# Writers/musicians/artists with social anxiety



## asleepanddreaming (Feb 15, 2011)

I once read in a wiki entry Franz Kafka had social anxiety... also when I was younger, I really, really, really identified with Morrisey's lyrics, songs like '"Suedehead" or "I don't owe you anything" (excerpt: you must not go to them let them come to you). Does anybody else think he might have suffered from SAD?

Also after watching a documentary about the life of Nick Drake I can almost guarantee he had anxiety issues. The documentary might have been "A skin too few" although I think there was a second one up on youtube a while ago. It was actually really interesting to watch because because I fell like I can recognize the telltale symptoms of social anxiety, and he had it. This guy was born in 1948, died 1978, so neither he nor his family/friends seem to be aware of it (from wiki: social phobia had been largely ignored prior to 1985). He's kind of portrayed as a weirdo/basketcase from descriptions by his sister. 

Last one: Ian Curtis

Who's missing from this list?


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## mrbojangles (Oct 8, 2009)

Trent Reznor

Maynard James Keenan


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## shadowmask (Jun 22, 2009)

Frank McCourt


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## RockBottomRiser (Jun 5, 2011)

shadowmask said:


> Frank McCourt


I don't think so.

Meg White (don't know her real name).


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## shadowmask (Jun 22, 2009)

RockBottomRiser said:


> I don't think so.


Why?


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## RockBottomRiser (Jun 5, 2011)

shadowmask said:


> Why?


Didn't seem to.


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## shadowmask (Jun 22, 2009)

Well, it looks like I must have either lost my copy of Teacher Man or ended up trading it in, but I recall several passages in that book in which he talked about being distinctly shy and lacking social confidence. I certainly got the impression that he suffered from at least slight SA.

Granted, that's the only book I've read of his.


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## RockBottomRiser (Jun 5, 2011)

Possibly so, just didn't seem to be in any interview i've ever seen with him. He may have overcome it, though.


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## NumeroUno (Oct 23, 2009)

Joe Budden, rapper. Suffers from S.A, Depression, references medication, psychiatrists all the time ''i know you feel for me deep in your heart, doctors, meetings, pills couldn't keep us apart'' (referencing his depression)

i relate to him 100%.


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## little_ghoul (Apr 25, 2010)

Jeff Mangum singer/songwriter of Neutral Milk Hotel. Kickass band that only had two albums and disappeared due to Mangum having a complete nervous breakdown.


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## xTKsaucex (Jun 23, 2010)

Meg White from White Stripes has bad anxiety.


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## WalkingDisaster (Nov 27, 2010)

Robin Pecknold from Fleet Foxes has admitted to suffering from social anxiety.


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## BKrakow (Jul 8, 2010)

asleepanddreaming said:


> I once read in a wiki entry Franz Kafka had social anxiety... also when I was younger, I really, really, really identified with Morrisey's lyrics, songs like '"Suedehead" or "I don't owe you anything" (excerpt: you must not go to them let them come to you). Does anybody else think he might have suffered from SAD?


something's definitely up with morrissey...I don't know if it's SAD or what, but his lyrics capture the experience of isolation, inhibition, and self-hatred (maybe hatred's too strong a word...extreme self-reflection, to the point where you feel too scared and paralyzed to even act, might be more appropriate) better than any other artist I've ever heard.

a lot of pink floyd's lyrics seem to embody the SA experience extremely accurately...


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## Toad Licker (Nov 2, 2007)

Hope Sandoval from Mazzy Star


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## Aphexfan (Jan 12, 2011)

Thom yorke from radiohead...I dont think he has SA exactly but he has admitted to suffering from hypomania (not too mention also suffers from depression and paranoia)


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## xTKsaucex (Jun 23, 2010)

Aphexfan said:


> Thom yorke from radiohead...I dont think he has SA exactly but he has admitted to suffering from hypomania (not too mention also suffers from depression and paranoia)


hypomania rocks. If only everyone could experience it 

Thought he said he has Aspergers or something.


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## Fear Goggles (Dec 18, 2011)

J.D Salinger, author of The Catcher in the Rye, spent most of his life locked away in his house.

Basically every member of Sigur Ros. Watch this interview for some epic awkwardness.





Elliott Smith. It's pretty self-evident if you listen to his music but here's another awesomely awkward interview.


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## kosherpiggy (Apr 7, 2010)

I always felt like Marilyn Monroe had it. She would often show up late, but it was because she would have panic attacks. Marlon Brando said that at parties, she would just play the piano while everyone else was chatting because she was shy. I mean she could have been just shy with a different form of anxiety.


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## somemvp (Oct 17, 2011)

Sean Daley aka Slug from atmosphere.

I don't believe its recorded anywhere him actually saying he has SA, but you can just tell by his lyrics and what his songs are about. I feel like I know him as well as I would know a best friend.

Exactly like this;



NumeroUno said:


> Joe Budden, rapper. Suffers from S.A, Depression, references medication, psychiatrists all the time ''i know you feel for me deep in your heart, doctors, meetings, pills couldn't keep us apart'' (referencing his depression)
> 
> i relate to him 100%.


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## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

Donny Osmond.


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## Cletis (Oct 10, 2011)

kosherpiggy said:


> I always felt like Marilyn Monroe had it. She would often show up late, but it was because she would have panic attacks. Marlon Brando said that at parties, she would just play the piano while everyone else was chatting because she was shy. I mean she could have been just shy with a different form of anxiety.


Marilyn Monroe's mother spent most of her adult life in a mental institution. I'm sure Marilyn inherited some problems from her. I think it's clear Marilyn had severe depression. Possibly anxiety too. Maybe even Bipolar.


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## Tentative (Dec 27, 2011)

I know Chris Cornell suffered from depression and anxiety. I read somewhere he spent an entire year without leaving his house once. :|


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## gusstaf (Jan 1, 2012)

I'm almost positive Emily Dickinson had it, just based on the language she uses in her poetry.

And I think I read that Barbra Streisand was actually diagnosed with SA.


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## Bethy (Jun 23, 2011)

I heard that the lead singer for the Cranberries had SA. So I heard she used to preform her concerts facing backwards with her back to the audience so she didn't have to see the crowd. Whether that's true or not I have no clue.


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## kosherpiggy (Apr 7, 2010)

Cletis said:


> Marilyn Monroe's mother spent most of her adult life in a mental institution. I'm sure Marilyn inherited some problems from her. I think it's clear Marilyn had severe depression. Possibly anxiety too. Maybe even Bipolar.


Mental illnesses were hereditary in her family. Her mother was a schizophrenic, but Marilyn didn't seem to show any signs of schizophrenia. I think also because she was treated very badly when she was put in orphanages and foster homes. I heard that a lot of people that were put into orphanages become shy adults. I think her depression got worse because she was unable to have children and really wanted to have children.


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