Please read? Is this normal?

[Anonymous]

Okay Im just going to try to get to the point. I feel like I might have social anxiety but I don't want to diagnose myself and my mom doesn't want to talk about it.
So I dont feel comfortable in certain classes. When the teacher starts talking and calling on people, my hands get shaky , I turn red, and start sweating. When I get called to talk, my. voice shakes. I feel like I can't breathe in certain classes, i overthink things.
I stress out about things I should have done or if I have to talk in front of people (eventhough it's like a month or so away). Those type of things keep me up in the middle of the night. I have issues sleeping. Sleep paralysis occurs every once in a while. I turn pink when I order at a restaurant or talk to people or maintain eye contact. I can't even buy something in Target without freaking out and my heart beats a lot.
I stutter sometimes and talk a lot and I run out of breathe. I prefer to keep to myself but I force myself to go out with my friends. There are some occasions when I can talk to new pll but sometimes it's soo hard to talk to new people.
I want to take anxiety pills but I can't even make an appointment to see if I have anxiety. My mom told me to get over it and says I have a lot of issues. She has seen me have my little episodes and still says "Im just shy"when she knows Im really open and loud with her. I can't just be out in public and feel comfortable at all. I feel so out of place even with my friends. I can't be myself at all and it's affecting me from doing things.
So, if you guys have taken or are taking anxiety pills, can u tell me what it does to you and if it helps. I would really appreciate that. Thank you for reading this far.

[abc3643]

Oh Jesus, not again.

We all have social anxiety disorder in one way or the other. Face your fears because you get over your fears with experience.

I used to have terrible fear of public speaking. Then, one day in 1987, I had to teach a class with about 60 kids in it all staring down at me. What I realized is that I knew more than them. I was in control of the situation. By the end of the hour, I was like a preacher on TV and got fantastic teacher ratings...

... but the point is that I faced my fears and once I did and that my fears of what might happen did not materialize, I lost that fear forever.

This is what you need to do.
No drugs.
No fancy overpriced psychologists.
No overly liberal bullshit (and I am a liberal!).
Just good old fashioned growing up.

Keep in mind: Nature does not care about your desires or feelings and there may come a point in your life that you HAVE to face your fears or you will die or otherwise be ruined. Therefore, you need to learn to face your fears to survive. This is experience talking.

If you need a starting point, only go out in public late at night. Like go shopping in a supermarket or Target or wherever 1 hour before it closes when there are not a lot of customers or workers. Go with a friend if you like, but you have to do the shopping and interaction with cashiers or staff. Do this several nights over a week or two, preferably on consecutive nights. You will then begin to feel comfortable in that situation. Continue then with an earlier time - say 90 minutes before closing. Later, 2 hours before closing, etc. This gradual increase in social exposure is how you get over social anxiety disorder. It's also similar to how I quit smoking in 2002.

[abc3643]

Keep in mind something I failed to mention...
Your teacher is scary because s/he is in control.
However, when you are shopping, you are the customer, so you are in control, not the workers or cashiers at the store. Feel empowered. Feel safe. Feel like I did when I taught that class in 1987.

[Asker]

Omg thank you sooo much. I have forced myself to go out more and now, Im forcing myself to get out of my comfort zone. It's really difficult and I can't really get over some stuff but Im working on it. Thank you very much. Really appreciate it.

[Jadekitten]

I second this!! I still have social anxiety (it never goes away, but you can learn to deal with it), but can now function like a normal person because I stopped sitting around feeling sorry for myself and making excuses and forced myself to do things that were scary. You just have to make yourself be motivated!! Props to you abc you explained it really well.