Mental Health How did you treat your social anxiety/depression?

[jord33]

I've had social anxiety since I was about 17 which lead to bad depression, I'm now 24.

Managed to force myself to get a job about 2 month ago and force myself to get into social situations rather than avoid them but I'm about as lively as a fucking wet fish and basically sit on the sidelines listening to everyone else and laughing at the jokes other people make n shit as not to look like a miserable cunt.

Can't hold a conversation with people for shit and basically just ask simple questions and laugh but can't contribute to any conversation or say anything about myself, make people laugh or anything and this is me making a conscious effort to be more social otherwise I'd just be quite asf and not really have much to say at all.

Basically if this carries on I'll never have a gf or even any friends really, and if that's going to be the case I feel like life will be pointless, I don't have suicidal tendencies really but I do feel like there will be no point living if this is the way shits going to be for the rest of my life, and I'm just not happy at all and havn't been for a while, my head is really fucked.

Been to the doc but due to the fact I can't really explain whats going on in my head they just throw some shitty ass zombie pills at me that help to some extent as they make me not give af whether I act social or not, but that's never going to help my situation I'll just always be the same but just not give af about it which is useless really.

So just wondering how have people who have been depressed and socially anxious how did you deal with this shit, I just want to go back to enjoying social situations and enjoying conversations with people rather than when people try to talk to me just wanting to end it asap and not being able to keep up with conversations one bit.

Tried 10mg Diazepam which don't really do much and tried Xanax but ended up drinking on them and blacking out on them for a full night so didn't really have the chance to test them in a social situation.

Just wanna go back to being the happy person I once was who actually liked people and didn't just want to avoid them at all costs.

 

[assclass]

Yoga, make sure life is in order to avoid stress, get sunlight, eat right, exercise when your freaking out, good sleep hygiene, don't be a dirt ball, be social, expand your mind and take time to chill when you need it.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

I've found some activities that are both very productive wrt my goals later in life and learning new things and helping out other people. I try to develop close relationships with pets. I practice my social skills by interacting with people and being in social settings that I'm hesitant to expose myself to, but which I'm proud of myself for doing so (usually, at least) afterwards.

 

[llama112]

Pregabalin (Lyrica) is HELPING me. Not solving all problems but it does take the edge off both social anxiety and general anxiety. I had about 4 months where I was throwing up from anxiety numerous times per day, crying for no reason, etc., pregabalin has helped that stop as well as being able to sometimes participate in social conversations at work. I'm not outgoing but it helps me be slightly less awkward. Everyone is different though, but that is the med that (for now) has helped me. I've been on it for probably two months. Benzos are lovely but they can be TOO much for every day. SSRIs were useless (actually terrible) - I tried four different ones.

Other general things that everyone will advise:
- eat right
- make sure you get enough sleep
- exercise
- music
- meditation
- yoga
- therapy (CBT is supposed to be the best)

Some things that have "helped" me
- some therapy
- finding new hobbies (still working on finding new hobbies but it does help) / keeping busy
- pets! I have three cats
- finding something you're passionate about
- hula hooping
- projects

 

[Moreaux]

I can relate to much of what you wrote. What ended up working for me was one on one therapy, group therapy, and Cofnitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Much of my time was spent learning to manage the anxiety which I did with CBT, meditation, yoga, and a healthy drug free lifestyle. I used one on one therapy and group therapy to manage social interactions and learn how to deal with people. While my group therapy was primarily for d if use, I told them I wanted to spend most of my time in there working on socialization as that was really perpetuating my substance abuse. The group memeber's were awesome and gave me a lot of insight into social skills and also substance abuse.

Trust me, you do not want to use benzos and booze to learn to socialize. That was the path I took and I am now starting my life over at the age of 40:/ Xanax and alcohol does not make anything better, and if you take them together you run the risk of going into blackout mode where you are technically conscious, but your actions are very uncharacteristic. Many people end up getting arrested or injured on that combination.

Good Luck!

 

[Erikmen]

^ Benzos + booze; I believe it creates an illusion that it can work when in fact it really make us more antisocial than ever before..
And when these things are gone from your life for good, this emptiness just fulfill all the space available. Ironic, but true.
I takes a lot of time to heal IMO/E.

 

[Erikmen]

^ Benzos + booze; I believe it creates an illusion that it can work when in fact it really make us more antisocial than ever before..
And when these things are gone from your life for good, this emptiness just fulfill all the space available. Ironic, but true.
I takes a lot of time to heal IMO/E.

Like @llama112 says, "finding new hobbies (still working on finding new hobbies but it does help) / keeping busy" has been for my recovery at this point.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

This will probably sound ridiculous, but: psychedelic hallucinogen use. That's what I ultimately credit with greatly diminishing the social anxiety I used to have, on a long-term basis. Particularly LSD and psilocybin.

 

[antonomasia]

I smoke cannabis for my anxiety. The stuff I'm smoking now works around half of the time, I just wish it was legal where I live so that I can get the right type. Consider who you're surrounding yourself with, if they don't make much effort to include you and don't seem like they care about you then ditch them.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

^ I'm someone for whom cannabis is a very anxiolytic substance as well, at least most of the time. But for a lot of people it seems to induce anxiety, essentially the opposite effect...

 

[llama112]

This will probably sound ridiculous, but: psychedelic hallucinogen use. That's what I ultimately credit with greatly diminishing the social anxiety I used to have, on a long-term basis. Particularly LSD and psilocybin.

Oh this can help a lot of people! But you should always think very carefully about whether or not you're able to handle it. I don't want to be the downer but my anxiety was getting better slowly and I took mushrooms and, after that, everything got worse. I don't think that's the norm. Even though I've had some pretty bad times of psychedelics, I do think they can be amazing for learning and coming to peace with things and helping mental health but just to really think about it

 

[Memnoth]

Stimulants (If you have the fortunate blessing of having been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD), Clomipramine, Clonazepam, meditating on developing the character trait of being the alpha-male that doesn't give a shit about anything, even if it's not noticeable to other people. Exposure therapy, engaging in social situations to exercise the ability to hold a conversation, it's like a muscle really, just keep exercising it. What you face, will get easier, while what you avoid, will get harder. This is my experience.

 

[cyberius]

Stimulants (If you have the fortunate blessing of having been diagnosed with ADD/ADHD), Clomipramine, Clonazepam, meditating on developing the character trait of being the alpha-male that doesn't give a shit about anything, even if it's not noticeable to other people. Exposure therapy, engaging in social situations to exercise the ability to hold a conversation, it's like a muscle really, just keep exercising it. What you face, will get easier, while what you avoid, will get harder. This is my experience.

Stimulants did really have a profound effect on my social skills (ADHD). Most of my issues with social anxiety stem from chemical imbalances and not being able to fully live in the moment because of them. This works pretty well if you have social skills to begin with; half of the battle with socializing is just being confident and sure of what you're saying.

 

[Mushwood]

The older I get the less I give a fuck, which makes socialising a little easier as time goes on..


..And thinking about it, I suppose I like making friends with people who talk a lot so it takes the pressure away from me.

When I was younger MDMA (and of course alcohol) really helped me to interact with strangers ....But obviously both have their downsides and I'm not sure I would recommend either...

Recently I've been taking mushrooms and getting a lot of exercise and that definitely seems to help my anxiety and makes me want to socialise more.

 

[waffle-head]

I purchase diazepam. I used to take diclazepam but since the UK blanket ban, I had to purchase in freebase form from EU, but couldn't dose correctly, so genuine diaz it was. Works a dream for me. Only 10mg per day.

 

[Phil.McKeer]

For depression, ASIDE FROM CBT (which in my book is the best intervention for depression), I recommend 0.25mg buprenorphine every day (someone with no opioid tolerance can easily take much less, and even skip days). I say this because I noticed that when using opioids, my depression went away. That was why when I stopped using full agonists and went on subutex and my taper got down to 0.25mg, instead of jumping off, I continued on that dose for a year.

Of course, it's not a permanent fix, and at some point you're going to have to come off the buprenorphine, unless you want to take it for life. And when that does happen, there will probably be rebound depression and anxiety, possibly worse than before. But it does work while you take it, and it has the added benefit of keeping you in a constant state of pain relief (I have a very messed up lower back and it really helped hide the pain the whole year I took it).

I just stopped my 0.25mg dose a few weeks ago. The worst symptom was insomnia, and I feel like I'm out of the woods for the most part by now. The dose was not high enough to cause RLS upon cessation.

 

[flakka]

Xanax is the shit

 

[Burnt Offerings]

For depression, ASIDE FROM CBT (which in my book is the best intervention for depression), I recommend 0.25mg buprenorphine every day (someone with no opioid tolerance can easily take much less, and even skip days). I say this because I noticed that when using opioids, my depression went away. That was why when I stopped using full agonists and went on subutex and my taper got down to 0.25mg, instead of jumping off, I continued on that dose for a year.

Of course, it's not a permanent fix, and at some point you're going to have to come off the buprenorphine, unless you want to take it for life. And when that does happen, there will probably be rebound depression and anxiety, possibly worse than before. But it does work while you take it, and it has the added benefit of keeping you in a constant state of pain relief (I have a very messed up lower back and it really helped hide the pain the whole year I took it).

I just stopped my 0.25mg dose a few weeks ago. The worst symptom was insomnia, and I feel like I'm out of the woods for the most part by now. The dose was not high enough to cause RLS upon cessation.

Low-dose buprenorphine as an alternative treatment for depression is a quite interesting subject IMO...that and low-dose ketamine infusions

 

[sloth9]

This will probably sound ridiculous, but: psychedelic hallucinogen use. That's what I ultimately credit with greatly diminishing the social anxiety I used to have, on a long-term basis. Particularly LSD and psilocybin.

I have very similar problems as the OP and I'm thinking of going down this route. How often would you take LSD?

 

[sandralarsen]

I've had social anxiety since I was about 17 which lead to bad depression, I'm now 24.

Managed to force myself to get a job about 2 month ago and force myself to get into social situations rather than avoid them but I'm about as lively as a fucking wet fish and basically sit on the sidelines listening to everyone else and laughing at the jokes other people make n shit as not to look like a miserable cunt.

Can't hold a conversation with people for shit and basically just ask simple questions and laugh but can't contribute to any conversation or say anything about myself, make people laugh or anything and this is me making a conscious effort to be more social otherwise I'd just be quite asf and not really have much to say at all.

Basically if this carries on I'll never have a gf or even any friends really, and if that's going to be the case I feel like life will be pointless, I don't have suicidal tendencies really but I do feel like there will be no point living if this is the way shits going to be for the rest of my life, and I'm just not happy at all and havn't been for a while, my head is really fucked.

Been to the doc but due to the fact I can't really explain whats going on in my head they just throw some shitty ass zombie pills at me that help to some extent as they make me not give af whether I act social or not, but that's never going to help my situation I'll just always be the same but just not give af about it which is useless really.

So just wondering how have people who have been depressed and socially anxious how did you deal with this shit, I just want to go back to enjoying social situations and enjoying conversations with people rather than when people try to talk to me just wanting to end it asap and not being able to keep up with conversations one bit.

Tried 10mg Diazepam which don't really do much and tried Xanax but ended up drinking on them and blacking out on them for a full night so didn't really have the chance to test them in a social situation.

Just wanna go back to being the happy person I once was who actually liked people and didn't just want to avoid them at all costs.

The problem of social anxiety is mostly the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors. If you have social anxiety/depression disorder, should try to see Cognitive behavioral therapy for help. It makes it easy as possible for you to have a consultation.