Social Anxiety?

[Reverie]

I notice that I feel a bit anxious around people, particularly strangers or people that I haven't seen in a while - for instance, distant relatives or even school friends that I haven't seen over summer break.

What generally happens is I get noticeably more tense, very sweaty (all over my body and noticeable enough that sweat stains are visible on my shirt over my underarms), and sometimes my eyes tear up. I can communicate perfectly normally and my personality or mood doesn't change, however, the above symptoms persist - at school, at work, etc.

What am I experiencing, and how can I avoid this?

[Syvelocin]

It could be a minor case of Social Anxiety Disorder. I'm diagnosed with it, though my case has progressed to the point where I'm constantly paranoid that people are looking at me and judging me, and my brain usually shuts down in mostly all social situations that I'm not comfortable in (I get this way with my family even).

In that case, getting on some anxiety meds would be my recommendation. Actually, whether you have the disorder or not, anxiety meds would help.

There isn't much other than therapy and meds to help social anxiety. You don't want to be avoiding social situations like this though, separating yourself because of your anxiety will usually just increase your symptoms when you have to be around people.

[Jenna.]

I'm 99% sure I have a mild case of social anxiety as well, although it's never been diagnosed. I'm shy with new or unfamiliar people, and even sometimes around large groups of friends I feel awkward and don't really know what to do or how to act. I prefer small groups of people. That's when I feel the most relaxed.
The best thing you can do is just try to push yourself to enter into new social situations, that way you don't become a hermit who never interacts with anyone. It's hard, I'll be the first one to admit that. But the more you just talk to people, the better you'll be. I'm so much more outgoing than I was when I was younger, because I force myself to make conversation with people and interact with others outside of my circle of friends. Medications can help too, but if your social anxiety isn't very severe then I don't know how much medicine they'll actually put you on.