# i think i was born with social anxiety



## shy88 (Feb 25, 2012)

ive had it since i was very young. i was literally a mute until i turned 7. i wouldnt talk to anyone except for my parents. has anyone else here had it since you were a baby? or did something happen for you to get it?


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## Dissonance (Dec 27, 2011)

I believe I myself developed complications with speaking to others when I was very young myself, in kindergarten I remember spending my time alone trying to watch a program while other kids would be outside playing with each other. It was those sort of those hints that I knew I was a bit abnormal, probably since birth.


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## Still Waters (Sep 18, 2008)

I think I've always felt this way. I can remember in daycare being so shocked by the other kids - their noise,their abandon,the way they so easily played and talked with each other I was stiff,subdued and hyper-aware of everything.


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## bananapancake (Mar 11, 2012)

I have absolutely had it since birth. I believe it's genetic. It actually took me a while to realize how completely delusional and out of whack my perceptions of other people were growing up. It goes back as far as I can remember ... and the younger I was, the worse my imagination took it. 

I've also read a couple interesting articles in medical journals about how it's a self-propagating disorder in many ways. One example is how when young children display signs of shyness, parents tend to respond in protective ways by sheltering their children from what seems to make them unhappy - social contact. However, selective and decreased social contact generally makes social anxiety worse. Obviously, this doesn't apply to everyone. 

I don't know if this is what you were asking, but I really hope things have been improving for you. Be strong


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## shyirishrose (Mar 11, 2012)

Yes! i would literaly scream if anyone picked me up as a baby. I hid from everyone as a child even family. i was abused and shaken as a child and had blood vessels in my head burst from being shaken too hard. people didnt understand why i kept to myself. i was always being told i was wierd and my mom would lock me out in the yard with the dogs whenever company came over because she said i was too fat and ugly to be seen. so yea i was born with it but my childhood didnt help.


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## Dissonance (Dec 27, 2011)

shyirishrose said:


> Yes! i would literaly scream if anyone picked me up as a baby. I hid from everyone as a child even family. i was abused and shaken as a child and had blood vessels in my head burst from being shaken too hard. people didnt understand why i kept to myself. i was always being told i was wierd and my mom would lock me out in the yard with the dogs whenever company came over because she said i was too fat and ugly to be seen. so yea i was born with it but my childhood didnt help.


Oh wow I truly feel bad that your mother treated you as such.


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## daphnis (Feb 3, 2012)

You're describing selective mutisim in young children. Often times this develops into a form of anxiety if it goes untreated. 

I've felt exactly how others have described: 1) highly sensitive to my surroundings, and 2) self-alienation. I also had the toughest time speaking as well. Although I spoke to my family most of the time, I even had a hard time speaking up until college. It's only recently that I'm learning to speak out loud and hear my voice. Talk about delayed development :\


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## Nahla (Mar 14, 2012)

I've had anxiety since I was a child as well. I think it is possible to be predisposed for it.


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## LiveFreeOrDieHard (Mar 12, 2012)

Apparently I was extremely outgoing as a baby/toddler. Not sure what happened...


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## Jene (Jan 13, 2012)

I believe I was born with a genetic predisposition to social anxiety also. Both my parents used to be really shy (and still are, sometimes), so maybe there was no escaping it for me! And I've heard that sometimes shyness can be a learned behavior, if you have shy parents as a child.


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## Ashley2157 (Mar 4, 2012)

I think I was born with SA or developed it really early on. I barely talked to other kids even in preschool. I'm sure it was environmental/life factors as well, but I definitely feel there was a predisposition or temperament I was born with.


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## ahoyhoyable (Mar 18, 2012)

Still Waters said:


> I think I've always felt this way. I can remember in daycare being so shocked by the other kids - their noise,their abandon,the way they so easily played and talked with each other I was stiff,subdued and hyper-aware of everything.


This isn't related but goodness, I love your quote as much as I love "Where The Wild Things Are".


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## mngal000 (Mar 19, 2012)

I've always been shy too. Mine runs in my family though, my Mom was shy when she was little (grew out of it), older sister used to get panick attacks. I was told I was shy as a kid (though I didn't really realize it/care at the time). The thing that surprised me though was that the older I got, the shyer/more self-conscious I feel, as opposed to growing out of it.


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## crystaltears (Mar 10, 2011)

LiveFreeOrDieHard said:


> Apparently I was extremely outgoing as a baby/toddler. Not sure what happened...


^ THIS

I don't know wtf happened, I look back at my baby-toddler years in my old photos and I'm all happy and stuff (even my parents said I talked a lot) but then later I'm like :blank in grade 1/2...


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## Andre (Feb 27, 2004)

I don't believe anyone is born with an anxiety disorder. Genetic predisposition only means that you have a greater chance of developing it than the next person. The environment you grow up in is what turns certain genes on and keeps others off. I used to kind of think I was born with it, too, until I was able to be real about what actually happened, as an adult.


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## iLLmanic562 (Mar 23, 2012)

Growing up I was always the 'quiet kid'...during family gatherings, my parents would just tell people I was shy..Even throughout school, you hide behind the 'shy card'...I'm 30 now, and realized about almost 2 years ago that I have SAD..never realized it..I knew there was something off with me. a little over emotional about things, highly sensitive, big avoidance issues...so most of my life, I've been spending my time 'avoiding life'...I guess it's taking the easy road, but my father never showed me self-discipline at a young age and I blame a lot of things with how I was raised...Well now at least I'm trying to do something about my issues, but it's hard man...theres times that I feel like maybe I should just move somewhere where I'm secluded from people


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