Share some advice for those with social anxiety?

malmon wrote

Well, the same can be said for many drugs, hence why you're not supposed to take loads of them. Then again, afaik, most antidepressants are addictive as well, mostly because of the withdrawl symptoms (at least that seems to be the case for the ones I was meant to take).

Also, here's the talk I'm on about

-snip-

Though it is a shame that some rely on drugs

"Though it is a shame that some rely on drugs" Truest thing I've heard all year. Preach it.

Shiro wrote

malmon wrote

Shiro wrote

based_bluetawn wrote

Try amphetamines like methamphetamine or adderal (which is identical), don't smoke them, snort or eat and don't use more than you have to because they are fun and tempting, don't redose, yes, meth causes dopamine system damage, regular amphetamines do not.

I learned more from a couple uses of amphetamines than I did in a college class on public speaking (though it did help).

I went from socially anxious to an extremely nerfed anxiety response.

That's my experience, don't take it as truth. Playing with drugs is a dangerous game.

Doing meth is just retarded in the first place it cooks your brain lmao.
I personally wouldn't advise doing hard drugs just to combat anxiety go get prescribed xanex or something else that's been clinically tested and is SAFE.

This one TED talk I saw, they talked about using Ketamine for this sort of stuff. In mice, it seems to be considerably more effective at a much lower dose with fewer side effects than (meth)amphetamines. I haven't really read in to its effectiveness on humans though.

As someone who used to abuse Ketamine I can say it just fucking kills you and it's super addictive. Rip my bladder.

Aye, drug addiction is the worst. Congrats on beating it, though!

Тачанка-чан wrote

I have dealt with social anxiety since I was around the age of 12, and I still struggle with it occasionally. A good way that I have found to help oneself with such an affliction is by reading more, not necessarily fiction, but philosophy. If you can learn about how people think you can learn how people work. It's also just very thougt provoking and gives you many ideas to apply in your life, especially when talking to people.

Can confirm: Reading does wonders for improving one's social skills. From what I've seen, it not only builds your vocabulary and teaches you clever figures of speech, but also forces you to practice paying attention and using your imagination; both of which are key skills in any conversation.

I personally do not find philosophy palatable for this technique, though it can certainly be interesting. Instead, I like to read old novels from the 19th century; the prose is flowery and very complex, but it tends to get easier after the tenth page.

Hello. I have social anxiety and a mild form of agoraphobia. Smoking ganja helps but I always carry my lucky slammer (slammer for the old game POGS) and when im in public I am always holding, twiddling and rolling it in my fingers. It helps me focus on not dropping it when I would normally focus on everyone else. Get a fidget item to attract more of your attention. Hope this helps!

I suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder, I'm currently trying to get the right medication for it. But one thing I suggest for people with social anxiety, is to go online more whether it's 4chan which is anonymous, other image boards, forums, online games, or anything else online that helps you talk to people. Kind of like the OP said. But these people have to realize nothing good will come of it unless they make that first move, which it will be difficult at first but it's definitely possible, just keep trying to start a conversation online with people you don't really know, people who have no clue who you look like, how you act in person, who you are, etc. Talking online reduces a lot of anxiety, because there's nothing really to judge at first. How I became a little more extroverted was that I started making for friends in games Minecraft and WoW specifically and it helped me be a bit more extroverted and more open. Now it's not going to completely remove your anxiety completely, there will still be times where you're just too scared to strike a conversation, and I still go through that. But doing this does help a lot more than a person would think.

malmon wrote

Shiro wrote

malmon wrote

Shiro wrote

Doing meth is just retarded in the first place it cooks your brain lmao.
I personally wouldn't advise doing hard drugs just to combat anxiety go get prescribed xanex or something else that's been clinically tested and is SAFE.

This one TED talk I saw, they talked about using Ketamine for this sort of stuff. In mice, it seems to be considerably more effective at a much lower dose with fewer side effects than (meth)amphetamines. I haven't really read in to its effectiveness on humans though.

As someone who used to abuse Ketamine I can say it just fucking kills you and it's super addictive. Rip my bladder.

Well, the same can be said for many drugs, hence why you're not supposed to take loads of them. Then again, afaik, most antidepressants are addictive as well, mostly because of the withdrawl symptoms (at least that seems to be the case for the ones I was meant to take).

Also, here's the talk I'm on about

Though it is a shame that some rely on drugs

It might be, but some people just can't get themselves fixed and can't cope with their mental problems. I've spent 15 years of my life with GAD, it sucks and it controls me. I have fights with my brain everyday, meditation doesn't work for me, breathing nah fam rather just not. What I'm saying is though it may be a shame, we have to rely on drugs because there's nothing else for us. Not everyone has to take drugs for it, but not everyone can meditate and control their breathing and instantly feel better after doing it for 10 years.
TL;DR some people's problems are just that serious.

The most effective thing that helped me with social anxiety was finding a job. I used to restrain myself from talking with other people or tend to finish conversation as fast as possible to get back to my comfort zone. These things stopped, since communicating with people has become what I'm getting paid for. I've discovered that there is no longer a place for doubt in communication, when it's a matter of being fired or not. Of course my job didn't cure all my social anxiety, but it somehow affected how I deal with social situations in my private life as well. I've found some analogy between being social at work and being social, when meeting up with friends or getting to know a new person.

I think someone mentioned something like this earlier, but if you spend a lot of time on the internet, a really good way to get into breaking social anxiety is to simply message back and forth with someone in a non-IM manner (so not using things like Discord). It removes a lot of the pressures that talking 1 on 1 with people comes with like thinking on the spot about what you want to say. After you get to a point where you become comfortable in a setting like this, you would obviously want to try to move onto IM, but I think taking small steps is a good way to go about it. I used to talk to someone with extreme social anxiety and eventually she was able to overcome it by doing this very thing.

Personally I think that developing communication skills over the internet can help some in real life. Some people just need to feel comfortable and all that anxiety goes away.

Never put yourself down, and always put positive thoughts first. Writing down what went wrong for you during the day on a paper or on the computer helps too.

I get extremely anxious about almost every social interaction I have to deal with, but none of them have been as bad as I thought they would be.

Not really advice, but I don't have any because it's still a huge problem for me. Just a thought.