OK, first things first. I’m a 32-year old guy in New York who is one of the millions out there silently suffering from what is known as social anxiety. I’ve noticed that there has been a proliferation of social anxiety blogs, forums, and whatnot in recent years, which is a great thing. Compared to a decade or so ago, when I first heard about this disorder and got an inkling of what was wrong with me, there really is a huge amount of advice and material out there today.
It’s nice to know that others share your problem, but unfortunately some of this material is about as fun to read as having your wisdom teeth removed without an anaesthetic. There is only so long you can wallow in mutual depression and self pity, without starting to feel even more, um, depression and self pity. And there is also now so much information out there it is easy to procrastinate and start living in a fantasy online world of constant analysis and rumination, without just getting out there in the real world and making some changes to your life. Now like many of you, I’ve read all the books, I’ve gone to therapy, and I’ve tried pretty much all the common advice. Much of this hasn’t worked, and has left me with the sobering realization that SA really is a debilitating problem that is extremely difficult to overcome.
Having said that, for the first time in my life I feel like I have made some real progress over the past year. And I am absolutely determined to make 2008 the year that I get this problem handled once and for all. By making this committment public (well, anonymously public!) I hope to accelerate my progress towards this goal. Along the way I want to put on this blog what has worked for me, what hasn’t, and hopefully share some funny stories too. Because we could all do with a laugh, and the last thing social anxiety sufferers need is another depressing diary telling them how nothing works and they are condemned to a lifetime of depression.
