Closest I've gotten to a "Dr" and regular therepy is a BiPolar clinic, where we got 15 minute appointments with Trainees, which changed every few months.

I've been meaning to call "Alberta Mental Health" for quite a while now, but the last time I was there it seemed rather pointless. We'll see.

Yeah, its not just social phobia that I have to deal with, I've also been diagnosed with Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, and BiPolar Disorder. Fun shit.

The fun thing is how they all play off one another. Stress can cause a BiPolar event (mood flip/change), and the other disorders can cause a lot of stress. I don't even have an even playing field to launch an attack from, one day I can be energetic and in a decent mood, the next I could be nothing but a seething ball of angry, and the next after that, I could be depressed, or even "meh" (worse than depressed I find). And when my mood flips severely enough, it tends to reset my brain in some form so I have to re learn and recondition a bunch of necessary habits, like eating properly, general hygiene, etc.

So no matter how easy you think something might be, you just don't know, and thus should not make stupid assumptions.

Learn how to spell ought.

People who are self conscious should just suck it up and deal with it. After they get used to doing whatever they were scared of, then they will realize it wasn't so scary after all. I believe most people fit into that category.

If one seriously tries (thinking about it doesn't count) and then has some mental breakdown, then he probably does have mental issues. But skip the "woe is me" attitude. Just because you're crazy doesn't mean you have to be unhappy.

Personally, I dislike smaller social events because I never fit in. I hate trying to pretend to be interested in other people's boring blah blah blah talk, and I hate trying to pretend to care about other people in general. (There's people I knew at university for several years and had many conversations with, but I never even learned their names despite being told what they were.) But walking amongst a crowd of strangers is nothing because I know they are ignoring me as much as I am ignoring them.

I guess this isn't the pet peeve thread, but I hate when cashiers try to talk to me. Scan my item in silence, please.

So yes, I'm a loner, and would be branded with some sort of label if I talked to enough head doctors, but I thoroughly enjoy my solitude.

You may find the more you drink, the more sociable you get and the topics become more palatable

Only to those not yet drunk. You need to drink more and go with the flow.

Only at Allegro.cc can a thread about exercise equipment quickly change into a thread about social phobias and mental health.

I'm quite sure I'd be diagnosed with being SAD, having Social Anxiety Disorder. When I'm in public doing something like bagging my groceries, I feel like I'm outside of my body looking in and observing my actions rather than making them. It use to cause mild panic attacks at times, I'd get beat red and sweaty, almost paralyzed by anxiety. I was avoiding social situations down to even the most basic interactions like calling people or answering the door.

Therapy is the answer, even for other DSM IV disorders. Therapy consists of "sucking it up", but in baby steps if need be.

No, and we never were. Least I'm pretty sure bamccaig wasn't. Maybe people making stupid assumptions were. But thats about it.

Yuh. I can see how seriously you take mental health. Just like Baf I see.

Drunk people commonly make fools of themselves by putting on airs when their Dutch Courage tells them they're much more charming when drunk.

And yet people get fired from jobs and partners split up with them for doing foolish stuff when drunk. Go figure.

/double checks bam's posts

No, his reactions are pretty normal. I can even relate; I'm not that comfortable in a gym either (though I still go). So who's assuming here?

Seriously enough that I study it, yes.

@Trezker: Pretty much...

(This post is a WIP... )

(Sorry for editing... I have a hard time explaining this sort of thing in a satisfactory way...)

Wikipedia holds the key.

In other words, bullshit fields. They don't have to get anything done. Their sole purpose in life is spewing bullshit. I guess that leaves the introverts to do all of the real work?

You're thinking of sociopaths, not extroverts per se.