Short film about Social Anxiety

[Phil Connolly]

I posted a few years ago with the crowd funder link to my short film "The Fruit Fix" . A few people on the forum were kind enough to donate

I thought I'd return with the finished film now on youtube

I wanted to see social anxiety represented better in film and also show that help/treatments exist (I spent much of my 20s suffering in silence)

The short film came out really well and I'm very proud of it. We were lucky enough to get Derry Girls Jamie Lee O'Donnell on the cast and Early Doors Mark Benton

Please have a look and if you like it share it as i'm spamming like a crazy person in an attempt to get it too a wider audience

LINK HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLYxpcTBhCk

[Consolida]

^ You should be extremely proud of your short film as it's a well acted informative film. Thanks for doing your bit to raise awareness

I shared the link on Facebook (which is a BIG thing for me as I still, rightly or wrongly, feel some embarrassment/shame about suffering with SA) but not one person clicked 'like' let alone shared it. I don't know if that's a good think or not! I suppose social anxiety holds no interest for non sufferers

[Dougella]

^ You having shared that didn't show up for me on Facebook or I would have liked it and probably shared it too. It's a shame the way Facebook works some things just get missed, I don't know why.

Well done Phil, that's a great film and a real achievement.

[AuroraSky]

Congrats on making the film and hopefully it will get some exposure and raise awareness. Many years ago even just learning the phrase "social anxiety" gave me something which I could Google and find helpful resources including here.

[humphrey]

I think that is an excellent film, I just wish it was that simple. But it really shows what it is like having SA.

Well Done!

[Phil Connolly]

Thankyou for the kind words and feedback.

Yes the Facebook algorithm is tricky and prioritises paid promotion, been difficult to get it noticed on that platform.

Humphrey, my hope with the film was not to present the treatment as a "Cure" more a positive step forwards... but in a short film you don't have much time for nuance. I've heard the banana walk has got good results for some people and it would be just one element of getting help and support. My main worry was I wanted to try and truthfully represent the topic, while telling an interesting story thats suits a short film

[Counterpoint]

No way! I went to the Royal Academy of Music too! Congratulations on your film.

I know your film focuses on social anxiety, but performance anxiety is extremely common amongst musicians and I witnessed it a lot at college. There is also such a thing as a healthy degree of nerves, which actually enhances performance, but too much is obviously unhelpful and can be debilitating.

Far worse were the other ways SA affected college life. In my four years as an undergraduate I think I only went to one student party. A lot of musicians drank a lot, and if you weren't part of that scene, you might struggle to make friends. I never had relationships or had sexual experiences. I also studied composition, in itself a solitary activity, and bought into the 'suffering artist' myth to justify my lonliness. Unfortunately, the fact I had such bad social skills meant I struggled to ask people to perform my music.

[choirgirl]

Wow, well done for getting that made! I wish I had seen something like that when I was young. Funny seeing Michelle as a socially anxious person!

[biscuits]

Amazing! It does such a great job at raising awareness and it’s great that it will inspire people to seek support.

Thanks for sharing this

to you