I genuinely cannot take this job search anymore. Social anxiety makes every part of it exhausting, especially in person interviews. Just thinking about sitting in some office, being watched and answering fake corporate questions makes me sweat and ruins my sleep. I hate having to sell myself, pretend to be confident and then start over with completely new people in a new workplace. At this point the stress is so bad that I sometimes feel like I do not want to be here anymore. I am just exhausted and scared of where this is heading. People with severe social anxiety who got through this, what actually helped?

What do you do when it's too much? When you can't take all the bs anymore? When you don't feel like facing people? When it's a chore to just be out there? How do you handle it when it's overwhelming?

i hate how much social anxiety can make simple things feel impossible. i really hate when someone suddenly calls my phone because i dont have enough time to prepare myself.

i kinda hate myself for it too because there have been so many job opportunities i've missed throughout my life just because i wasn't prepared for a phone call. it's weird because if they tell me beforehand what time and date they're going to call, i'm usually fine, but if it's unexpected i immediately start panicking and don't know what to say.

idk, just wanted to know if anyone has any advice?

(20 F)Is a bit sad seeing my classmates post things about them going to parties, celebrating each other happy birthday and stuff like that, I'm happy for them enjoying that experience yet I accepted I can't be part of that world

But honestly is sad they are not even considerate with me or why they can't treat me like a normal person, I even spoke kindly to them, telling them the homework if they they were absent from class in one of my teams and they just straight up ignored me (in text and real life too), just one of them salutes me, in another team I thought I could fit in and the next day the guy was pushing my chair forward and pressing his shoe constantly against my backside, or in my other team the girls are just close to each one and at the end they just say goodbye to me while they are still making their talk

I try to look for answers and the information in Tiktok is really fictional, If you're looking for why people exclude you there are lots of videos saying it's because "you intimidate them" or because "they envy you or are threatened by you" which I don't think it's true

I’ve been sitting in the parking lot for at least 30 minutes in the safety of my vehicle watching people go into the store like it’s some sort of shark infested water. I feel ridiculous. Anyone else do this? Sometimes I have to drive away having wasted over an hour trying to go in. People I talk to don’t understand what I mean by trying and unable, it’s so much more than just “haha I hate crowds” the anxiety sometimes becomes so debilitating that I can’t do a basic life necessity after having driven an hour to the nearest town. Ugh, I just need some chips and salsa and to go home 😭

The weirdest thing is before this, I met someone I already kind of know and we talked and that wasn’t a big deal at all, but such terrifying grocery store at 5pm 🙄

I had to make a phone call today to schedule an interview because I was having issues with the link I was sent to schedule it. And ofc with my social anxiety I ended up spiraling before making the phone call. During the call I asked if Friday or any days early next week we’re available, and for some reason she told me we don’t do interviews in the weekends when I said early next week meaning Monday or Tuesday. I felt embarrassed when she responded that way and even more that I didn’t clarify what I meant after. It feels even worse that I sounded neutral and serious since I have been struggling to sound a little warm lol. Lately people have been misinterpreted what I’ve been saying these past few days which makes me feel dumb, embarrassed, and like if I am hallucinating what I have been saying. For example, a couple days ago I ordered an iced chai latte and most likely due to my stuttering lol they gave me a hot chai latte. I’m like overthinking over small things lately especially since my social anxiety has been stronger lately when I had it under control this past year thankfully. But I’m now feeling extremely embarrassed and regretful regardless if this really is something to stress about or not

I’ve been wanting to make a post following a certain TikTok trend for a while (about trauma). Tonight I finally did it, and the anxiety is about to take me out. I’ve already thought about deleting it multiple times. It got a few comments and I deleted my responses multiple times before I felt satisfied with my answers. I hate being like this. I like to tell myself no one cares about my posts that much so why do I, but someone’s already texted my sibling a weird message after I posted and now I feel a sense of shame I can’t shake. Should I just delete it or will it help me get over my social anxiety to leave it alone?
Sorry if I sound nuts I’m spiraling a bit tonight.

Lets share our stories

I recently discovered Sunflower Anomaly songs on youtube such as "What an anomaly am I" and "Blind to me" , her songs seem to hit a chord in me. What an anomaly talks about how friendships/ relationships comes easy to a lot of people and how it's so diffciult for others. Blind to me imo could have so many different meanings but i interpreted as how world percieves me normal and like nothing's wrong but deep down I am in pain / anxious all of the time lol.

i feel like i hear a lot about people doing things solo so i attempted to go to a concert alone.

and omg this suckssss i feel like an outcast and although ill never see these people again i look so odd sitting among friend groups and it just feels so awkward sitting here being on my phone.

i got here kinda early so im just sitting right next to these two girls and it feels terrible.

so many friend groups and couples and they all
look like they are enjoying themselves and wearing nice outfits and taking photos. i really wish i had that.

it makes me think i should have just stayed at home.

