[dax]

Isn't being painfully shy a part of social anxiety? To me it's the same thing.

Not necessarily- I have anxiety but I don't consider myself shy. I'm generally outgoing and like to socialize but I get uncontrollably anxious in social situations.

 

[dax]

A shyness reducing medication would be great, but it's no surprise if it's impossible to get it. It sucks that the medications that work the best are the ones that are the hardest to get. Maybe I should start drinking. I remember senior week at college I got a little tipsy and I was actually more social. I think I surprised quite a few people.

Drinking always works for me. Too bad when I am drunk and anxiety free I always end up making an *** out of myself in some way or another.

 

[Krys]

i can definitely relate to most if not all of what you've said in your posts. in kindergarten, i received an award for being the "sweetest and shyest" student. im learning to love being shy and that im not loud or obnoxious. its starting to grow on me...Finally! after 26 years

 

[alohomora]

i can definitely relate to most if not all of what you've said in your posts. in kindergarten, i received an award for being the "sweetest and shyest" student. im learning to love being shy and that im not loud or obnoxious. its starting to grow on me...Finally! after 26 years

Same here. In the past, I resented my shyness and wanted to be cured of it so I could be the social butterfly. Now, being shy is starting to grow on me. I'm really starting to like it.

 

[epril]

A lot of times I just don't know what to say, like everyone else is talking easily and quickly, and I'm always a few steps between everyone else. I don't think this is necessarily SA or shyness. I don't know why I do this. I am quiet, and shy and anxious. I don't know, I think I also have a verbal disability???

 

[Ununderstood]

I think for me now, my shyness has surpassed my social anxiety. I do believe both are associated with one another but are also independently different. It used to be that both where very very strong and I would just be such a wreck in social situations. I would be so anxious and nervous and then just as soon as someone spoke to me then my shyness would kick in at 7,000 RPMs.

These days my social anxiety has gone down significantly, and I mean a whole lot from what it used to be. My main problem now is my shyness, I still can not go up to talk to people and mainly women. I work in a grocery store, and my co-worker who is one of my friends just got hired and he is so much more "alive" than me. He talks to customers more and is fast to tell them "good afternoon, is there anything I can help you with?". He has greeted more customers in one week than I have in the 8 months I have been there, and I am honestly not exaggerating one bit.

I get so shy and blank when attractive women speak to me. I blush whenever I am caught with beautiful women talking to me for whatever reason. Damn it, I really hate it. Oh and I was also voted most shy in 8th grade as well...I was annoyed that they would put me in the spotlight like that. Like being voted most shy would help me get better or feel better...it's like being voted the most stupid or most ugly if there was such an award. It's insulting and unnecessary.

 

[xlb123]

I've gone through so many different phases. Started out really shy as a kid, but at times I've been outgoing and based on how socially accepted I was at the time. I know, it's not a good thing to base your personality off. When I'm around people I'm comfortable with, I can talk a lot, but I'm definitely not one who strikes up small talk and such.

 

[ChrissyQ]

Me too!

 

[SK7]

it's called social anxiety. my parents dismissed it as "shyness" when i was younger but i realized it was social anxiety just earlier this year.

 

[thecrow]

I feel shy quite alot. Other people seem to be so self assured etc. Its easy to feel overwhelmed. If i feel offended or sensitive to anything, it's always "me" that has the problem, everyone else seems to think things are fine.

 

[Edwin]

I've kind of turned into a shy person on medication (meaning I don't feel much anxiety, it's just a slight cognitive 'overload'). I used to have full-blown SA and was unable to call most people on the phone, say anything in class or say "hi" to girls.

 

[Edwin]

A lot of times I just don't know what to say, like everyone else is talking easily and quickly, and I'm always a few steps between everyone else. I don't think this is necessarily SA or shyness. I don't know why I do this. I am quiet, and shy and anxious. I don't know, I think I also have a verbal disability???

Anxiety causes your cognitive functions to drop to abnormally low levels (in the anxiety-provoking situation), which often results in an inability to process anything that comes in, and get anything out.

It's also called 'fight-or-flight', a state triggered by some kind of danger. Cognitive abilities weren't useful in these situations for our ancestors, and so, when in that state, we only have our instincts to rely on.

 

[p cdn]

yeah I get "the shyest person I know" alot too

most of the time when I get asked how I'm doing, I just smile,look down and away and go on my way without saying anything back

a few years ago I went on a 11hr drive to the US, and every 2 hours or so someone would ask if I was still in the car

 

[bunnie]

Your post made me want to cry. It is so hard being shy. As for me, I hate to raise my voice; I do not like yelling across large rooms. When I was in school, my voice used to crack when the teacher called attendance.

I am pretty much your SA twin.

 

[Derekgnr]

Yeah I'm "Painfully shy" or whatever you wanna call it. I went all through school and barely said a word to anyone, I wouldn't talk in class. I probably had selective mutism and still do. I have no social life at all. I can hardly talk to my family, I can just say a few words here and there but I can't hold a conversation. I can't work cause I don't talk to people. I also have anxiety. This is why I know medications wouldn't be able to help me cause they wouldn't help me talk. :mum