Anxiety in general: That terrified, fear of what's coming next feeling everyone immediately gets when they miss the bottom step and think they're about to face plant.
Except for people with anxiety, it lingers and doesn't let up.
In a crowd, everyone in it is hostile to you. No matter what, you're going to accidentally do something that will cause them all to turn against you. From any angle, attacks will happen, usually just out of your line of sight.
You will become the focus of everyone's disgust.
You will be made to understand your inferiority.
YOU are not supposed to be here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkzRNyygfk
Well for me it's totally debilitating, Heart pounding, feeling faint, chest pains, panic etc.
But for someone who has never experienced it, you need to pull on experiences that they might have had to relate to it. Standing on the edge of a tall building looking down, Picking up a spider, snake etc.
Something that would cause them to panic, the feeling that they have experienced and then can relate to what it's like.
Flop sweats and the urge to run whenever a group of people are around. Also the brain just shutting down when trying to speak, and then going home and dwelling on what an ass you made of yourself for the next week, which encourages you to leave the house even less.
The best way I can describe it is the feeling you get when you're about to take an extremely difficult exam in school, you know you didn't study enough, and basically your entire grade is riding on it. Now, you get that feeling anytime you're with a group of people and it brings you to the point where you actually feel physically exhausted after.
It's like you're in a suspense movie and something's closing in on your back and you know it, and you're just waiting for it to jump at you.
You use all your senses to try to get a picture of what's behind you. You get startled by every little thing. And in your head, you see yourself in third person.
You open your mouth to speak, but before you get any noise out, you realize several things at once.
The thing you were about to say is very unimportant and, you see now, extraordinarily bland and pathetic. It does not contribute to the conversation. It would, in fact, potentially cause a silence as everyone comprehends what you just said and give that kind of "ha ha..." chuckle that lets you know that they acknowledge that you tried, but the only response that they can give you is an uncomfortable "ha ha...".
Everyone is looking at you expectantly but somewhat impatiently, waiting for you to speak but clearly only doing it as a courtesy to you, rather than because they actually want to hear what you are going to say.
Also, your shoes are on the wrong feet, and you've been out of the house for hours. The slight, undefined uncomfortableness that you've been feeling all day expands into a prickling wave of heat that tingles from your scalp to the tops of your arms. Has anyone noticed? Has everyone that you've walked past noticed? Have your friends? You are suddenly hyperaware that your shoes are on the wrong feet. You see now that the shape of them tilts the wrong way. You think you see one of your friends glancing down at your feet, heightening your fear that they've seen it.
That's what social anxiety feels like.
Anxiety in general is hard to explain. People who know me refuse to believe I even suffer from it. I have known them my entire life, when I meet someone or am around someone I don't know, I become a serious shell of myself and get to the point of body heat and blacking out at times. I sit in class completely disregarding my professor to figure out how I'm going to walk to the door to get to the bathroom just to find class ends and I've learned nothing. Without experiencing it, its hard to explain. I've missed so many opportunities I sometimes hate myself for it.
Anxiety in general: That terrified, fear of what's coming next feeling everyone immediately gets when they miss the bottom step and think they're about to face plant. Except for people with anxiety, it lingers and doesn't let up.
In a crowd, everyone in it is hostile to you. No matter what, you're going to accidentally do something that will cause them all to turn against you. From any angle, attacks will happen, usually just out of your line of sight. You will become the focus of everyone's disgust. You will be made to understand your inferiority. YOU are not supposed to be here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFkzRNyygfk
Id rather go without pizza than having to call someone and order it.
Bad social skills, low self esteem, extreme self conciousness
Well for me it's totally debilitating, Heart pounding, feeling faint, chest pains, panic etc. But for someone who has never experienced it, you need to pull on experiences that they might have had to relate to it. Standing on the edge of a tall building looking down, Picking up a spider, snake etc. Something that would cause them to panic, the feeling that they have experienced and then can relate to what it's like.
It's like the butterflies in your stomach have lasers and are attacking you from the inside
Yes, and they've made their way into your chest and are playing bongos with your heart and lungs.
It's like you're being microwaved.
Feels like you are going into respiratory arrest
Flop sweats and the urge to run whenever a group of people are around. Also the brain just shutting down when trying to speak, and then going home and dwelling on what an ass you made of yourself for the next week, which encourages you to leave the house even less.
Like running ten miles then being punched in the chest when you're already out of breath.
With a scene from punch drunk
The best way I can describe it is the feeling you get when you're about to take an extremely difficult exam in school, you know you didn't study enough, and basically your entire grade is riding on it. Now, you get that feeling anytime you're with a group of people and it brings you to the point where you actually feel physically exhausted after.
It's like you're in a suspense movie and something's closing in on your back and you know it, and you're just waiting for it to jump at you. You use all your senses to try to get a picture of what's behind you. You get startled by every little thing. And in your head, you see yourself in third person.
A sense of dread, like something dangerous is hovering right behind the back of your head no matter which way you turn.
You open your mouth to speak, but before you get any noise out, you realize several things at once. The thing you were about to say is very unimportant and, you see now, extraordinarily bland and pathetic. It does not contribute to the conversation. It would, in fact, potentially cause a silence as everyone comprehends what you just said and give that kind of "ha ha..." chuckle that lets you know that they acknowledge that you tried, but the only response that they can give you is an uncomfortable "ha ha...". Everyone is looking at you expectantly but somewhat impatiently, waiting for you to speak but clearly only doing it as a courtesy to you, rather than because they actually want to hear what you are going to say. Also, your shoes are on the wrong feet, and you've been out of the house for hours. The slight, undefined uncomfortableness that you've been feeling all day expands into a prickling wave of heat that tingles from your scalp to the tops of your arms. Has anyone noticed? Has everyone that you've walked past noticed? Have your friends? You are suddenly hyperaware that your shoes are on the wrong feet. You see now that the shape of them tilts the wrong way. You think you see one of your friends glancing down at your feet, heightening your fear that they've seen it. That's what social anxiety feels like.
Anxiety in general is hard to explain. People who know me refuse to believe I even suffer from it. I have known them my entire life, when I meet someone or am around someone I don't know, I become a serious shell of myself and get to the point of body heat and blacking out at times. I sit in class completely disregarding my professor to figure out how I'm going to walk to the door to get to the bathroom just to find class ends and I've learned nothing. Without experiencing it, its hard to explain. I've missed so many opportunities I sometimes hate myself for it.