Hiding social anxiety

slimjim119 · Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2008 7:10 pm Post subject: Hiding social anxiety

I'm good at hiding my social anxiety effects most of the time. Other people usually can't tell even though it can be killing me at times. Rapid heartbeat, hands tremble, upset stomach. Anyone else good at hiding it? The more I exercise and the more I get out, I feel alot more relief. Staying home too much makes it worse. I especially hate being in waiting rooms with other people. Whether be a doctor's office or waiting for your car in a repair shop. Its hard too just sit there. I have to get up and move around. But then I can get more self conscious once i get up because people look your way. Tough thing to live with every day.

livingnsilence · Newbie User Joined: Feb 01, 2008 Posts: 75

I'm pretty good at hiding it most times. No one can see that my stomach is upset from the nerves or a fast heart beat so that's no problem. I shake when I'm nervous but then again I always shake and I tell people that when they point it out so they blow it off. I still stay extreamly quite b/c my nerves but most people don't think you are quite b/c you are nervous they think you just like being quite. Interviews is were I'm best at hiding it surprisingly. Despite the fact my nerves skyrocket during interviews, I can force myself for that short period of time to appear to be a really talkative, happy girl, and it normaly works. I had an interview a couple weeks ago and the interviewer asked what one of my flaws are and I said that one is I'm shy. The rest of the interview he expressed his disbelife in the fact I'm shy and quite, he probably thought I was lying. I deffinitely had him fooled. Smiling and laughing a lot seems to fool people too. I was talking to this one guy that I knew when I was drunk and my excessive laughing came up in convo. and I told him I laugh when I'm nervous and he said "all this time I thought you just thought I was a really funny, cool guy but really you were just nervous."

va_boy · Newbie User Joined: Mar 05, 2008 Posts: 39

I'm good at hiding it sometimes, other times I feel like I'm just announcing it to everyone.

txblondgrl · Newbie User Joined: Mar 29, 2008 Posts: 4

Except when my face turns red, I'm a pro at hiding it. Most people at work have no clue.

2Crowded · Posted: Wed Apr 09, 2008 4:35 am Post subject:

As far as hiding it...I think most times I am fairly good at it but I think sometimes others can tell that something is bothering me...it depends on the situation i guess.

I can get hot faced in a waiting room very easy....if there is another stranger there waiting....sometimes I pretend to read a magazine just so I don't have to look at the other person or persons....with my luck what usualy ends up happening is I'm alone at first & doing ok, then someone comes in & sits right across from me so we have to look at each other...or in my case try not to look. The hot face begins with a sensation of what it feels like when you get shocked or basicly if you were to stick a fork into a wall outlet.

Same deal seems to happen to me in restaurants...when I manage to go with someone. We can be sitting all alone at a table well removed from everyone else, by my request of course...& would'nt you know it, another party chooses the table right next to ours instead of the 10 other empty tables.

Confused

italyprincess · Newbie User Joined: Jun 26, 2008 Posts: 2

I live with the same nightmare everyday. I know what you mean, as soon as you get up you feel like they're looking at you but when I try to just sit there normal I STILL feel like they're looking at me and I can't breathe. It's a ridiculous thing to have to live with but it's nice to know I am not the only one in the world who does.

cobalt_bluester · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 6:46 am Post subject:

Hi. I too totally detest sitting in waiting rooms with other people as I feel they are looking at me and I have great problems relaxing and making eye contact. I often see 'red' if somebody I don't know stares at me, as I think "what the hell are you looking at"??!!

People in the UK can be particularly bad for staring at you for no apparent reason - they obviously have not heard of the phrase "It's rude to stare". Sometimes, I feel like asking the person who's staring if they want a photo or something!! The other day I felt particuarly bad with nerves depression and anxiety, and I was driving home out of the work car park, and noticed somebody staring at me. When I turned back to check if they were still staring they were and I reacted badly by flicking my fingers up at them! I feel bad for doing this, but it is understandable as I feel threatened by this sort of behaviour and see no need for it at all. I feel that people I know are always judging me badly as they won't speak to me much and don't ask how I am.

I have struggled with this for years and don't really have an answer, other than try and focus on the person you are with, and try not to worry about what other people think of you so much as you are fine just as you are. I am thinking about buying some confidence books by Paul McKenna and would like to suggest you think about purchasing these too.

Regards, Richard

slimjim119 · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:10 pm Post subject:

Kamen · Posted: Fri Jul 04, 2008 1:54 pm Post subject:

Well, I have a good, real-looking anti-social-anxiety mask because some people think I am friendly, even social (for example, a colleague of my mother who I met months ago). Sometimes, while waiting with an unknown person, I could even start a little conversation. For me, waiting rooms are actually terror rooms and I hate them, too.