Nov 20, 2016

Hi guys,

I wanted to create a thread to spread awareness of Social Anxiety which actually affects 1 in 10 people.

If you feel you suffer with this disorder, please share your thoughts, coping mechanisms etc.

I suffer with a Social Anxiety Disorder and my therapy consists of performing (Djing). I love my job but I also feel that it gives me an opportunity to share my personality under a spotlight for 4 - 5 hours, it's the only chance I really get in life to express myself confidently. It seems strange that a Social Anxiety sufferer would actually cope in a Club setting as a DJ, but surprisingly I feel like I can be myself becuase I'm given the opportunity to express my passion to a crowd of people and it gives me the feeling of being accepted. I've read stories about performers (Comedians, Artists, DJs) suffering with an Anxiety Disorder and how they share similar views to myself.

So if you do suffer with social Anxiety, give yourself a spotlight and a platform to share your personality.

 

Nov 22, 2016

Alcohol would only start messing with anxiety if you get addicted. In moderation it's fine as we all know in fact having a few drinks can relax you. Nicotine on the other hand a lot of people probably don't know that it also acts as a stimulant not just a sedative. Stimulants in general tend to increase anxiety. Have you ever had a cigarette and felt kind of worried or anxious? It's happened to me but not everyone. Even weed can make me feel anxious sometimes


As for this thread

A fool proof way to suppress social anxiety is benzodiazepine medications like valiums, xanax, ativan etc but those are obviously not a long term solution as they're too addictive and build tolerance real quick. besides, from personal experience they make me act like a r-----


Besides benzo drugs you can get the SSRI (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitor) medications such as prozac, lexapro, zoloft etc which targets your serotonin. The problem is though that serotonin is mainly related to depression rather than anxiety so these might not always be helpful for anxiety. That's where SNRI meds such as effexor, pristine, Cymbalta etc come in that target serotonin and norepinephrine also called noradrenaline which helps calm down anxiety. But these meds can take over a month to start working and can have side effects and sometimes things can get worse before they get better


If drugs aren't your thing you could always try proffessional therapy. This is obviously a longer and harder way to deal with it, but seriously it does work if you put effort into it and go in with an open mind

Otherwise you could just deal with it on your own seriously no one gives a s--- about you just change your mindset and the more you put yourself out there the more you'll "get used to" things and the less anxious you'll feel

 

Nov 22, 2016

Just remember that people don't care about you as much as you think they do

 

Nov 22, 2016

social anxiety sounds like a s-----y 80s punk band

 

Nov 22, 2016

Guess its also something nerds have

 

Nov 21, 2016

i used to but then i switched it out w narcissism

works a lot better

 

Nov 20, 2016

Respect bro

 

Nov 22, 2016

For what it's worth when I used to smoke I was noticeably more anxious than now that I've quit. I wouldn't say it was social anxiety just over stressing about things in general and being irritable. I feel calmer since quitting

 

Nov 25, 2016

That's true that anxious or obsessive people can be taken over by their irrational thoughts, but think of this, the way to treat someone to for example with an extreme fear of spiders is to slowly expose him to spiders and overtime the brain, irrational or not just becomes accustomed to it. You will s--- yourself and go crazy before you start getting used to it though. This can be applied to the 'typical' social anxiety sufferer. The more parties and clubs he goes to or the more girls he approaches will be an awful experience at first but will eventually just get used to it, if he's strong enough to tough it out in the starting phase.

But the mind is complex and it also depends on any insecurities or negative obsessive thinking you may have. If you're utterly obsessed that you're too short or your nose is too big or your teeth are bad then that's all you'll be able to think of and be re-inforcing in your mind. The more you think of something the more you believe it, so just "going out there" head on won't help much if you're inside your own head all the time

 

Nov 24, 2016

Well I left out the fact that at the time they were depressed. I've been depressed for periods but never had those feelings. It just made me realise that anxiety can be a very serious problem. To have it when you wake up for no reason is bizarre. I remember her saying that it'd actually be common for her to get it in the morning (not related to any event either).

And yeah you're right some level of it is normal but some people have it to an extreme extent that I don't understand. I think many don't.

Beating anxiety is a great feeling. In some ways anxiety almost pushes me to do things I don't want to... Because I know when I get that feeling I need to drive through it to conquer it. It's actually kinda fun. I also kinda enjoy nightmares for the experience tho so I'm a little weird.

I think the key is understanding that there is a wide spectrum for anxiety. For some it seems much harder to beat than others. I think if you have it consistently it's bound to wear you down and you kind of give in to it. If I do the thing my anxiety is telling me not to do (say talk to a girl) even if I fail I feel really good about it. If the feeling were to continue afterwards (for example... thoughts like 'man I'm a fool... I just embarrassed myself... I bet she's laughing about what an idiot I am") I probably wouldn't try and face it nearly as much. I know it's a shallow example but just the first off the top of the head.

 

Nov 20, 2016

Nice gonna learn to DJ properly and do advanced stuff in a couple weeks tbh so fun

 

Nov 20, 2016

Open format most of time at my Saturday residency, but I do like to experiment mashups & mixes (House, Hip Hop/throwbacks, Moombahton) through channels like Mixcloud

 

Nov 20, 2016

What kind of tunes do you play

 

Nov 20, 2016

If there is an opportunity to pin this thread I would really appreciate it