quite tricky question! I think mine is definitely partly genetic/physical but I only know one of my cousins who used to seem to have social anxiety/phobia but after I think he went on medication or didn't have it anymore and on my dad's side, they were called "weird" or eccentric but not mentally ill, we don't know of that side. I only for sure know on my mom's side that everyone is okay but I know my grandma gets anxious/nervous when family member's aren't doing well. My mom is the same as her mom (grandma) but there's no one else on her side that has "social anxiety/phobia".

I also didn't eat particularly nutritious food growing up. We were in a poor neighborhood and ate hamburgers, hot dogs, beef patties, cereal with a lot of sugar in it and outside food so that wouldn't be good for the developing brain like I did not eat whole foods, no sugar, Omega fish oil so I don't have good neurotransmitters anyway.

Also, how I was brought up and how the world was like didn't help. I didn't know how to defend if I got a bad hair cut and then others didn't like me, how to defend if others didn't like me and what mattered the most was if I was a good person and then I don't have to care if others don't like me for any other reason and I didn't have God in my life to always meet the right people and be sure I have all my needs met and that unrighteous enemies will get punished and to think positively and the right and not "worldly" or crooked or common ways of the worldly thinking and ways so I was a teenager and developed social anxiety/phobia and after I got it, I couldn't change it, no matter how I thought or were to go counselling so I think it was just genetic/physical, something wrong with my neurotransmitters, but I don't know if I was brought up in a very different and spiritual family and they taught me the right, positive way to think if I would've still got social anxiety/phobia so your question is tricky.

However, after I got treatment from my naturopathic doctor with vitamins, I basically have no more social anxiety/phobia so that shows that my neurotransmitters aren't good/strong and that I need/depend on medicine/medication even if it's natural, to treat it and calm things down or whatever it is that helped me. So I don't know how to answer this question without writing all this. I am a bit confused.

 

Speaking for myself only, I really don't think it matters. I wouldn't say mine is untreatable (as I've never actually gone to try) but for me, it's just a matter of stacking. The SA alone was somewhat manageable in the beginning but all of the other things that started stacking on top of it gradually became more and more complicated and unmitigable. To the point to where now, all of the other stuff is permanent and even if I could do something about the SA, it wouldn't make enough of a difference to make it worth the effort and the mental anguish of dealing with all the fallout.

Moreover, almost all of the other issues have little to do with SA and are just things that would have happened anyway.

I think someone like me was just going to have these problems no matter what. It would be wrong for me to contest the experts with gut feelings and opinions so I won't.

 

So in conclusion to the details I've written above, or to put it simply, under "stress" for having lack of positive defensive thinking (psycho-social), my neurotransmitters weren't strong and my genetics weren't good enough for my lack of a nutritional diet for the developing brain.

 

I would say a significant part of mine is genetic. My grandfather back in the Uk spent the last 7 or 8 years of his life in what they called a "nerve hospital" back then (as I've mentioned before on SAS) - I have no way of knowing exactly what he suffered from but I'd be interested to find out.

As far as the bipolar disorder I have no idea - I was diagnosed later in life with that. I don't remember being manic until early to mid 40's and at the time I had no idea what it was.

 

I don't doubt that both played a role. My mother said that she used to be similar in wanting to avoid talking to guests (even relatives) whenever they came over while she was a child. As far as to the extent of it, it's likely a bit different due to the differences in the social environment. The age difference between my mother and myself makes it evident that there's been enough cultural shifts and consequently how people interact out of it. Even now it seems like my mother has more pleasurable interactions while I am someone who just wants to keep to myself because of how dirty some people have treated me.

 

I’m not sure…not to have a pity party here, just stating a fact, I was abused before the age of one and onward as I grew up. I don’t know how that effected me.

when I look back at who I was to who I am today after years of therapy and self work. I was very shy and timid, now I’m somewhere in between extrovert and introvert, with much more confidence and a healthier but not always great self esteem.

I feel more like myself today than I ever did back then. I felt so disconnected from myself back then actually. I guess I’ve grown in self awareness as well.

Anyway, to the topic, I’m not sure.

 

EDIT. I wrote something too personal. @lily I‘d be interested to know what naturopathic treatments helped you?

 

Hi AlternativeTreatementsGuy I don't feel comfortable sharing it for personal reasons. Also, I was treated for schizoaffective disorder for a crisis I had afterwards, not social anxiety/phobia, but I really think after a few years of being on it, it eventually helped me with having basically no more social anxiety/phobia because there was no other reason I could think of that could've helped with that. Which country do you live in? Maybe you could see this naturopath. I'm not sure if he will take in patients abroad.

 

I'm reasonably sure it's genetic and may be down to neurological differences.

Firstly my brother is autistic, and my quiet intellectual parents both think that neurodivergence probably does run in both sides of the family. My social skills have developed relatively slowly over time and my SA has got less serious, without really trying. Nowadays I get described as cheerful, at least by people who get to know me. But that is a big change from my youth where I would never make eye contact, walk awkwardly, never smile, and was completely monosyllabic. I think it just was going to take more time than average for that part of my brain to grow.

Secondly I am still mildly susceptible to paranoia. Whilst this mostly has been sub-syndromal - I only had two major breakdowns in my life - it has been present in a mild sense for a long time. I didn't help this by smoking a LOT of cannabis and taking hallucinogenic drugs when I was in my 20s. Again, there is a family history of psychiatric inpatient care, at least on my mother's side.

 

Interesting. There are more who think its both than I thought. I think I am not going to share my own story at this point. It doesn‘t seem like the net result would be positive.

 

I am sure its both, as I've noticed the signs even when I was a little kid at how I was just socially different from the other kids. But environment and my upbringing all the way to my late teens definitely played the larger part for me and shaped my SA throughout. Fortunately I've managed to curb it more than enough to function in most everyday life stuff without issues. But I still struggle to shed my SA and my thinking influenced by it and for as long as I remember, it has been a barrier to me pursuing relationships. For a while, it was a lot better. But in the past 5-10 or so years, that progress seems to have abated. I am sure the pandemic also sped that abatement up by even more.

 

Edit

 

A combination of both, but mostly genetic. My dad had severe SA but would not admit it to anyone except my mom. He had some bad anxiety and depression, too. One nephew has it, also. Two nieces suffer from anxiety disorder (no SA) and take meds for it. There is clearly a gene in the family.

I went through a lot of rejection/bullying because I was so small and skinny for my age. That stuff stays with you forever.

 

Same here, I get why I was bullied at times though. Would they have known the reasons for why I was that way, they probably wouldn't have bullied me as much. I can't blame them, I didn't know the reasons myself at the time. I wouldn't say it stays with me forever though. I have some understanding of it now and do not take it personal.

 

The question that is the topic of this thread occupies my thoughts again right now. It gets me down somewhat.