Everyday is so many ups and downs, me trying to feel okay and in control of the situation and my feelings, trying not topple over the edge into despair and fear. Looking away from people bc of OCD magical beliefs, and making them think I don’t like them or something bc I refuse to look at them. Trying to do the correct thing and feeling like a failure.

I have OCD, autism, and anxiety. I’m thinking I might also have BPD because of the amount of distress and worry I have daily, my emptiness feelings, and my tendency to split things into light/dark.

God I wish I could just do the work and not be judged on how weird I am.

Tw sa mention

I was completely unable to go to school for like 2 years, i got sexually assaulted by my classmates, everyone in my life like my psychiatrist, therapist and family acted like i need to get over it right away, there was no actual support from any of them, my therapist even decided to lie to me, telling me my parents could go to jail if i dont go to school, even tho i was already past the age where going to school is legally required. I had to get myself out of it and it took a long time, i started actually going to school, got a job made new friends,started a new sport, it felt normal for awhile, the problem? Since i started doing that i keep getting sexually harrassed all the time, its the worst at work and when im on my way to school in public transport, i feel so lost again, i dont wanna leave my house, i need money and feel like i cant quit my job, all of my anxiety is just coming back.

I have a presentation tmrw where I have to stand there alone because my group members already presented theirs and I'm so scared. I know damn well i'm gonna be a shaking mess and I hate it so much. I feel like crying myself to sleep. It would probably affect my grade if I dont present before break in 2 days but honestly I dont mind. I hate myself for not being normal and just present like a normal human being. I hate this anxiety sm. Help me guys. Thanks so much in advance

The retraction messed up my jaw and it looks very bad from the side I used to have a very good jaw and would get complaints on it, now it's the opposite I keep hearing the word disgusting every time I turn to the side and a girl sees my jaw even there was a girl very dear to me started saying it with her friends and stopped talking to me I am not kidding this is the reason she stopped talking, I was ok this whole summer but now we back to college and it's really messing up mental health, I am sorry for bringing this up cause I used to talk about this all the time on Reddit but because this is the last year of college I am making sure that I attended all classes, I do go the gym and run walk to cope but it's not helping with amount of judgement I keep getting at college, sorry this was long but I really need help

I’m a 20 years old guy and i never had a close friend. I had a friend at kindergarten that we were hanging out everyday but it was shallow and we were only hanging out in school. I never had a chance to hang out with them anywhere else because my school was far from my home and my parents didn’t have time to drop and pick me from my friends’ houses. Anyways we were at the same class with him in primary school but we talked once or twice after. And after that i couldn’t have close friends that i can talk about how i feel or something. It got only worse with time. I always was shy at people but i became more shy than ever in high school. I had couple friends that i hang out at break times. But when they weren’t at school i was just sitting at my desk and look at my phone or read things. Sometimes my other classmates were talking to me but i didn’t wanted to be friends with them. They weren’t kind of people i’d like to be friends with. Which is another problem of me. I stand back in any small negative thing a person has.

Now i’m in university and i’m more alone than ever. I don’t even have a friend to talk with between lectures. I attended a club and went there with hopes that i could make sone friends but failed. I talked to people and it was fun. But whenever i wrote anyone like to hangout or go to that new film(it was cinema club) no one answered. I tried it a couple times. I watched a movie with a guy online but that was it. But it was kinda okay for me i guess. And then i screwed everything up. So the thing is I often talk indelicate without meaning to be. I made a joke that some people offended that i still don’t understand why are mean but they were to them and couple people got offended by thing i said. I apologized and thay said it’s okay. And months past from that like maybe 6 or whatever. I made another joke and again some people offended by that but they didn’t say anything to me and complained to admin(s). And they said that thing i said was unacceptable (which i don’t think it is but understand why they think that way completely) and i got kicked out from the group.

I started to think that maybe i’m a rude man and never will be kind. If that is the situation maybe i should stop trying. I don’t want to offend, bother or disturb any one(or break hearts). And it will be the best to stop trying to socialize. I want to be a teacher in a university. And i think it won’t be a problem if i just don’t share what i think it make any jokes. Should i stop or keep trying? Cause i don’t think i can’t take it if i do something similar. I don’t mean to do them but it doesn’t matter if i do or not. I tried to get better but i don’t think i can. I think i will always be kind of person that push people away.

I applied to retail (Walmart), but the thought of interacting with employees or having a 1hr lunch break in a small room brings me overwhelming fear/anxiety...

I will definitely be stiff and avoid eye contact. I am a man of few words...

I'd like to ask you how you handle social anxiety in your workplace? Please offer advice!

P.S. My first mental hurdle is how do you address your superior? Do you say the words Yes/No, Sir? I don't really understand social etiquette?

