A Walk In My Shoes: What It's Like To Have Social Anxiety

As many of you know, I have struggled with having anxiety for a large portion of my life.  Anxiety comes in many forms, has many sources, and can come with many different symptoms.  My personal struggle is Social Anxiety, which started after several emotionally and mentally traumatic experiences with bullying and rejection.  It's not nearly as severe as many other cases are, but still impacts my daily life.

Allow me to give you a look inside my mind.


First of all Social Anxiety makes many normal tasks more difficult simply because they draw attention in some way.  Things like this make me extremely uncomfortable, and actually cause me to stress and freak out if I'm having a bad enough day.  For example...

To most people this probably sounds like a ridiculous scenario.  I, on the other hand, read this and reacted by my brain shouting "yes, someone understands!"  Other scenarios include...

Just in case a little definition would help you, here are some explanations of Social Anxiety specifically:

People with Social Anxiety have a variety of coping mechanisms to get through situations that make us uncomfortable.  These coping mechanisms can be a good indicator of whether or not someone you know has anxiety.

There are several specific things that bother people with anxiety.  Mostly just the fact that we know we shouldn't be afraid, but can't stop the emotion anyway.  Some other things would be...

Just know that, despite my anxiety, I really am trying my best.  Anxiety is the reason I know God is constantly working in my life.  I'm a drama teacher for crying out loud!  Not many people with Social Anxiety can say that they actually get excited to direct a group of teenage actors every week.  But, believe it or not, my anxiety actually has the least amount of impact on me when I'm acting and directing.  It's like I'm a different person, and I know that's God working through me.

I'll leave you with a couple notes.  If you know someone, or multiple someones with Social Anxiety, here are some things to keep in mind.  Just love on us.  Know that we have quirks, and we might not want to be daring all the time.  But, when we do, we'll tell you!  And even if we don't, we still love you!  Don't mistake our quiet tendencies for weakness, anger, or a stuck up attitude.  Often times we have a lot to say, but are quiet because we haven't figured out how to say it yet.