Public Awarness of S.A.D.

[Sunshine009]

Originally Posted by screwjack

You could say the same thing about a physical disability. Any job that would do that is probably one you don't want to work for in the first place and you still have to have the skills and experience to work the job, disability or not. The point is to strive for understanding, and get society at large not to be so cold hearted towards people with SA of course we should accept it but it dosen't hurt to try to change it and campaign for equal rights. The more knowledge is out there the more people know it is a serious problem and we can do something to help people.

Increasing awareness of the problem is good for the public,
Also increasing awareness and education to the health professionals is needed.

but I mean personally thinking that society should accept and change for us, is not...it's not something I would do personally in my own life or advocate anyone do that.

My orignal post was geared toward the latter paragraph.

Something that has always bothered me personally is the way children in school are treated for being introverted. They are teased. I wish there could be a nationwide support system for them in school called "the introvert club" or something similar. Introverts has no stigma to it. There are extroverts with social anxiety too but they function better with it. The introverts REALLY suffer in school.

[screwjack]

Originally Posted by Sunshine009

but I mean personally thinking that society should accept and change for us, is not...it's not something I would do personally in my own life or advocate anyone do that.

I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. If you mean we need to focus on ourselves and not expect society to adapt to our problems I agree but this extends to life in general. If you mean we shouldn't try to make it so people aren't so cold hearted and make "just do it" "it's just being shy" type statements and make them view it as a real problem I disagree.

[Sunshine009]

Originally Posted by screwjack

I'm not sure what you mean by this statement. If you mean we need to focus on ourselves and not expect society to adapt to our problems I agree but this extends to life in general. If you mean we shouldn't try to make it so people aren't so cold hearted and make "just do it" "it's just being shy" type statements and make them view it as a real problem I disagree.

I reacted in the first post I made thinking of real world possibilities of telling people that we have this disorder and thinking of the consequences of this, of thinking that the public should understand. I think that there will always be someone to stigmatize us or take advantage. I admit I would not hire someone who admits that they aren't qualified for certain jobs, while others I would. I would never take advantage of someone however. I have been taken advantage of when I have admitted it to others that I didn't know well enough.

We should focus on ourselves, yes, and not expect society to help us on one hand to protect ourselves and keep employment and personal safety, but while also trying to get the public to understand more also yes. I would never place my trust in the public hands to treat me without a problem.

But It's really the health professionals that need to be educated more who are not always so helpful and who say the "just do it" "get over it" type statements that is pathetic to hear as if they had no training at all, and the need for more local free support groups. Except for meet up groups there are none in my area that I know of. There are depression groups, not anxiety groups. There are some that are too far away.

I think there should be more of a public awareness of tolerance to people's diverse personalities. Many introverts have anxiety and I don't think society respects introverts enough. Three-quarters of America is extroverted it is known (while ironically in China it is reverse, 3/4 is introverted and that is desirable there). If you have ever sat in a meeting and been ignored while others are thinking aloud and you are thinking to yourself, and are not respected for it, it is a terrible feeling......
If our personalities were respected more, it would be unacceptable for people to tell us to "just get over it" or "just do it". Those things are not helpful to someone who needs more mental steps first to process why they are hestitant. There are reasons why people are.....I study first aid, self-defense and law because the world is not always a good place to be in. I am cautious by nature. That is a valid personality trait and I am making the most out of it.

However when I was taught the Myers-Briggs personality system in my Public Speaking class, the teacher said that all people with T's were cold hearted *******s and that he had the best personality type which included being an Extrovert. That was offensive to me as an introvert and a Feeler that believes in the goodness of all personality types. Now, many T people are not cold or mean but are not socially developed and are shy, the Introverted Thinkers. He lumped them all into something that did not "feel good" to him. He was an Extroverted Feeler. He shouldn't be allowed to teach personality types however.

If personality diverse personality types were accepted, than people wouldn't be pushing others to do things they weren't ready for. I think that there must be a way around the mental health issue of anxiety that would stigmatize us that live in a world of extroverts and keeping in mind that a certain percentage of the population is "not for our wellbeing" either. I think that is public awareness of personality types. I know that in the lower grades of schools they have "character education" today, in some schools I know of, I think that that might be a way of teaching the next generation also about respecting types of personalities.

You know that the extroverts tend toward other exaggerated emotions sometimes anger but they get away with their mental problems by themselves saying or other people saying oh he's just extroverted, well well well then we should be able to be under the personality umbrella too and say we are just introverted. It's better than dealing with mental health stigmas.

yes, I'm for it all. I'm for protecting yourself wisely, for public awareness of the problem, for educating professionals, and also for public education on personality types. I wouldn't go around announcing to people in general that I am anxious however but it would be nice that if I choose to tell my good friends that they have some education on it already. My first post reflected the concern of what it would be like to tell people openly that we are anxious and in general it does not seem like a good thing.

[dax]

I want to decrease public awareness so no one finds out I have this.

[Canadian Brotha]

Health Matters: What Is Social Anxiety Disorder?



Send mass emails of this interview & others like it. It's basic but a starting point in informing people

[laura024]

That was a good video. Thanks for posting.

[Sunshine009]

Originally Posted by dax

I want to decrease public awareness so no one finds out I have this.

I understand but public awareness is not personal. I was triggered by the first post and couldn't express my entire multi-faceted and dual feelings on the subject until the last post I made.

[screwjack]

I agree with your post sunshine but honestly I think it's a nonissue. I can't see anyone with SA actually wanting to go out there and telling everyone about their problem and expecting people to change. It wouldn't go beyond selfbi**ng on a message board.

To get back to the original topic someone suggested a voice over... well it would still be kind of boring in a hollywood sense. I'm not saying it's right but that's the explanation why SA has never been the main focus of a movie or tv show at most you'll get someone who's agoraphoic or a kid or very minor character who dosen't talk to people and is portrayed as very mentally ill.

Documentary works better because it's an educational medium before entertainment so you can have professionals on to talk about the problems and the family and friends reactions etc.

[Disintegrate]

At least one documentary has been made. It was on public television(at least in the U.S.) back in 2002-2003. It includes the original owner of SAS.

http://themindinmotion.org/files/Min..._of_People.wmv