Dear friends,
We’ve all said it- “I’m just shy” or “I’m such an introvert”, but sometimes, that label doesn’t quite cover it.
Here are my thoughts:
Introversion = needing quiet to recharge. You might not love crowds, but you’re okay in social settings, especially with familiar people.
Social anxiety = feeling nervous, nauseous, or straight-up panicked in social situations- even small ones.
Some signs it might be social anxiety:
Your heart races or you feel sick before a convo 
You rehearse what to say… then don’t say it
You avoid events—even if part of you wants to go
You constantly overthink things like “Did I sound weird?”
You feel embarrassed before anything even happens
It’s not “just in your head.” And it doesn’t mean anything’s wrong with you. It just means your nervous system might be in overdrive around people… and that’s something you can get support for.
Therapy, grounding tools, or just having someone to talk it through with can really help.
You’re not broken. You’re human.
Ever catch yourself calling it “shy” when deep down it feels heavier?
Hey everyone!
Sometimes, what we call shyness is actually our brain freaking out in social situations, even if we really wanna go or hang out.
Like, your heart’s racing, your stomach’s in knots, and you’re mentally rehearsing how to say “hi”… then end up just scrolling on your phone instead.
If that sounds familiar, you’re not weird or broken.
You’re probably just dealing with some social anxiety, and that’s super common.
You’re not being overdramatic. You’re human! 
Being real about this is way braver than pretending everything’s fine.
So what’s one social thing that totally stresses you out, even when it seems like “no big deal” to others?
Let’s talk 
I relate to this!
Even something simple like sending a message in a group chat can stress me out- I end up rereading it a million times just to make sure there’s no mistake 
I’m slowly learning to be kinder to myself and just hit “send” without getting stuck in it - even if it’s not perfect
Thanks for bringing this up 
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My heart races when I’m in crowds, for e.g. school lectures or events. My palms start sweating, my jaw muscle starts to tense, and I get brain fog and can’t think straight.
At first I would get very very bad panic attacks but I have since coped with running. Nowadays I just feel derealization like I’m in third person mode; where nothing matters and i feel numb.
It’s affecting me mentally, physically and academically.
I’m consciously trying to tame these feelings step by step. But it gets overwhelming sometimes. Especially when there’s crowds coupled with a lot of noise.
I also find it difficult to converse with my friends during these episodes, because I am not “present” mentally and my senses are overwhelmed.
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One thing that gets me is as simple as saying hi to people that I know but not close to, like acquaintances. I always get nervous of whether they’ll recognise me, to the point that I’ll sometimes choose to avoid them like going in the opposite direction whenever I saw them.
After reflecting, I realised one reason could be the fear of embarrassment. So now I decide to face it by just waving at them or saying hi, even if they do not reciprocate. I realised after doing this, things were not bad as I imagined. Sometimes they would forget and we’ll talk and they’ll remember but most of the times they do say hi back. However, I do give in to my fear at times but I think I’m slowly getting better in a sense that it does not affect me as much as before 
Thanks for bringing this up and interested to know what other feel 
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