A discussion on my symptom

Hi guys,

I would like to discuss on my symptoms.

I tend to have an awkward smile whenever I feel anxious.

Like when I enter a classroom (with students facing my direction), my mouth will twitch to a smile.

And when I walk along a pavement and there is a group of people heading my direction, my mouth will twitch to a smile as well.

And I also tend to walk in an awkward manner , hunching my back and my head going downwards.

In this 2 situations, the people will look at me and stare at me. I guess I must be behaving and looking like a lunatic which is why they are looking at me. I feel very humiliated and embarrassed when this happens. Nobody will want to be acquaintances or friends with me if I behave like that.

My first concern is, is it abnormal to smile like that in crowded situations and also walk hunching my back? Will it give an impression to others that something is mentally wrong with me?

Secondly, is this social anxiety or just plain shyness?

And finally, will I be able to cure these symptoms?

Feel sad that there are no replies to my thread

Does that mean that involuntary smile is not curable?

^I think it's because there is no particular answer to your questions. But ok I'll try

wise_wind said:

Hi guys,

I would like to discuss on my symptoms.

I tend to have an awkward smile whenever I feel anxious.

Like when I enter a classroom (with students facing my direction), my mouth will twitch to a smile.

And when I walk along a pavement and there is a group of people heading my direction, my mouth will twitch to a smile as well.

And I also tend to walk in an awkward manner , hunching my back and my head going downwards.

In this 2 situations, the people will look at me and stare at me. I guess I must be behaving and looking like a lunatic which is why they are looking at me. I feel very humiliated and embarrassed when this happens. Nobody will want to be acquaintances or friends with me if I behave like that.

Click to expand...

Sounds like typical symptoms of anxiety

wise_wind said:

My first concern is, is it abnormal to smile like that in crowded situations and also walk hunching my back? Will it give an impression to others that something is mentally wrong with me?

Click to expand...

What is "abnormal"? It sounds like one of the "normal" behavior for someone with anxiety. About other people's impression, who knows? Some might think you're a lunatic, some might think you're thinking about something funny, a lot probably don't care, in spite of what we like to think.

wise_wind said:

Secondly, is this social anxiety or just plain shyness?

Click to expand...

Sounds like anxiety to me but what do I know? The main point is that it's bugging you.

wise_wind said:

And finally, will I be able to cure these symptoms?

Click to expand...

Again, how would we know? Sounds like something you could fix by doing exercice to relax your body though. There is yoga poses to help you keep your back in the right position and also to release the anxiety from your muscles (check out PTSD yoga and stuff like that). If yoga is too hipster to you, I'm sure there is a lot of other exercice that you can do that could help you to relax your face muscles when you're anxious. You can also try to make a conscious effort to relax your muscles and get your back straight when you're doing this.

Well I do this smile thing too. So you are not alone. I usually do it when I think too much about what I'll say to someone, and then finally say it. Hopefully that makes sense? Planning the conversation too much. Instantly my version of an awkward smile will appear. I also walk with my shoulders hunched and my head looking down. I would believe that the head thing would be because you may lack confidence in your personality or physical appearance. Feeling not good enough. At least that's why I experience this. I also have developed a new symptom where my left eye twitches and waters when talking to people. This only sometimes happens. But I know it's due to anxiety.
Hope you feel less alone, as a lot of people experience random physical symptoms. Hopefully we will learn to control them when we sense them starting.

body language is the first thing ppl pick up on.

I understand how you feel, I used to get this way too. I still do but to a much lesser degree.

I changed my own situation by deliberately focusing on something else (like reading a street sign while walking past) amongst other things. it helped

Thanks for your replies guys. I'll try the suggestions that you have mentioned. Hopefully, I can get over these symptoms.