Growing up I’ve always experienced great fear whenever I was presented with a social event. I desperately tried to dodge any social occasion that I felt would make me look foolish or embarrass me. I’ve always cared what people thought of me and always felt a need to blend in with the crowd so that I wouldn’t stick out like a sore thumb. I’ve always wondered what was wrong with me because I knew from the very beginning that I wasn’t like the other carefree kids. This fear not only made me isolate myself but also brought about facial twitches that would occur whenever I was out in public. By reading “Psychology 7th Edition”, I’ve realized that the fear I experience is actually a common psychological disorder and not just one of my flaws.
In Chapter …show more content…
Normal events and everyday activities can bring about extreme anxiety by being in fear of scrutiny. Psychology 1010 has taught me that if the behavior does not interfere with daily functioning and if one is still able to perform and do simple activities such as make it to school on time then it’s not considered abnormal. This concept creates a spectrum of severity to help determine how extreme the disorder is for me. With a little assistance with my gum, I am able to function normally therefore I would be considered normal and rank at the less severe side of the severity scale for social …show more content…
My social anxiety only seemed to be getting worse because now I had to worry about people seeing my facial twitch and judging me. Although chewing gum has minimized the visibility of my twitches which gave me the confidence and ability to function, if I didn’t have it in my mouth at all times I would completely shut down. I didn’t know how to act in any social situations or how to express myself in a healthy way. Avoiding the situations all together relieved all of my anxiety which led me to believe that that that was the best choice, but this would just create more fear throughout the years.
Isolation played a major role in my experience with social anxiety. I would constantly try to avoid social situations all together. I would avoid anything and everything that would be an embarrassing moment waiting to happen. I avoided breakfast, homecomings, prom, parties. My room was my safe haven because I knew that I was safe there, no one could harm me, laugh at me, or even see
In Chapter …show more content…
Normal events and everyday activities can bring about extreme anxiety by being in fear of scrutiny. Psychology 1010 has taught me that if the behavior does not interfere with daily functioning and if one is still able to perform and do simple activities such as make it to school on time then it’s not considered abnormal. This concept creates a spectrum of severity to help determine how extreme the disorder is for me. With a little assistance with my gum, I am able to function normally therefore I would be considered normal and rank at the less severe side of the severity scale for social …show more content…
My social anxiety only seemed to be getting worse because now I had to worry about people seeing my facial twitch and judging me. Although chewing gum has minimized the visibility of my twitches which gave me the confidence and ability to function, if I didn’t have it in my mouth at all times I would completely shut down. I didn’t know how to act in any social situations or how to express myself in a healthy way. Avoiding the situations all together relieved all of my anxiety which led me to believe that that that was the best choice, but this would just create more fear throughout the years.
Isolation played a major role in my experience with social anxiety. I would constantly try to avoid social situations all together. I would avoid anything and everything that would be an embarrassing moment waiting to happen. I avoided breakfast, homecomings, prom, parties. My room was my safe haven because I knew that I was safe there, no one could harm me, laugh at me, or even see