<p>Just wondering, does anyone else have Social Anxiety Disorder at college/uni? How do you deal with it? For me, it usually manifests in that I'm too anxious to go to classes or talk to people, so I stay shut in my apartment all day.</p>
<p>Social anxiety is very common on college campus’ but it varies in degree. Please go to the counceling center at your school and talk to someone. There is no need to feel like this when help is available. Don’t be ashamed to ask for it.</p>
<p>^ Agreed, definitely see a counsellor, you won’t be the first person who has seen their college counsellor with social anxiety issues.</p>
<p>I’m suspicious of counselors and psychiatry/psychology in general after I had a therapist decide after one session that I needed to be involuntarily committed just because I said I might be feeling depressed. Sort of lost my enthusiasm for “professionals” after that.</p>
<p>^Did you tell the therapist that you felt suicidal because that is different from feeling somewhat depressed. The former would be a reason for a therapist to suggest that.</p>
<p>If you have a history of depression than all the more reason you should be seeking counceling. Social anxiety could lead to severe isolation which will surely exasberate depression.</p>
<p>Your school counseling center is the best way to go. Even if you have had a bad experience before, these counselors are different because they in most cases deal with college students daily. Give them a try, it might help!</p>
<p>Some schools have peer counseling/mentoring programs – if your school does, maybe that’d be a good alternative to meeting with a “professional” right away.</p>
<p>My daughter, who is a freshman, suffers from social anxiety and depression. She began seeing a therapist (a licensed clinical social worker) about a year ago when she was a high school senior. She went to two other therapists before feeling comfortable with this woman. Before she began therapy, she mainly just went to school and stayed at home the rest of the time. She began to take Prozac last December for her depression and started to feel better within a few weeks. She went to see her therapist every two weeks and they worked on her social anxiety issues. She no longer has to go to her therapist.</p>
<p>She is so much better now! She moved into her dorm 4 weeks ago and says she loves it at her college (which is about 30 minutes from home). She has made friends and joined clubs. She will never be a social butterfly, but she is not afraid to talk to other people now.</p>
<p>I would strongly suggest that you seek counseling even though you had a negative experience the first time.</p>
<p>You should read “your brain at work” by David rock. I could explain everything you can do to improve against your anxiety but it will take long and it wont help you you.
Thought: In order to move forward, you first need to forgive yourself and in order to teach you need to only teach the principals and hope the student discovers the meaning behind the lesson."
Trust me when I write this. You might think you’re at control of youself but unless you can do something without fear you are not and who controls you? Your brain does, trust me, you don’t know how shy I was (nominated very shy in high school) but once I took control, I am now a public speaker and nominated most likely to succeed by my professors in college. You like everyone else can succeed, I trust that you read and socialize to eventually discover yourself.
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<p>I had it to the point where I physically felt like throwing up whenever I was around other people, starting mostly in high school and continuing into freshman year of college. I’m sure traces of it are still there but I saw two different counselors over that time period and they taught me ways to cope with it. I had two biofeedback appointments (all insurance would pay for) to help with my headache as well and that seemed to help, too. Taught me how to control my own breathing so that it would calm me down really quickly. It can be overcome but often you need someone else’s help to do so.</p>
<p>My daughter used to throw up before going to school her freshman year until she started getting help from a therapist (a licensed clinical social worker). She just told me last week that she is “happiest that I’ve been in a long time.”</p>