social anxiety disorder??

[insanity]

I noticed there was alot of posts about social anxiety disorder, it sounds alot like me... :eek: but I dont know for sure... Im reealy shy like way more then anyone I have ever met and I hate going out to places which are crowded with heaps of people, and I do my best to avoid people in general.. but then I could just be extremly quiet :/
can anyone help me figure out if I have social anxieity disorder, or is there anytests or something I could take...?

[Magenta]

I'd suggest speaking to a professional. Self-diagnosis is not the greatest idea. However, google might find you something.

[insanity]

how could I find a proffesional? would a regular counslar be able to help?

[Magenta]

They could point you in the right direction as can your family doctor.

[insanity]

okay, thanks somuch :)

[Syvelocin]

There's a fine line between a shy personality and social anxiety I've found. When I was a kid, I was just shy around people. Now, I'm a hermit who gets panic attacks in bowling alleys and restaurants :P

It's mainly the anxiety. Some have panic attacks, others are just anxious about people thinking, laughing, watching, and/or talking about them when they're in that setting. Social anxiety goes a bit further than "I prefer to be by myself," but a sort of phobia, high intolerance to certain social situations.

[insanity]

so is social anxiety when you are always woryed about what other people are talking about or laughing about?
because what happens to me is when other people are talking or laughing or whispiring or anything like that I always worry its about me, like if im at a mall and people walk past and they start laughing I will assume its about me and get all panicy and wonder whats wrong with what im doing or wearing or saying ect.

[Syvelocin]

Yeah, that sort of paranoia I associate more with social anxiety. Personally, whenever the area I'm in is a bit too much, I always seem to convince myself that every person around me is just critiquing me, no matter what it is. My looks, my speech, my actions. Social anxiety is a bitch, I must say :P

[insanity]

uhoh... thats what happens to me.. I was talking to my counslar about always worrying bout what people are thinking and talking about all the time, and she just said i was being paranoid, she didnt really help much >.<

[Syvelocin]

Well, it is a sort of paranoia. A strong anxiety. It's just got an actual specific name :P

[UnknownError]

I just read that and it sounds just like me. T.T

[Syvelocin]

Isn't it amazing how much you find out you might have once you're open to other mental illnesses? It's a constant speculation, do I have this and that or only this one instead? And does my therapist know me well enough to make a decision whether I have/am developing this mental disorder. The first time I was diagnosed, I was so stubborn that I didn't have a mental disorder. Now, when I am diagnosed with something new, I welcome it with open arms. :P

[UnknownError]

:P I'd heard about this before, but I dunno. :/
I feel exactly the same away about if people are laughing and stuff.
And I dont eat in front of people I dont know well either.
Like at lunch in school Im practically under the tabe trying to eat. :P

[Syvelocin]

I've always been the same with food. Not eating around people I don't know really well, hiding what I do eat. In my case, I associate it with eating disorders, but of course it could go with Social Anxiety as well.

[insanity]

I used to never eat in front of people either and if there was people around I didnt know well I just wouldnt eat... but then I told that it was a symptom of anerexia so I got even more paranoid. But part of not eating in front of people was that I eat such weird looking food so everyone was always like 'eeeeww whats that?'

[Syvelocin]

Yeah, I don't really know which one I should associate it with. I completely lose my appetite, if I am hungry in the first place. I barely ate a thing when I was back home for Christmas, around my outer family. Less than I normally eat :/ I see it as a symptom of both, I just don't know if it's the eating disorder for me or if it's the Social Anxiety. It's a self-conscious thing, fits into both. That mentality with food can actually be associated with all three main eating disorders, not just anorexia if that makes you feel any better. But for you, yeah, it's probably the social anxiety.