work place anxiety

[Acatseekinghelp]

is it OK to have will power and think logically to get free from social anxiety and from fearing eye contact especially fearing eye contact mistaken jujdement as meaking something that you do not want to convey. I have mood disorder. I don't know if it is related but I have started recently taking l-theanine- a natural substance for relaxation. does that only help?. I can't go to work but am I going to get better by using only these techniques.

[Hidden]

Hi Acatseeking help, as someone who’s had social anxiety over a couple of decades, I know to a point your problems. Not to easy to explain from a variety of viewpoints. Though social anxiety usually involves avoiding eye contact in most cases, they are separate disorders. Eye contact anxiety, gaze avoidance anxiety and the more serious scopophobia, to which is the more extreme form to which one feels they are being judged or scrutinised in some way. First I will say the amino acid ltheanine shouldn’t cause any negative effects , though your situation wouldn’t be a noticeable change in your situation. I get where your coming from with the willpower, as that’s only a positive thing, which can get stronger with time. To using logic in this case wouldn’t be helpful, as with many psychological disorders, logic doesn’t come into it as a rational form of understanding or treatment. I don’t know what your mood disorder is to comprehend how your mind is working. With many causes to avoiding eye contact ... lack of confidence, shyness, anxieties, paranoia and more. Then your mood disorder. Is it constant , up and down with different situations, bipolar, ASD, home life, drugs ( no offence) and many other possibilities. Eye contact is a funny one for a majority of people. It’s necessary for communication as with facial expressions, tone of voice, but as you know, stare too long , can come across slightly dodgy, not long enough and can seem ignorant lack of interest. I still hate this now myself. That and having to use toilet a mile from anyone ( incase they hear me wee) it’d be funny if not serious. You say you feel looks and glances give you ( the perciever) the thought that it may be not to your liking, so to speak. If you were happy, chances are you’d perceive any looks with positive view or not pay attention, but your mood will automatically give you an opposite interpretation. Is it walking past, sat at desk, canteen. They can have different reasons. But the fact you notice would tell me you must look, which maybe they may wonder. Most the negative signs ( if any) will be from your negative thoughts. I can walk round a corner, see someone heading my way 500 metres away, my amygdala is doing somersaults. 10 metres away , I glance that many times , I’d understand getting an odd look. I don’t know if you ever tried, but if totally can not look full stop, it gets easier. Unless in conversation, ( my worst situation) but learning to only look in eyes 3-4 seconds, then slightly a few inches to aside of their face, or away a second. I could be totally out of whack with your situation. And I apologise if so, but there was a time when I had similar symptoms. Couldn’t go out, hermitised, look or talk to anyone . Anxiety >paranoia >depression > anxiety .... . I wish I had a more information on exactly how you view things. Remember 99% of time, these people might provoke your thoughts at home. But they may not of even noticed the situation. Need to sort the mood disorder definitely. That could be the cause. Hope you find a way out of your predicament. 👍pad46