Reflective Essay: The Effects Of Social Anxiety

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The Effects of Social Anxiety For over three years, I have suffered from social anxiety disorder and shattered my social life in the process. Social anxiety disorder, also known as social anxiety or social phobia, is a psychiatric disorder where the sufferer has a fear of being in social situations, and is unable to interact with other people. This might appear as bashfulness to those that lack understanding of the problem. However, this is a problem that is much more severe than that. Social anxiety has the potential to ruin peoples’ lives. By fearing other people, you become unable to communicate with them, and therefore you are unable to live a normal, everyday lifestyle. Having a fear of people is not like your average fear of snakes or spiders. Fearing fellow human beings can become a serious problem. I used to feel discomfort whenever I was around people, especially strangers. I felt the worst when I was around huge crowds. It was difficult to move around, and my thoughts were focused on getting away immediately. If my condition was any more severe than it actually was, I would have experienced nausea and panic attacks, which are …show more content…

Whenever I had something to say, I could not bring myself to say it. I also made short pauses before I replied to someone’s question. If I did manage to say something, however, I would always stutter my lines in a way that would annoy the person I was talking to. Even making eye contact proved to be difficult. Because of this unpleasant activity, social anxiety sufferers make sure to never develop any sort of conversation with anyone. Severe cases of social anxiety can cause improper communication with even your closest friends and family. I became distant from my loved ones as a result. I kept quiet, despite my strong desire to express my thoughts. Having the inability to communicate with people will only prove to be difficult when attempting to live a normal, everyday

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