Living With Social Anxiety
When school started after summer, my 4th grade teacher asked each student to come to the front of the classroom and share about what they did during their summer break. When it was my turn, I went to the front of the room and turned around to address the class. I felt anxiety fill me, and tears built up until I couldn’t hold it back anymore and started to cry. My loving teacher quickly took me off center stage and comforted me. It’s one of the only things I remember about the 4th grade, besides being called the 4-square queen and having a crush on Billy!
I was good at school. In the 7th grade, I got straight A’s and was in the quire. One other student and I were the only two who signed up for tryouts to sing a solo. I was brave enough to tryout, but as soon as I started singing in front of the whole class, I started to tremble and you could hear it clearly in my voice. Of course, the other girl got the solo, and I was slightly embarrassed.
A series of events in my life starting when I was 15 drew me out and I overcame my stage fright to a large degree, among other things, and I went forward to give presentations to large groups of people. Intimacy was never an issue when it was just me and another person or a very small group of people, but when it came to crowds, the story was very different.
I have opened up a lot since I was a child and teenager, and have observed how social anxiety or awkwardness can be the cause of stress – something none of us need – and come between a person and happiness. This has let me to try to understand the things behind social anxiety and natural ways to ease it.
In these webpages, I am happy to share with you some things I have found to be helpful in living with anxiety, either for myself, or for someone else in my life. Some of these things even help improve moods. I hope you find it useful, and would love to hear your story, if you would be willing to share. If so, please use the comments section below. Your story could benefit others, so please share. If you want to remain anonymous, you could email me at jini@radiantacquiescence.com and I will post your story anonymously.
NATURAL TREATMENTS FOR SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION OR ANXIETY:
Go To: Living with Depression Page