If you suffer from moderate to severe social anxiety, the very idea of changing your outward appearance can seem overwhelming. Yet, in my case, I knew that, deep down; I was not helping my cause by appearing so unapproachable. Read the rest of this entry »
“Life is not a one-way street.”
I’ve printed this sentence out and taped it to the wall beside my computer. I read it several times a day, as it reminds me of one of the most important laws of social interaction and happiness. Up until recently, I didn’t really know it even existed. Read the rest of this entry »
As a social anxiety suffer, I tend to be hyper-sensitive when it comes to the feedback I get from other people. Granted, the way I interpret their responses might be a little skewed, but that’s improving.
Because of this acute awareness, I’ve discovered that there is a direct connection between how I feel (and project myself), and the way people respond to me. In other words, if I’m feeling good, I usually get a friendlier response from others. Read the rest of this entry »
There was a time in my life that I was convinced I’d never be able to attract, let alone date, a woman – any woman. I suppose a lot of that had to do with the actual effort I was putting forth, but the few times I did try to get to know someone romantically, I failed miserably. In fact, I expected to fail – I was setup for it. Read the rest of this entry »
College was a tough time for me. Though I was sure that I’d be leaving all my troubles behind once my high school days were over, I was just kidding myself. Things didn’t improve much except for the fact that we were treated as adults now. Other than that, I was utterly alone. The only good thing was that the juvenile, school-yard bully tactics were now a thing of the past. Read the rest of this entry »
Creating opportunity in the dating world has been challenging for me – obviously, my social anxiety problem doesn’t help. However, I have managed some success by approaching the situation on my own terms. In other words, I’ve given up trying the same methods most other guys use, and tried a little “outside the box” thinking.
It’s obvious that social anxiety and dating don’t mix for me. However, as a social anxiety sufferer, I can’t beat myself up for feeling awkward and inadequate when it comes to romance. After all, dating is pretty high up there when it comes to the degree of social difficulty.
Because of the fact that social anxiety has run the show for the past thirty years, I find myself at the point where I am lacking in some of the most basic life skills. I won’t go into detail about this (I have in previous posts), but, suffice it to say, I am still a novice when it comes to many areas of social interaction – Particularly when it comes to dating.
An obvious way to meet other singles is the bar scene. Well, unless you suffer from social anxiety, that is. Personally, I shy away from singles bars because my anxiety completely overwhelms me. And I’m not talking about just a little here – its full-fledged panic.
Dating and social anxiety don’t mix. Personally speaking, my anxiety was bad enough under the best of circumstances. By introducing the element of dating, my fear grew exponentially – it was enough to turn my world completely upside-down.