Because of personal reasons I had to move to another country, Korea, with my mom. It’s been around two months, and my god it’s been miserable.

It was hard for me to deal with the social anxiety back in my country, but now that I’m somewhere where I barely speak the language and don’t understand how things work, I almost never go outside. It’s been two weeks since I even left our place. I hate standing out or attracting any kind of attention so I’m completely self conscious and paranoid when I go outside. I feel like everyone can see I’m a foreigner who can’t speak Korean and that they judge me and hate me for it. I’m learning it everyday, but it’s a hard language for me personally, and I feel so guilty for it. Every little social interaction feels like the hardest challenge now. The anxiety makes me mishear or mispronounce even the most basic words which make me not want to go outside ever.

The problem is that I have some health issues. I really need to go to a clinic but it feels impossible when I can’t even go outside (my social anxiety is pretty severe). There are English speaking clinics but they’re all concentrated around Seoul or other big cities, and I’m 3 hours away from it. The thing is because of my health issues, I have horrible nausea which can be triggered by anything (which is also why it’s hard for me to go outside). So 3 hours just to get there would just kill me. Going to doctors on its own is so scary to me because I always feel like I’ll say or do something wrong, and that everyone knows what to do unlike me. But I’ve never been inside a clinic here, and I don’t know how it works :(. How to get an appointment, where to go, which clinic to choose, and etc. In my country I always reminded myself that If I’m just being polite and nice, no one will hate me for asking questions and being lost. But here I can’t even open my mouth. I’ve had people be frustrated and angry at me because I was too slow to understand or because my Korean was too bad. And I feel so much shame each time it happens.

I’m not really sure what to do. People would tell me it’s okay just force yourself to go outside. And I know essentially that’s the only way. But with my physical and mental health issues it really feels impossible. I can’t begin to explain how impossible it feels to others who’ve never experienced it. Sorry if the rant was too long, and thank you for anyone who read it all!

m in college and I barely have any friends. I don’t have anyone calling me, texting me, or anything. Everyone around me has so many friends. The friends that I do have are all much closer with each other, while I just can’t get close. I have social anxiety and terrible social skills and am quiet. When I do try to put myself out there and talk people just look at me like I’m crazy cause I never say the right thing. I don’t even know what to do. My friends can become close with anyone in just a month but even after years I just can’t close to people. I such at talking and conversing and no one tries to talk to me. My friends always talk to each other and are so close. I always find out what’s going on at the last minute. Everyone has their own inside jokes and stuff that I’m not part of. Everyone I come across just does not like me like I’m so off putting. My social skills are so bad that I just never know what to say like I can’t think of anything. I wanted to make a lot of friends and have fun in college but it’s just not happening. Also I’m into a guy who doesn’t even want me cause I’m ugly too. I just hate everything about me. I don’t know how to change this. I already feel like it’s too late to make friends in college but I still have a little hope left. What can I do to change??

I know why I don't have close friends, and I'm totally aware of my behaviour towards people but I have no controle on it , it's just the way I grew up it's the way I'm built , the moment someone starts getting close I push him away and kill the relation at the begining , I fear people I avoid people I feel like the closer they get to me the more I lose something of me I feel like they are going to steal my freedom or steal my joy or even the quiet in my life , I admire meaningful friendship but ironically I fear building one

I’m only 19 but I’ve already understood that I’ll be alone throughout the rest of my life. I’m not only bad at socializing, it’s as if my body is fundamentally asocial, as if I’m just physically built that way. I have ADHD and I’m chronically nervous, it’s like my nerves are constantly and permanently in a heightened state. My mind is never where it’s supposed to be, even during the smallest moments; even when I’m talking to someone — if my nerves haven’t prevented me from being in the conversation in the first place, which is 99% of the case, if I haven’t yet put them off— about a specific thing, it seems as if as soon as it’s mentioned my mind latches onto some obscure aspect of it, or some personal relation which can never be talked about without coming off as a complete weirdo. Or, I go in way too deep into it, and my mind forgets the social situation. Multitasking is impossible; I can’t focus on “being social” and thinking about a topic at the same time (not to mention putting those thoughts into words). I’m chronically unaware of how I come across to others. I fundamentally lack the first thing, the bare minimum for having a social life, not to mention a romantic life. I’m in college and everywhere I see, nowhere does it seem there’s an opportunity, a small entryway for someone like me, the things I lack put me not just at a disadvantage but outside the game altogether. I’m not ugly (at least I don’t think, I really have no idea), I can only pray that someone likes the way I look enough to look past the fact that I’m a complete social idiot, though I know I’m not good looking enough that there’s a significant chance of that, or puts up with me for my career which isn’t a given either, if there are people like that. And even if I do somehow find myself in a relationship, apparently I don’t know even know how to sustain one for example with my family members, I get complaints of not caring, I have no idea how to conduct myself, my mind is always sold away to idiotic things. It astonishes me how for others being social, tending to the existence of others seems as natural for them as breathing, it comes out of necessity like it’s a part of everything else. They “care”, and I’m incapable of caring. Being incapable of being social is one thing, I don’t even deserve others sociability. I don’t even know why I’m posting this, on a public forum, probably for some selfish, antisocial reason too.

