SA At School

[wizzonli]

Hi there,

For sometime now i have been suffering from a really bad social anxiety disorder which was caused by bullying and intimidation at my secondary school. At the age of 14 i finally was forced to leave school because i had developed a chronic disease that was induced by all the stress and pain the anxiety disorder was causing for me on a daily basis whilst attending school. The disease was diabetes and unfortunately it is the type that requires 2 daily insullin injections in order to sustain a normal and healthy blood glucose level. I believe the stress at my school had somehow pushed my glucose levels through the roof and my system was so used to the glucose level being at a peak that diabetes was the end result.

Since late 2004 i have been house-bound and unable to cope with social situations. According to my psychiatrist and other professionals symptoms of something named body dysmorphic and obsessive compulsive disorder can be present when preparing to deal with social situations so this makes it extra hard for me because i am always having to avoid my reflection in mirrors because i see my face morphing into something horrid and the OCD puts crazy thoughts into my head such as feelings of my house burning down while i go out to the shops. The social anxiety disorder itself causes quite an embarassment because i am unable to make eye contact and if i feel pressured into doing so i feel like i'm about to lose my sanity; anxiety disorders commonly cause panic attacks.

At this current time (march 2007) i have positive ambitions for the future considering i have overcome quite a few of the hurdles that pertain to the disorder. For example i am able to cope in the outdoors or while shopping more easily, but still find one-to-one situations hard. Many years ago doing anything that required socialising would be completely impossible. Eventually i also hope to meet up with my friends i lost because of this disorder. I've also suffered from alot of depression because the friends i met at secondary school have always been trying to encourage me to go out and take part in sports and basic socialising but i have had to turn the offerings down because my mental state was mainly unstable.

Above i have briefly discussed my disorder and it's symptoms. I'd appreciate it and would be quite interested to hear from anybody who suffers from similar symptoms as i have never discussed my problem in-depth with any other SA sufferers.

Thank you for reading,

Mark.

[Chach]

Hi Mark,

I just noticed this. I'm sure if this had been in the Social Anxiety Room insteead of the Family Room it would have had some replies.

Really sorry to read about your situation. Hope things improve further.

[Winnie57]

Sorry that you've had such a terrible time resulting from bullying.

You do sound a little more positive and I really hope your life will start to improve soon.

[clawhammer.]

Mark,

It sounds like you***8217;re really going through the wars.

I***8217;m not sure if many people on this site suffer from similar symptoms, so you might get a better response on forums about BDD and OCD. I don***8217;t know what therapy you***8217;re receiving, but one thing BDD, OCD and SA have in common is that they***8217;re fuelled by irrational thoughts, so cognitive therapy might be something your psychiatrist could refer you to.

I***8217;d urge you to keep in touch with your secondary school friends. Believe me, friends are like gold dust ***8211; they can so easily slip through your fingers and be lost forever, but if you hold on to them they***8217;re something money cannot buy.

Hope things get better for you***8230;