I am Paul and 62 . I have been in the throwing of heightened social anxiety and visible physical reactions that even others can see.

[pbocka]

I need help

[kenster1]

welcome aboard Paul hopefully being here can be a bit helpful to you in your struggles stay strong.

[012703060610]

Hi there PBocka-good to see you post. Sounds like a rough situation. Are folks telling you that you are acting or talking a specific way? I have a little social anxiety derived from my physical condition and appearance. I moved to a whole new state and it has been easy to just ignore the social part of things and focus on my core family. A few times, I was told I looked pale and sweaty (totally true) or that someone actually saw me crying. So hard to explain on the spot why you are feeling the way you do. Sending a virtual hug! Allow yourself the grace to take it easy this weekend if you can!

[Marysblue]

Hi Paul! Welcome.

[designguy]

Welcome here, I hope you find it helpful for you. I had social anxiety for years and also suffered from low-self-worth which can cause or contribute majorly towards it. Social anxiety causes you to distort your perceptions of yourself and others in how they perceive you and you never learned how to validate yourself instead of looking to others for validation. You learned to care way too much what other people think of you and not what you think of yourself. It could be that you have some visible physical symptoms but the reality is that most people are too busy thinking and focusing on themselves to even notice it and if they do, so what, it's their issue not yours. You have adopted social anxiety as a defense to protect yourself and hide your shame and vulnerability. You can definitely heal and overcome social anxiety and get on with your life, a big part of it is learning about it and what is really going on and committing to getting help. I suggest finding a therapist that specializes in treating it and working with them and also working to improve your self-worth, there is a lot of good info in youtube as well as books and programs for it. There is also a lot of good info on youtube about social anxiety as well as online programs available for it.