Posted by HyperFocus on March 22, 2009, at 13:03:04
I used to have anxiety only when I socialised - in school or at work - basically I was afraid of being hurt in social situations . But now I have anxiety everywhere - and it's not just fear of being hurt. I'm obsessed with what people think about me. I can't sit outside in my yard to get fresh air - I'm afraid someone will be looking at me. I can't have casual conversations on the phone becuase I freeze up and don't know what to say. I spend a lot of time fantasizing about ideal social encounters. I spend even more time obsessing over past social experiences which I perceive as negative. I seem to be preoccupied not with fear but with the precursor to fear.
I feel safest with my family but the worrying is still there, greatly reduced, but still there. The only real socialising I can do is online and even then they worrying is there.
According to wikipedia:
"Research suggests that people with AvPD, in common with social phobics, excessively monitor their own internal reactions when they are involved in social interaction. However, unlike social phobics they also excessively monitor the reactions of the people with whom they are interacting...AvPD is reported to be especially prevalent in people with anxiety disorders, although estimates of comorbidity vary widely due to differences in (among others) diagnostic instruments. Research suggests that approximately 1050% of the people who have a panic disorder with agoraphobia have APD, as well as about 2040% of the people who have a social phobia (social anxiety disorder). Some studies report prevalence rates of up to 45% among the people with generalized anxiety disorder and up to 56% of the people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avoidant_personality_disorderAnybody with SP/SA feel like they have another co-morbid disorder - some sort of neurosis or maybe psychosis - rather than "just" social anxiety?
I know self-diagnosing is not ideal but honestly the doctors I've seen don't seem to offer any insight at all - it's just "you have social anxiety, try these meds, come back in 4 weeks." I wish I could find a doc who might take the time to research my condition and come up wit some new hypotheses.
poster:HyperFocus
thread:886564
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090322/msgs/886564.html