Joined
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26 Posts
Hi all,
I'm 23 y/o male originally from california. I've been dealing with SA and depression for about a year. I'd like to meet some people here who've shared similar experiences, especially if you are in the D.C. area (been here for about a year). Feel free to drop me a line!
Edit:
So here's why I joined this forum.
I wasn’t always socially anxious. Weird enough, a lot of people would say that I am one of the most social people they know. My problem is that I go through periods of intense social withdrawal and I suffer a lot from it. I’d really like to know if anyone here has experienced something similar or has an idea of what is going on with me.
I started getting depressed near the end of my senior year in college (which is a separate thing altogether), but the point is that being depressed got me looking hard at what was making me unhappy. One of the things I realized was that I become very self-conscious that people are judging me during certain social situations. The more I think about it the more I feel that I am socially inept and the worse I feel when I don’t fit in with people. Then for a while I’ll just stop talking to anyone. Basically, I became super sensitive about any kind of social rejection.
The funny thing is, I never felt socially anxious before I became depressed, nor did I ever feel as self-conscious socially. I’ve lived in California all my life and I just moved to D.C. 10 months ago, where I’ve become a lot more socially withdrawn. I’m not sure if it’s because of depression or a different social scene, but all the time I feel like the people I meet are judgmental and trying to prove that they’re better than me. My self-esteem has taken a big hit since I moved, partly because I’ve had a hard time socially here and partly because I feel like I’ve forgotten how to be social with people. And I think about this stuff all the time, which makes it worse.
I’ve been in psychotherapy for a few months now and I just started taking anti-depressants about a week ago. I think it’s been helping since it seems like I brood about this stuff less and am willing to deal with social situations a little bit better. But if I feel rejected or that someone thinks they’re better than me, it still bothers me a lot. Do I have SA, low self-esteem, depression, a combination, or am I normal and just overreacting?
I'm 23 y/o male originally from california. I've been dealing with SA and depression for about a year. I'd like to meet some people here who've shared similar experiences, especially if you are in the D.C. area (been here for about a year). Feel free to drop me a line!
Edit:
So here's why I joined this forum.
I wasn’t always socially anxious. Weird enough, a lot of people would say that I am one of the most social people they know. My problem is that I go through periods of intense social withdrawal and I suffer a lot from it. I’d really like to know if anyone here has experienced something similar or has an idea of what is going on with me.
I started getting depressed near the end of my senior year in college (which is a separate thing altogether), but the point is that being depressed got me looking hard at what was making me unhappy. One of the things I realized was that I become very self-conscious that people are judging me during certain social situations. The more I think about it the more I feel that I am socially inept and the worse I feel when I don’t fit in with people. Then for a while I’ll just stop talking to anyone. Basically, I became super sensitive about any kind of social rejection.
The funny thing is, I never felt socially anxious before I became depressed, nor did I ever feel as self-conscious socially. I’ve lived in California all my life and I just moved to D.C. 10 months ago, where I’ve become a lot more socially withdrawn. I’m not sure if it’s because of depression or a different social scene, but all the time I feel like the people I meet are judgmental and trying to prove that they’re better than me. My self-esteem has taken a big hit since I moved, partly because I’ve had a hard time socially here and partly because I feel like I’ve forgotten how to be social with people. And I think about this stuff all the time, which makes it worse.
I’ve been in psychotherapy for a few months now and I just started taking anti-depressants about a week ago. I think it’s been helping since it seems like I brood about this stuff less and am willing to deal with social situations a little bit better. But if I feel rejected or that someone thinks they’re better than me, it still bothers me a lot. Do I have SA, low self-esteem, depression, a combination, or am I normal and just overreacting?