Ever since I learned that social anxiety disorder was a thing, I’ve been in search of the Holy Grail. The instant cure. A magic pill that would get rid of my shyness and make me “normal.” Continue reading
As someone trying to overcome social anxiety, I often seek out information to learn more about the disorder. I read websites, blogs, books, interviews, listen to podcasts, audio books, and watch Youtube videos and documentaries. And since movies have always been my first love, I’ve naturally searched for films about social anxiety, as well. Continue reading
Many therapists and psychological experts say that our social anxiety fear of being judged by others is irrational. That people aren’t really thinking the negative things about us that we believe they are. While it’s true, you can never know what another person is thinking, we can’t ignore the fact that people do judge other people, often negatively. I know, because I do it myself. When I see someone do or say something foolish, I’ll negatively judge them— find them stupid, weird, or whatever else. Which is exactly what I and others with social anxiety are so afraid of other people doing to us. The irrationality of social anxiety comes with how much importance we give to those negative judgements of others. Continue reading
I’ve seen and read a lot of interviews where people talk about when they first developed social anxiety. For some, it was high school. Others, once they reached puberty. Or when they left home for college. But me? I don’t get that. Social anxiety isn’t something I developed. I’ve been debilitatingly shy for my entire life, or at least as long as I can remember. Continue reading
There’s a Catch-22 with social anxiety disorder that makes it different from other medical conditions, in that the medical condition itself prevents you from getting treatment for said medical condition. How are you supposed to call a physician to make an appointment when you’re too afraid to talk on the telephone, let alone in person? If I was able to call you, then I wouldn’t need to call you in the first place. Continue reading
As I think back on my shyness and social anxiety, I seem to have gone through a series of different phases. I don’t know if other people with social anxiety have had similar experiences, but these are the seven stages that I’ve gone through in my life. Continue reading
When I decided to start writing about my social anxiety, my first instinct was to write under a pen name. Something impersonal like “Shy Writer” that couldn’t be traced back to myself. Continue reading
Why am I coming out now and writing about my social anxiety? Why am I posting videos of myself where it is visibly and audibly obvious that I am still struggling with social anxiety? Why not wait until I am cured and completely free of social anxiety to talk and write about how I beat it? Continue reading
I guess I should describe what social anxiety disorder is since not everybody is familiar with the term. I didn’t even know there was such a thing as social anxiety disorder until I was in college, despite the fact that I’d been suffering from the condition for my entire life. Continue reading
One of the most common pieces of writing advice is to write what you know. That idea can be misconstrued if taken too literally, (you don’t have to be an astronaut to write about space) but it’s generally good advice. However, sometimes simply writing what you know is not enough to stand out in today’s world of mass media with millions of books and blogs and Youtube videos. Continue reading
T.Z. Barry 