Post by irishfarmer on Sept 25, 2006 20:22:53 GMT -5
I'm 20 years old, male, caucasian. I've had (what I presume to be) SAD-social anxiety disorder- pretty much my whole life. It was never too bad until recently. I always had a small circle of friends, and I was pretty satisfied with my life. Things were good.
Then within the past couple years or so its gotten much worse. As happens after high school, a lot of friends go down seperate paths, and I've found it difficult to have the same kind of friendship I've always had with my friends, which wouldn't be so bad but I've been almost completely incapable of forming new, meaningful relationships. Especially with girls, as luck would have it.
Before I go on, here's a face to add to the words. I hail from Wisconsin and (shhh) I work at Target.
Oh, and before anyone asks, as they always do, I'm not Irish and I'm not a Farmer.
Or just for fun. A picture of me at my brother's wedding.
Anyway, despite an almost crippling fear of social situations, I was never into that whole 'avoidance' thing. In fact, I'm convinced I'm an extrovert disguised in an awkwardly shy body.
However, my attempts at reaching out to new friends have basically failed miserably, which has just recently prompted me to seek professional help.
Anyway, I've only had two girlfriends, the first of which also has SAD so it would have worked, but she was controlling and manipulative. So it doesn't work. I broke up with her.
My second girlfriend was 'normal'. In other words, she took advantage of my 'niceness' and treated me like crap. She kept me out of sight of her friends, probably because she didn't want me to embarass her with my social problems, and then broke up with me to sleep with another guy if she hadn't started sleeping with him already.
I'd put a picture of her up, but that wouldn't be right. She was actually really attractive, but they say even the devil looks like a beautiful angel.
My anxiety has led to isolation, which in turn has lead to depression which makes my social anxiety even worse. I feel 'drained' all the time and any kind of rejection basically ruins me. I guess that's all there is to say. Except, "Hi."
Then within the past couple years or so its gotten much worse. As happens after high school, a lot of friends go down seperate paths, and I've found it difficult to have the same kind of friendship I've always had with my friends, which wouldn't be so bad but I've been almost completely incapable of forming new, meaningful relationships. Especially with girls, as luck would have it.
Before I go on, here's a face to add to the words. I hail from Wisconsin and (shhh) I work at Target.
Oh, and before anyone asks, as they always do, I'm not Irish and I'm not a Farmer.
Or just for fun. A picture of me at my brother's wedding.
Anyway, despite an almost crippling fear of social situations, I was never into that whole 'avoidance' thing. In fact, I'm convinced I'm an extrovert disguised in an awkwardly shy body.
However, my attempts at reaching out to new friends have basically failed miserably, which has just recently prompted me to seek professional help.
Anyway, I've only had two girlfriends, the first of which also has SAD so it would have worked, but she was controlling and manipulative. So it doesn't work. I broke up with her.
My second girlfriend was 'normal'. In other words, she took advantage of my 'niceness' and treated me like crap. She kept me out of sight of her friends, probably because she didn't want me to embarass her with my social problems, and then broke up with me to sleep with another guy if she hadn't started sleeping with him already.
I'd put a picture of her up, but that wouldn't be right. She was actually really attractive, but they say even the devil looks like a beautiful angel.
My anxiety has led to isolation, which in turn has lead to depression which makes my social anxiety even worse. I feel 'drained' all the time and any kind of rejection basically ruins me. I guess that's all there is to say. Except, "Hi."