[Marco]

It’s a difficult question to answer. At 56 my social anxiety is not as ‘broad-ranging’ as it used to be in my teens and twenties, but there was also more expectation, excitement and hope when I was younger. In my case the hope was that my social fears would naturally just disappear and all would turn out OK; it would be a passive process of maturing. Of course it didn’t quite work out like that for me, but as I have got older and greyer I am less intimidated by people on the whole. However, there are situations, such as when I’m among a group of confident and articulate colleagues, that I can be struck dumb with nerves. I don’t think social anxiety ever entirely leaves you if it’s been more or less a lifelong problem, but it can lessen its grip. That said, there are times when I feel as anxious as I ever did. Social anxiety is just part of who I am and I’ve learnt to accept that more instead of being crippled by the shame of having what I perceived to be an emasculating weakness. On a scale of 1 to 100, right now about 45-50……usually.