# Something good about having social anxiety



## Showard239 (Jul 13, 2015)

What's something positive that you can say about your social anxiety?

Mine is that I'm very observant and I have a realistic grasp on life.


----------



## iCod (Feb 17, 2015)

That I'm not a brainwashed conformist normie with no individuality at all.


----------



## Kevin001 (Jan 2, 2015)

Idk, I always think before I act :stu.


----------



## Cojack (Jul 21, 2014)

You become very familiar with yourself and what you're about. Something a lot of people so wrapped up in day to day life easily overlook. It's also taught me to really think about what you say or do in many situations because you're aware of how it could affect people, as Kevin001 has said. You never know who else is suffering and what they will take away from a conversation with you! 

It's also taught me that it's really good to sit back and listen rather than wanting to be comment every 5 seconds.


----------



## Farideh (Nov 13, 2011)

You won't be involved into as much drama comparing to those who have a social life. