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Old 19th August 2012, 18:09
Sea Sea is offline
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Join Date: Oct 2007
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Default Re: Over 35's only! Does it get better?

Well. My social anxiety has not really improved at all as I have got older. However, what has improved is my control over it. The older you get, the more choice you have about the level to which you expose yourself to social situations (and the less peer pressure you are exposed to). So, compared to teens and 20s when I was stuck at school and University and faced a whole heap of anxiety and social pressures every day then I would say my life is now much easier. But this is largely because I have developed considerable expertise in simply avoiding socialising. So, with age has come the ability to avoid.
Does this mean things are better? Yes, in some ways. But I also have zero social life and am therefore sometimes unhappy. I'd rather be simply unhappy, than unhappy and anxious I guess, heh, and so avoidance is acceptable for me.
When I am faced with social situations, I still feel just as anxious as I did when I was a youngster, though possibly I am slightly more adept at concealing that from others now...
In summary, I don't think my SA has improved with age, but I think my learning to deal with it has done (i.e. through avoidance).
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