal" way. This would hinder my social life both with friends and in public situations quite similar to your experience. The way I dealt with this was, I found out and taugt myself that normal was just a boring imaginary and abstract ideal, and that most of "mistakes" were either peculiarities which are beautiful and valuable, or actual mistakes often caused and always augmented by the stress of the effort to absolutely avoid all mistakes at all costs. As I started to let the real me out and learned to love myself, I got orders of magnitude better at social occasions and happier in general. People seem to sense these insecurities somehow and reacr negatively to it.
That sounds like a form of social anxiety, and I can only repeat the advice to see a doctor. Let me respond to this though:
I've been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder. When I spoke to a psychologist, she asked me questions about various situations and how I handled them. She was a bit surprised to learn that I had few problems, say, shopping for groceries. I explained that I have a hard time with situations that require extensive or substantive social interaction with strangers. I've learned to handle situations where I have a "script", so to speak. Where I may be out in public, but only have to interact minimally, in an impersonal manner, employing the same empty, polite stock phrases. Thank you, no thank you, yes I will take a bag for my groceries, no thanks, I don't need the receipt. However, if I actually have to speak to someone for more than a minute, and I can't just throw out meaningless stock phrases, I get uncomfortable. Or if I have to go into a situation I haven't been in a thousand times before.
Some psychologists make a distinction between generalized social anxiety and more specific social anxiety. It's mostly a difference in degree, in the range of situations you struggle with. The treatment is largely the same. Both can qualify as clinical anxiety. It sounds like your anxiety is having a significant negative impact on your life, and that needs to be addressed. Don't be afraid that your experience isn't "typical" or doesn't fit neatly into a box. The important part is that it's a problem that impacts your life in a tangible, negative way, and you want help. You will get help if you seek it. There's no guarantee that the help you get will solve all your problems, but you will not be turned away, your problems will not be dismissed as not serious enough.
At one point I did the old Myers-Briggs personality sorter and sort of left it at that. Lately I've located a group of Myers-Briggs subreddits that are extremely interesting. The important thing here is that I found a group I seem to have an affinity with, and that has led me to a better appreciation of the social anxiety that I have to deal with. You aren't alone, no matter how lonely it may seem at times.