Quote Originally Posted by PR83 View Post
Hello,

It is only recently that I realized I suffer from such a high degree of social anxiety. It all stems from my personal insecurities and a belief that everyone around me is judging/criticizing me, which just leads to more insecurity. Any thoughts out there or advice for this? Anything is appreciated! Thanks,
Hey there, thanks for bringing it up. The fear of being judged is the basic cause of social anxiety. However, the world is full of judgments and believe it or not, even you yourself also have to pass judgment on a daily basis. For example, you make a decision to be friends with someone based on your personal judgment that this person could be a good friend. You also make a decision not to dine at a restaurant based on your judgment of how the restaurant looks. So there are all kinds of judgments going on every day.

I used to have a very hard time dealing with judgments because I was so afraid that people would think negatively of me. I felt insecure about everything. I completely ignored my achievements (which most people would be envious of). My best advice for you is to start working on your insecurities first. What I did was to read a lot on SA and introversion. I also listened to a lot of self-help audio books. I learned to be more comfortable with myself and with others for being judgmental as I understand it is a part of life.

I hope my advice helps you see that judgments can be harsh but it can also be good in helping you make decisions. Work on your insecurities and you’ll find that eventually those judgments don’t bother you anymore. Best wishes!