Self-Consciousness/Social Anxiety

[No Habit]

Found a thread that might be interesting for other people also suffering from this: http://ehealthforum.com/health/stiff-face-t175578.html

One guy solved it by training his face muscles to relax at will.

 

[No Habit]

I was able to fix that facial tension issue but the origin, the anxiety, still remains and I guess you guys are right about checking out the diet.

I had been very confident yesterday evening, this morning I woke up extremely insecure and anxious out of nothing.
I am pretty sure the cause was that I only ate fastfood and sugars yesterday. My gut was slightly going nuts this morning, too.

 

[Enjoythedecline]

Anyone ever experienced a panic attack until faint ?

 

[No Habit]

Update from me.

I had a day free of any anxiety again and I think I know the problem now. It is straight up overthinking.

I had a side job interview and was extremely stressed and nervous the days before even though I know it wasn't a big deal, abundance mentality, my stress levels went through the roof anyway. I barely slept the first night, couldn't really think anymore and was in a constant fight or flight reaction. At least I could still come to the conclusion that my cortisol levels were way to high and I changed my diet and added magnesium pills to get it down.

After I had been to the job interview and they were satisfied with me the stress was relieved and suddenly all my anxiety was gone.
On my walk home strangers started greeting me, which usually doesn't happen. Back at my condo I saw a different man in the mirror. Not that anxious insecure guy but a good looking alpha.

I wondered how this transformation happened and tried to focus on my thoughts. There were none. There were only thoughts popping up and going now and then but it was mostly action by me that was taking place. I was doing all kinds of stuff I had procrastinated the days before and it felt great. I could enter a tram full of hot lizards being completely calm.

As I am writing this now I am almost back to that old state of insecurity and anxiety and I think the root of the problem is overthinking. When I am anxiety free I am acting all the time. Act, act, thought, act, act...

I could literally feel the bad things creeping back into me with every thought that was missing an act. I think I am lacking things like new clothes to do all the stuff I want to do and so I end up not doing them. I am staying isolated at home waiting for the time to pass by and money to come in. And when I am waiting alone my doing changes from acting and thinking a little to only thinking and not acting at all.

It is as if one needs a healthy balance out of acts and thoughts but for me the thoughts seem to take over and control me.

I am now investigating this. This could be counterproductive though if thinking is my problem...

Anyone ever experienced a panic attack until faint ?

No, you?

 

[Engineer]

For your overthinking/SA/facial tension I suggest meditation. It makes you calmer. There's a million different ways, find one that works for you.

You have already practically won this battle by becoming self-aware and asking for advice. 99% of people don't get that far with their problems. Good Luck!

 

[No Habit]

Thanks for the support, may not be a bad idea to meditate.

 

[RouteBackwards]

So I've looked up the definition for Anxiety e.g GAD, such as trembling, sweating, nausea etc. and it seems to strong to be what I'm experiencing.

I feel like I've always had a very heightened sense of other people's perception of me, mostly in manner and appearance. What's funny is this feeling is always strong while passing people in hallways or sitting on the metro. It's a strong (but not overwhelming) feeling towards strangers. I rarely have this feeling towards people I know (even a little bit).

When I think about it, it's stupid, because wtf would I care what a complete stranger thinks of me. I've logically thought it through many times, yet I can't bring myself to "not care".

Perhaps is mild anxiety. Perhaps its a personality trait. I guess everybody else could be feeling kinda similar, or everybody else could care less, because really it's hard to know what a stranger is thinking!

This is in "everything else" because I truly feel its pretty tangential to picking up girls. In a dark bar I feel less self-aware, especially after a few drinks. It's just an uncomfortable feeling sometimes, and I wish I could shake it somehow.

Any thoughts?

Logic will only do so much to allieviate your anxiety. Action is what will cure it. It's a bit brash to say, but I used to have trembling anxiety, to the point I would sometimes cry in my room because I was so crippled by it. One day, I was so fed up with being fearful of the world, and I refused anti-anxiety medications, so I approached the world head on. I started putting myself into as many awkward situations, and trust me, they were awkward as fuck and my anxiety was to the point that I could barely speak (I felt a ball in my throat, and my heart raced).

Still, I kept putting myself into unique situations. A traditional pick up method they use to ease people into getting over approach anxiety is asking people the time. I did this for awhile to good results, and kept working upwards to the point of commenting on unique fashion styles of either sex, or an interesting book that someone is reading.

The biggest thing is knowing what to do in social situations, and you will only know what to do after not knowing what to do; learning by doing, and that means going into unfamiliar situations head on and figuring out what works for YOU personally. No book or method will teach you any perfect routine to get over the anxiety that comes with the unknown. What will get you over it is a mindset that welcomes challenge and encourages you to understand anxiety as a temporary feeling that will dissipate as you build more unique social experiences.

Once you approach situations head on you will start not to care what people think of you, but if you continue in a bubble full of insecurity without action, you will dwell on things that are out of your control; they become controlled by you once you start taking action.

The first step is the hardest, but once you take that leap into the unknown enough times, you will realize that your fears are incredibly silly.