Social Anxiety OR Depression OR Eating Disorder? what is it?

ok, so im on antidepressants and they are doing me a lot of good, but im a bit muddled. basically im depressed becasause i feel ive got extra weight on me and i cant have as full a life as my various friends, who are slim and beautiful. so i find myself avoiding social situations, even though a bit of me longs to go, because i dont feel good enough or acceptable...and when i do go i dont enjoy it because the other people are probably just glad in some way that ugly me is ther to make them look nicer...and it stings because i know ill never be able to be normal looking and have a relationship, and i get sick of having to pretend im perfectly fine with being a minger and not as good a person as them...

so i dont really know what i have- social problems, eating problems or plain old depression?

Reply 1

CelenaGaia

Hiya hon, sounds like you've got similar probs to me = social anxiety/avoidance disorder, whereby you feel inferior to other people, thus use avoidance strategies to, well, avoid such situations. And the more you pander to those phobias, the worse they're gonna get, trust me on this one.

I've had anorexia/obsessive compulsive disorder/social anxiety for 5years - the first two are avoidance/coping strategies to deal with the latter. I've been abused before, so this made things worse - I have a real fear of getting close to people/letting them physically or emotionally close to me, as it was always close friends who were the abusers. The anorexia stems from fear of growing up/responsibilities/social phobias of appearing fat (ugly, in my society) to other people. I've grown up in an environ where fat = ugly, and ugliness = total segregation. I'm not talking just my town, I mean my whole family. So its real hard to get these thoughts outta my head when it's all I've ever known, or lived with.

That being said, I've come off anti-depressants (this time last year) and am coping without them, so I know you can do it too, hon/ But combine these with CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) as they work best together. The therapist, if you click with them, can really help you analyse your thoughts/feelings, see where they come from, and learn how to deal with them in a POSITIVE way, y'know, learn new coping strategies for stress/anxiety, etc. Give it a try, anyways.

Good luck, hope some of this rambling helps you. PM if you need more advice or just a chat :smile:

Reply 2

Squelchy

I went through the same thing about 3 years ago. I turned into a bit of a stoner and piled on about 30 pounds through getting the munchies, and as a result of being fat I felt so gross I just stopped going out drinking with my friends altogether. I seriously didn't go out for months and months and months because I didn't want to be seen.

Eventually I decided to lose the weight and I got my confidence back, but I ended up pretty skinny and really not looking all that good then either.

Anyway, a couple of years later and having sorted my diet out and started lifting weights I've gone from 5'10" 144lbs and completely untoned and skinny to 5'10" 170lbs with a 6 pack and quite a muscular frame. The difference it makes to your confidence is just utterly immeasurable, and I would suggest it to absolutely anybody with self image problems.

I am more confident now than I was even before I piled the weight on.

Reply 3

steviejay

I don't think it's a case of having Social Anxiety OR Depression, because very often they go hand in hand.

Do you feel that the antidepressants are helping? The reason I'm asking is that I know they help some people, but for others they can actually make you feel worse. I suffer from M.E. (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) and antidepressants help me by giving me a bit of an energy boost, but I sometimes also feel a bit funny on them mentally...

What I'm trying to say is maybe changing your antidepressants, or gradually coming off them altogether might help your depression, and your anxiety will follow. Of course this might not work for you, but it's an option!

Reply 4

R1chyP

Squelchy

I went through the same thing about 3 years ago. I turned into a bit of a stoner and piled on about 30 pounds through getting the munchies, and as a result of being fat I felt so gross I just stopped going out drinking with my friends altogether. I seriously didn't go out for months and months and months because I didn't want to be seen.

Eventually I decided to lose the weight and I got my confidence back, but I ended up pretty skinny and really not looking all that good then either.

Anyway, a couple of years later and having sorted my diet out and started lifting weights I've gone from 5'10" 144lbs and completely untoned and skinny to 5'10" 170lbs with a 6 pack and quite a muscular frame. The difference it makes to your confidence is just utterly immeasurable, and I would suggest it to absolutely anybody with self image problems.

I am more confident now than I was even before I piled the weight on.

Bit like me that mate.

Went from GB standard sprinter at 16 to a stoner at 18, put on a couple of stone. Didn't realise til i looked at a photo and i was shocked. We're not talking fat, just podgy especially what i was like.

The occasional social anxiety for me stems from a period of my life when i constantly getting into fights, threatened with knives. Even got jumped by two lads with metal bars, all over a lass. ****ers split my head open. Didn't bother me at the time but just built up. Now i just laugh it off. Led to a feeling of self depreciation.

Run 3 miles a day, now i'm back to 5"10 175lb low body fat, feel mint again. However doubt i'll ever be as happy but that's called growing up. Who knows eh? :rolleyes:

I feel i'm a strong person so would i hell ever go on anti depressants and i strongly believe that these disorders are all imaginitative. ME for example is part mentally induced.

Poster > Smile and don't worry buddy. :smile:

Social Anxiety OR Depression OR Eating Disorder? what is it?

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