New member with Social Anxiety

[WildChickenDance]

I am 25 and have social anxiety

-I have avoided weddings because of social anxiety
-I avoided going out with friends in college because of some anxiety
-I have trouble talking to girls now and get nervous it most situations
-I have few friends and don't go out much because of social anxiety
-I was arrested and think people look at me differently now thus judging me or something, which is ludicrous to think yet I still think it.
-I avoid going to church because I would have to go to church alone
-I play golf but for some reason hate playing with random strangers in a foursome because of anxiety
*I have a work meeting at someones house with a bunch of people I have never met and I am anxious about this situation as it is tomorrow.

Help Me..Thanks

[moggy]

hi there wildchickendance - cool tag!!
i also have social anxiety, but i'm 42 - i can remember being 25 (just about!) and you pretty much described me back then to a tee - although i do still suffer from anxiety, i am much better now than i was and i think it's because of what i learned in the years since then - the main lesson for me is that avoiding any situations never helped - although i found them difficult at first, the more i put myself in those situations, the easier they became - this really does work!! i also used to be a nervous wreck around women, but i just kept putting myself out there and eventually i found someone who actually wanted to be my wife!! as for the work situation, i also get nervous in meetings with people i don't know, but the more meetings i attend, the easier they become
with social anxiety we tend to really put ourselves under the microscope and imagine that everyone else is doing the same and judging us - the fact is, other people are much too wrapped up in their own world to put that much effort into examining you and me - believe me, i've asked for feedback and have been amazed how little other people actually notice!!
so in summary my advice to you would be to keep putting yourself out there and learn not to care so much about what other people think of you - after all, the only opinion about you that counts is your own
all the best