Remember when Eminem sang these iconic lyrics, "Yo His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy There's vomit on his sweater already, mom's spaghetti He's nervous...." in the song entitled Lose Yourself? Well, some of the symptoms he raps about seem to tie in well with what someone living with Social Anxiety Disorder might experience.
This disorder can be classified as the pervasive and excessive fear of social and performance situations and even the worry about exhibiting anxious behaviour. It often results in the avoidance or fear (phobia) of being in social settings, meeting new people, public speaking and can significantly affect a persons routine, work life as well as, yes you guessed it, their social life.
I was diagnosed by a Clinical Psychologist earlier this year with Generalised Anxiety Disorder and one of my triggers is large crowds. I feel so overwhelmed and start catastrophising about everything that could go wrong and then I drink excessively to calm myself down. So when I was in therapy, my psychologist helped me to reduce my alcohol consumption, to identify my negative interpretations of events and the thoughts attached thereto and eventually I started taking anti anxiety medication (paxil) - for about 4 months. It was a lot of hard work but I'm so grateful or getting help and learning to manage my symptoms - I'm still healing and needs tons of support but I'm getting there and try not to be too hard on myself about it.
Now before you self-diagnose, (please try not to), rather make an appointment with a mental health practitioner near you, here's 's a list of Mental Health Professionals. Your therapist might make use of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or Group Therapy and provide with with some psychoeducation to help you better understand your symptoms and what you're going through.
Personally I enjoyed supplementing my therapy sessions with deep breathing exercises - check out an easy one here, regular exercise, chamomile tea & grounding exercises; talk to your therapist about natural ways to manage your anxiety if you're short on change for medication or even want to combine therapy with medication and natural treatments. Let me know what works for you if you struggle with anxiety disorders?
Remember: This post is in no way meant to be used to make any diagnosis; it is merely a mixture of my personal experience & theoretical knowledge. Please seek the professional help that you deserve if you're struggling & finding it hard to cope.