How dose one?

[(deleted)]

How dose one find friends when one is afraid to to deal with other people and be in large social situations? It's not only the anxiety attacks and the head aches but it's also the fear, actually more like terror of being rejected. I know others have told me that being rejected is nothing personal when meeting new people but I guess it feels like much more for me. I also know that it counts on my self-image but the old BS saying that knowing what the problem is is half the battle but I don't know how to go any farther. Sometimes I even fear that my past has left me far to damaged.

[aries88 (deleted)]

Have you tried a form of therapy called CBT? It often helps. Have you tried any medications? Combining medication like Paxil with CBT is helpful. I got used to dealing with people on a superficial level by taking a job where I deal with hundreds of people every day.

[cocoaberryc_PREV (deleted)]

`I remember wanting a shirt that read--"I'm not an idiot I'm just shy". As a young person being shy was absolutely terrible!!! I could not express myself when people talked to me. I was just often too shy to respond and who knows how many people thought I was not intelligent enough to hold a simple conversation. At 45, I can look back at myself at 16 and laugh now---but at the time it was no fun.

I was so shy I would cross the street just to avoid on coming people.

today I don't cross the street to avoid others....well, maybe....sometimes I still do, but it is still an improvement.

Being shy is a painful way to live. You can't just wake up one day and say ok I'm not going to be shy anymore---it is apart of who you are---but we can get to a point where it does not control us so much. Getting to that point is a very personal journey, I know mine's was. I look back and marvel at how far I have come. My simple advice---keep living you will learn to jump over, crawl under , walk around or knock down one shy obsticle at a time. One day people will see you for who you are.