The Student Room Group

Origins of my social anxiety

I developed social anxiety as a teenager- didn't have it before, and as far as I know it all started for a specific reason - excessive body hair (stomach and pubic region).
I first started to feel anxious and inferior during PE lessons because the shorts that we had to wear at school were basically white knickers with a thin layer of blue material over the top.
I had hair which spread out towards my thighs and so I started to feel self -conscious in PE lessons because no one else seemed to have the same problem. Eventually this self-consciousness and slight paranoia became a constant in my school life - in assemblies we had to sit cross-legged on the floor and I was paranoid about people seeing, in lessons I was worried that the teacher would see, I hated changing for PE lessons - I had to sit down to put on my tights, ensuring that I didn't accidentally lift up my legs.
It is difficult to explain but the problem made me feel like an alien and as I didn't do anything about it I just let it ruin my school experience. I became quiet because I felt as though I was abnormal.

Has anyone else developed social anxiety for a specific reason ie due to having a disability or some embarrassing problem.
Did they eventually get over the social anxiety. The reason I'm asking is because I feel that this could be cured because I wasn't born with social anxiety - it was something that developed due to a specific issue.
Social anxiety isn't a disorder. No one is born with it. I have social anxiety probably originating in me being self conscious about my aspergers sydrome (which unfortunately is life long) which affected basically everything. Don't worry dude, you'll get over it eventually but you could look for other possible disruptions in your life around the time? Good luck :smile:

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