[striker]

I don't think most people understand what having SA feels like.

They usually equate it to having stage fear. How do you guys explain about it to someone who never experienced it.

I was talking to my uncle today and used the phrase SA, but it seemed like he wasn't getting it.

How about this " SA is like having stage fear while having a normal conversation ie., without being on the stage"

 

[StevenGlansberg]

Yeah that's kind of how I think about it. I think I said once it's like the feeling of giving a speech but all the time.

 

[shyvr6]

Ask him to tell you what his most horrible experience was where he thought something bad was going to happen. Then, tell him to remember those feelings that he had except now have him imagine him having those feelings while waiting in line or approaching a group of people for example. You would tell him that is how it is with you.

 

[Josie]

I saw someone on here once equate it to standing in a room full of spiders. Of course, I guess the accuracy of that statement varies depending on the intensity of your phobias, but I think it may be a good way to explain it.

 

[Post_Punk_Proclivity]

I don't think most people understand what having SA feels like.
They usually equate it to having stage fear. How do you guys explain about it to someone who never experienced it.

It can get tiring at times. People don't understand because they cannot empathize with somebody who they cannot relate with. Makes sense. Even therapists find it hard to penetrate this same barrier of altruism. Just another of lifes little frustrations I guess.

 

[Phobiker]

In my country they somethimes use the term "sickly shy" to explain SA.

 

[EmilyFay]

One time I told my therapist that its like the feeling you get watching a very expensive or precious glass object on the verge of falling off a high shelf but being too far away to put it right or catch it when it falls.

 

[Under Pressure]

I told my psychology teacher last semester about my SA and I told my mother about my problem and she said that I shouldn't be diagnosing myself with a disorder and that only a doctor should determine whether I have SA or not. I snapped back at her and told her that you don't need a doctor to diagnose yourself with SA. I did my own research and it was obvious that I had SA.

The idiot who shot up Virginia Tech a couple years ago had severe SA and so I don't want people thinking I'm exactly like him and has the same intentions. Nowadays, I only share my problem with the people on this forum.

 

[justpassinby]

I used to explain it as a feeling as if someone came and grabbed you and took you away, like a kidnapping. Just sheer panic and "gone-ness"

 

[downbutnotout]

I always say its like being thrown into the deep end of a swimming pool before your ready. Theres no way you could cope, because if you couldn't swim, you'd be in trouble.