Social Anxiety- has anyone tried anything natural that worked for them?

[Anadee]

I’ve always been a weirdo in social situations but I thought that was just me and shyness
I’ve been this way for over 20 years so of course I just thought that it was normal until I watched a Netflix series ‘The Mind, Explained’ and I realised I actually have social anxiety. Mind blown!


When I’m in a social situation I get really shaky, my heart races, I sweat, my stomach churns and I feel a coldness through my body all the time (I always have goose bumps). When people hug me I’m sure they feel me shaking. It’s so embarrassing! Plus I blush a lot!!🤦‍♀️ I wear a good layer of makeup in hopes it will hide my blushing. I forget things all the time and constantly feel stupid about it and I constantly go blank in conversations. My memory is getting worse and I feel so tired all the time. I over think, over analyse everything which is so annoying and tiring and I can’t turn it off.


I feel very selfish and guilty all the time because I’m always thinking of not embarrassing myself and getting away from people that I’m not there for the people that need to talk and that I could help and be a friend for. I feel I’m always letting people down!


I started a new job early this year which I enjoy as a lot of the time I can work on my own but other times there is a lot of interactions and then there’s the meetings😬 I hadn’t worked for 6 months before starting this job but as soon as I started the job I began having breathing issues and dizziness. I went to the doctor thinking I’m probably deficient in something but my blood test came back fine. He sent me for some test for my lungs but that came back fine also. I really thought I just had a little infection in my lungs but the doctors said that I didn’t. I was convinced he was wrong and that it was an infection until a friend of mine said she thinks I was having little panic attacks of some sort? I don’t know what it is but I’ve worked out if I stop and sit for abit, loosen my clothes around my chest and stomach so I can breath and get something sugary to drink I then slowly come out of it.
I don’t believe I need to go on medication as I don’t think it’s severe enough for that. But I was thinking of something natural. I was wondering if anyone out there is similar to me and are on something natural that’s working for them? I’ve tried St. John’s wort but sadly that didn’t do anything.


Alcohol definitely helps but yeah, I can’t be drinking all the time although I really wish I could ha


Thanks in advance!

[Guest_9467]

Hi Anadee

I understand that what its named is social anxiety but really it is just a learned behavior that your body has taken on . Its a phobia . Its about your automatic nervous system trying to protect you from what it believes is a danger . Those symptoms you are having are classic signs of that .

The key is to retrain your brain to see that there is no danger there . When it does this then it will settle and the symptoms will slow down .

I wonder if you could look at a group like toast masters in order to learn a a better way to approach it .

Think of it like this . Two people riding a roller coaster , both screaming at the top of their lungs , both have their heart racing , adrenaline flowing . One is having a great time and the other is scared to death . Their symptoms are the same . The only difference is what they are telling themselves and what happens after .

The one having fun simply walks away and the one that is scared over thinks everything that happened . Their brain sees something there and locks it in , so when it is in that position again it will start to go into flight or fight to try and protect you .

cheers kev