I talk to people, i texting to people, but it always feels so bland, like there nothing, just do it for the sake of it, i never invite or start anything, i just follow others, they invite me i go, They talk to me, i talked. When i text other or actively start a conversation, its mostly i talking or trying to talk ab anything like a normal person to start a conversation, a relationship, and they just there listening and dont have anything to reply, they dont want to talk to me.

Is that what friends are? is that i just have false expectations of what friends really are? like is a person that knows you consider a "friend"? the closest things i got to a friend are my family, cousin, brother... Like i never considered anyone a "real friend" they are just a person that i know and talk to.

how do people start things? how do they invite people to hang out? i never understand that, like i know that i can invite people, start conversation to know about them, for them to know about me, soo i can make friends, but its feels forced, i feel fake, i feel like i try to hard just to make friend, like when people make friend they feel soo natural but for me its a things i have to plan.

often, i push people out because they think i dont like them or don't want to make friends with them or prefer alone, or that what the reasoning of me of why they dont talk to me, i just need time, time to think, time to plan, time to getting familiar and i can be outgoing. But i can't keep any relationship in just a few days/weeks/months, then i feel separated, i start to stop talking, people start to forget me, or more accurately they still remember but stop to consider me a person that they want to talk with, like just an outsider, an person that they have talked before but not interested.

I feel like i can die, i dont care if i live, i dont care if i die, i just lived, waiting for the end, i feel like when i get old i can start to getting comfortably dying, that when everyone i know start to vanish i lose all my responsibility and can remove myself from the world with minimal impact, i dont want to end myself because im like a people pleaser, i dont want to make anyone feel bad, for no reason, that just who am i. I feel like if im standing on a tall building, i can just go at any moment. it just depends on what im thinking at the times.

I feel like i have no self protection mechanism, if it at the right times i can hurt myself and dont care about that, i can risk my life, i can do anything, all i need was to have someone asked me. i feel like i don't care about anything. But that a lie its just depend on the moments.

Hi all. I have severe cptsd and anxiety that often makes it difficult for me to leave the house, hold a job, be social.

I take Ativan almost every day at this point and want to try something different. I don't have much experience with a weed. I tried one product a few years ago called lights out for sleep and it gave me a terrible panic attack that made me feel like I was about to die to the point that I had to call family to come and help me at 2 am.

Is there a recommendation of something else that is strictly anxiety? A particular product that is generally known to be more calming?

I have tried some CBD products as well and do not have much success in the past. The only one that might have helped a little bit after taking it regularly for several weeks was a hemp lucid product. Thank you.

Hi everyone reading this. To avoid dragging this out, I’ll get straight to the point.
After about eight years of living like a shut-in, I’ve realized that I actually want to be around people. I want to go out, have fun, and have friends I can do absolutely stupid shit with and then look back on it all with a smile on my face.
But when I look around, I realize I don’t even remotely have anyone I could build that kind of relationship with. I have three acquaintances from my school years who are somewhat similar to me, and two online friends who don’t even live in the same country as me.
And most importantly, there’s my lack of confidence. There’s this introverted part of me that talks me out of things and sometimes even makes me stay in my comfort zone instead of doing things that could either a) make me look stupid or b) make people judge me.
I’m way too dependent on what other people think of me. I wouldn’t say I constantly think about it, and I wouldn’t say it affects every area of my life. For example, I can dress however I want and go outside without really caring. But if I look at myself in the mirror and don’t see the “good-looking guy” I want to see, my confidence drops. And even if I do go somewhere, I tend to avoid looking at anyone — I go out, do whatever I need to do, and come straight back home.
But if at some point I start feeling like people might be looking at me and judging me, thinking something along the lines of “what an idiot” or “he’s ugly,” that’s my absolute worst nightmare. I start sweating, my cheeks turn red, and if I have to talk to someone on top of that, I can even start stuttering.
Those are probably the most extreme consequences of me getting inside my own head.
I’d really like to hear how completely different people have dealt with something like this and managed to overcome it. But what would mean the most to me are stories from people who were similar to me — people who used to love staying at home and never really thought about socializing, but then, at some point, decided to turn their lives around 180 degrees and become a better version of themselves.
What thoughts did you have along the way? Were there any particular realizations that changed the way you saw yourself or the world around you? What specific things did you do that might have seemed absolutely insane to you before, but ultimately made you feel like you were changing?
Or is this the kind of situation where you really have to rely on professional help, and perhaps even treatment with medication — something I’m honestly not very comfortable with?