Social Anxiety Disorder explained for beginners - how I wish I was taught

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) isn’t about being shy, awkward, or introverted. It’s a problem of connection, attention, and evaluation. It can be debilitating however it's treatable.

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Topics discussed:
0:00​ - Intro
0:30 - What is social anxiety disorder?
3:14 - Why social anxiety disorder matters
6:46 - How social anxiety disorder works
10:01 - How to manage social anxiety disorder
13:09 - How to help someone with social anxiety disorder

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For information purposes only. Does not constitute clinical advice. Consult your local medical authority for advice. The information in this video was accurate as of the upload date, September 7, 2022.

If you or someone you know needs help immediately, you should take one of the following actions:
- go to your nearest hospital emergency room

[fkhan]

6:31 this is the best part because I can feel its truth everyday. "people with social anxiety want to talk to you, but their brain keeps telling them they don't belong"

[mukulseth]

Wanting connection but not feeling good enough or worthy. And trying to resolve that conflict without any clear solutions.

[pawspetalspanickattacks]

It feels like I’m serving a life sentence in the worst prison - in my own head.

[chickennuggetpaw]

The worst part about overcoming social anxiety is that you have to learn to actually talk to people. It sounds terrifying ngl

[graceharvest]

This was a great breakdown! I have social anxiety. Have had it since I was a kid. It’s debilitating. I don’t even feel close to my family anymore because I never know how to converse with them and don’t call much. I hate going to get together a because I always feel left out even when I’m trying to be social it’s like I’m not good enough. And I’m very hyper aware of peoples facial expressions and such so I am always feeling uncomfortable and offended. Ugh

[Ninie]

Having social anxiety in Africa is the worst, less or no awareness in most communities, it’s hard to even have friends if you have social anxiety, we are portrayed as dull, un social, and no one believes that anyone with social anxiety can be successful, anything achieved is taken as luck .

[genealogygirl]

“Feel like people are looking at you.” I felt that.

[samwalsh]

I’ve had really bad social anxiety when I was 12, and this made my life a nightmare, everyday when I went to school I got bullied because I acted differently because of my social anxiety. I was introverted and a bit different to begin with, social anxiety exacerbated all my troubles, and I wanted people to like me so badly because I didn’t want to be seen as the “quiet weird kid”, so I started doing stupid things to get people to laugh at me, but then people picked on me and bullied me more. It was a vicious cycle all within my head, I never told anyone, this went on for 3 to 4 years. Now I’m 18 and I’m at peace with who I am, I understand that I don’t need people to accept me and that it’s alright to be quiet and whatever. But this is after years of bullying and daily cycles of nightmares. I hope nobody has to go through what I had to go through.

[kdove]

I think i’ve spent too much time coping with my social anxiety by morphing myself into whatever “acceptable” form different groups require. This made me feel really liked for a while. But ive reached a time where being authentic is more important to me than being liked, and im really struggling to figure out how to be my authentic self and handle the social anxiety simultaneously

[kimberleyvasquez]

Once I got my anxiety attack last week it has taken a toll in my life, I can’t even eat at a restaurant because I start to feel anxious… I lost my job because of my anxiety… I don’t want to lose myself…

[syedamaniha]

As a person I think I've social anxiety after learning about symptoms, worst part is that you feel unworthy, embarrassed and overthinking making you think you're unloved and no one loves you, I hope everyone gets a control on it.

[adellharrydesigns]

I dropped out of highschool because of social anxiety. I didn't know to call it social anxiety, I just remember telling my parents I was too scared to go to school. They'd ask me why and I'd say I don't know!

[MultipleOffenses]

I wish we'd had access to these types of conversations/etc. when I was a kid. I grew up thinking that not only was something 'wrong' with me for having these feelings, but that it was my own personal quirk that no one else had or could understand.

[ryandyches]

Dr. Ali, I never comment on videos but I came across this one and it hit me like a semi truck. I’m 44 years old and your 14 min video summed up the last 32 years of my life to a T. Everything you described is exactly how I’ve felt but could never explain to people. I learned over the years how to manage my social anxiety but I still struggle with it everyday. I’m subscribing to your channel and want to devour all your content. Thank you, thank you, thank you for this. Sincerely-Ryan

[canelopp]

Social anxiety and OCD are probably 2 of my biggest problems. Videos like this give me the belief that hopefully I can deal with such problems.

[sarafinasegwagwa]

It's never going out, not because you don't want to but because you're afraid that you'll embarrass yourself or something unexpected might happen and you'll not know what to do. It's not opening up to people because you're convinced they wouldn't like you. And preparing so hard for tomorrow's lessons to keep the anxiety of being in class to a manageable amount. It's really exhausting, but I still want to be around people, which makes no sense to me.

[Anonymous-ghts]

6:21 - That is exactly how I see myself and what others say about me - I’m just quiet. When I was young, I was very confident and a bright child. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve become quieter, more worried and anxious and find it harder to relax in social situations. Thank you for your clear explanation of social anxiety, it’s very helpful and I can definitely relate!

[mizuyroart]

I'm an introvert and I'm not sure if I have social anxiety or not, but my heart goes crazy just from opening the door to the delivery guy and I hate phone calls or going alone to places I've never been before. Next year I have my wedding and I'm scared to be in the center of attention for so long and I feel weird just admitting this here

[muhammadzainulabideen]

I adopted social anxiety about 5 years ago when i was in 11 standard. I remember in my O levels, i didn't study well so my teacher asked me to stand up and insult me in front of 40 students. But i kept my smile on face and dropped my head down. I remember that time when so many people were watching me but i was always not thinking about being judged by them, and i never lost my confidence, even though i was a shy kid and not talk much. It started from 11th standard, with new students I didn't talk much and that kept me pushing back and back for not participating in the conversation of my friends. That was the time when i adopted the feelings that if i speak, these guys will laugh and say "look he can also talk". That kept me quite and not to speak. Slowly the time started passing away and i kept realizing how confident students are, who are always contributing in the discussion. I started to take my voice as a weird one, i thought if i spoke, all the guys will humiliate me and say "see who's speaking today". This feeling kept developing and now i feel like, "yes i do have a social anxiety and people judgement fear but i feel like my bigger problem is not the social anxiety, it is the fear of speaking, not too sure if it's the same thing 😂, anyways now i am 27 and i keep myself in my house almost all day long, my heart starts beating fast when my mom asks me to go out for grocery shopping. Many times when someone stops me, i fall in a panic situation, my heart beats like a crazy drummer. Whenever guests are Expected at home, my heartbeat will go up whenever i think about the situation i could face while sitting and talking to the guests. social anxiety has made this life tough and don't let me enjoy. But from yesterday i have started an exposure therapy. Going out to the market without face mask or chewing gums. I was fearing for the worst but in the end that 1st day went really well. I hope to continue this therapy and recover fully❤

[myAPIcjourney]

Omg you just explained my whole life. I really want to heal from this. I'm a mom and I'm so scared of my kids learning to be scared because of how i am. The thought of going to therapy makes me anxious. Back in college I'd hover around the student therapy center but never went in. I tried going to college twice. Dropped out both times within a year of finishing. Everything was just such a trigger. Ugh i have so much to say and so many memories. I'm glad i found this channel. I need something. I want to really live my life and my mind always feels so.... overactive.