Seriously, I only get to see the sun for one month a year in the morning. How the world can see Australia as the land of sun-baked deserts and Gold Coast sun is beyond me. I never see daylight now that the government has extended daylight savings for another 2 months each year. It was never this bad when I was a kid.

I agree mALX. Most days I find myself rushing to work each morning just to make the 6.30 am start and I am still half asleep when I leave for work. If a person is riding a push bike in the dark I doubt that I will see him.

Thanks Grits! A dungeon. Yes, I can relate to that. The first time I see the sun all day is at 4 pm. Madness I tell you!

is there a line between actual full on social anxiety and just being really awkward

Hi, ImpSnob and welcome back! Not sure really how to answer your question. I've always found in casual social situations that being nice to others generally gets you the same in return, which bolsters your confidence and helps make things more comfortable. Dunno if that helps or makes sense. Perhaps even mentioning your social awkwardness in a lighthearted way can help - you know, serve as an ice breaker and conversation starter. Nice to see you back!

When you are in your teens there really isn't much difference in the way they feel, we've all been through that period in our lives too - believe me, it gets better, even though it might not feel that way while you are living through it!

If it feels like you are having trouble swallowing or are turning bright red or stuttering - welcome to the club, we've all gone through that in our teens. It is just a rough time, because there is so much you are learning about yourself at that time, so much your body is developing about itself - not to mention gender confusion issues - that is a given in your teens.

Just realize this: No matter how well others around you bluff it off or appear to be handling it, they are all going through the same thing with you.

Hope that helps to know.



This post has been edited by mALX: Apr 7 2015, 04:33 AM

Awkwardness is...well, its awkwardness. Everyone goes through it, like what mALX said. People just get a little better dealing with it.

Social anxiety makes you want to do anything, anything to avoid talking to people. It can make you feel like you need few minutes of quiet and solitude if you spend too much time socializing with people, no matter how mice they are and how much you really do like them. It creates what feels like (to me at least) a sensory overload.

Or some people feel like its best not to speak because they will be judged harshly, so they wind up just not saying anything at all. This can be anything from a phone call or ordering food or casual conversation. (Also why I rarely post). Of course, it varies from person to person.

*judges Jacki from her post*



Nah, just kidding


I don´t think I have social anxiety but I definitely need my alone-time and I most definitely can have awkwardness. I have found that at happenings such as New Years etc at my parents´ I quite enjoy being in the room next to where the others are which also happens to be the room where their computer is... And this is despite it´s always the same two or sometimes four relatives whose company I do enjoy.

This post has been edited by mirocu: Apr 7 2015, 07:58 PM

Very true Jacki, but people with extreme levels of anxiety disorder would love it to be like that. It almost sounds pleasant.

For some people it can also be so bad that you cannot talk to people while at the same time you cannot not talk to people. Believe it or not the worst time is actually the down time when you are alone and resting. Your body will not shut off. You wake up in the morning with blood pressure hypertension, now think about that, you have only be awake 30 seconds and you already feel like you have run a marathon, and it also stops you all day from even sitting, or doing things like study, reading or computer gaming. You know that you need to be with people and yet are also held back by the ingrained beliefs and thoughts of what others think or see in you.

Which is why it is connected to hypochondria in many cases, of course.

Forget depression. Social anxiety is 100 times worse. It gets into your bones and joints and the whole body aches. Nobody will understand unless the live it 24 hours a day, years on end. It is the most debilitating condition known on earth that one can put on one's self.

This post has been edited by Winter Wolf: Apr 8 2015, 01:19 PM

Oh, and stay away from sugar. The most addictive drug known to mankind makes you very hypersensitive to everything.

Great in some circumstances, like gaming until 4 am but very bad for anxiety disorder.

So, Impy, after all this sage advice, get back here and tell us how it's goin'!

So I'm sitting in front of the 'puter feeling miserable with a cold. Yup, an early spring cold. The weather outside is beautiful as only warm April weather can be in the Northern Hemisphere (sorry, Wolfie and all the other Southerners).

The past two days have been hectic with the rollout of the new Apple Watch. I've been talking to people all day long both days, helping them try on different watches and bands, and probably picked up this darn bug from one of them, in spite of my precautions. Oh well. At least I'm off today.

I figured it would be a good time to troubleshoot the backup of my Win7 partition. It is supposed to back up to a 1 TB internal drive in Bay 4 on my Mac Pro (Win7 is in Bay 2). But now it's telling me it's out of space. WTF?? What do you mean it's out of space?? Ugh! So I have an external drive that is already formatted for Win7, and I'm running a new backup to that one while I figure out what to do with the internal backup drive. I hate the way Win7 runs backups - apparently it does a FULL back up every time, not incremental the way the Mac's Time Machine does. So it takes forever to run the backup (with just Oblivion, I'm up to over 200 GB because of the hi-res texture files). And that means I really can't play the game while it's backing up. And I keep forgetting to turn it on before I leave for church on Sundays, so it has three whole hours to back up while I'm off doing other things.

Oh well. I'm off to make another pot of tea and nurse this cold out of the window!

Good luck with the puter and the cold, Rider

Yes, hope you get feeling better soon!

Yeah. It's complicated, though.

Anxiety is fear. It's sub-conscious and hard to control. If you have social anxiety you may genuinely feel sick at the thought of talking to someone, particularly a stranger. Social encounters will enact a fight or flight response; your body is hard wired to believe social encounters with all but a few people you trust are dangerous.

Social awkwardness is just not knowing how to deal with social interactions well. It causes you to say stupid things or stutter. Often social awkwardness is just really mild social anxiety.

It's different for everyone though. Some people are extroverted but have serious social anxiety, others are introverted but with brilliant social skills.

Source: diagnosed with anxiety

Going to th U.S tomorrow!! Can't wait.

* taps foot * Still waiting for Impy to return.

DE - Welcome back!

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I will be looking southeast with a huge smile and waving !!!!!!

My childhood house has just been sold

Oh, I am so sorry, Mirocu. I do know how that feels, all your memories are tied there. Take a bunch of pictures before furniture starts being moved, and save them to remember how it was by.

I´ve already taken pictures but I´ll take some more. I really am one of those people who have trouble letting go of things, no matter how inevitable it is.


Let´s see if some Ashens can cheer me up

Well, when it comes to sentimental things, I have trouble giving them up too; and there is nothing more sentimental than a home you either grew up in or watched your children grow up in. Every where you look are memories. It isn't easy to sell your family home for anyone.

I hope you find a new home that brings new wonderful memories for you.