Am I just an introvert or is it social anxiety?

Having social anxiety is the synonym of giving up on all the power a person has to other people and situations. It is a constant feeling of stress, a constant state of being lost. It feels like the person is put in jail, having both hands and legs chained the moment they step out of their house.

Social anxiety attacks can manifest in different situations, it can come as simple as during a discussion with two close friends, you feel you are shacking when it is your turn to talk, you feel like you barely can breathe while talking and what is harder is that you constantly try to hide that from people around you, yet it is almost impossible to hide it, yet people can not always understand you and think it is due to your lack of talent, being shy or socially awkward. You may be an excellent student, but you would struggle in getting high grades because of that presentation that you were supposed to perform and that you messed up due to your high social anxiety because for you public speaking is similar or even worse than public suicide. You may be a great employee with fantastic ideas to propose, but you remain the average person for your boss just because you do not get to talk, you do not get to share your ideas in meetings because it is so scary to have all the lights shed on you.

You are a mind reader, and your brain feels homesick

I always say that a person with social anxiety is similar to a mind reader, who can’t even read minds. You never live in your brain, your body is there but your brain is connected to other people, and it hurts a lot because this can steal all the sense of security from you. Some people would miss important job interviews, finals at school, and others may miss meetings with their boss just because it is scary for them to be with the crowds, and people constantly watching them with their brains.

Some people would feel so scared to go and hit the gym, because besides the anxiety caused by the body image that normally a lot of people would have, and which remains the main reason behind the stress and reluctance to going to the gym. People with social anxiety feel the double pain because their brains will constantly be going from one person to another, getting filled with imaginary ideas.

People with a lack of knowledge in the topic may misunderstand you, because they seem to be safe and only living in their own brain, while you, you feel homesick, yes your brain feel homesick because its ideas always knock other people doors or brains except yours.

Having a phone with you is vital

Answering phone calls is also scary because you would wonder how your voice would sound, or how your manners will be perceived by the other person depending on if you start the call by saying how are you or good morning. Social anxiety can really manifest in the smallest details such as manners and salutations.

For a person with social anxiety, holding their phone is crucial, as they can pretend to be using it whenever they are with other people and are overwhelmed. Social anxiety pushes people to do weird things as well.

Is it shyness or introversion?

Social Anxiety is not “introversion”, as we say introversion is your way of doing things and living your life, while social anxiety gets in your way and prevents you from shinning. Being introvert is a trait and a person can even transit to being more extravagant with time. The person is in peace with themselves and it is easy to put a label on their nature. Being an introvert is known and people do appreciate this part of your identity. Social anxiety, on the other hand, is so much more complicated, and it is hard to explain to people. Many may have not heard of it, which makes it exhausting to try to justify your actions to people and educate them. Other people tend to confuse social anxiety with shyness as well, while they may seem similar, there is a huge difference between these two concepts. Shy people are comfortable with whom they are, as being shy is part of their personality, they accept it and have no guilt about it. With social anxiety you are lost, you do not know from where to start fixing yourself, and you do not even know if this will be your way forever or it is just a phase in your life.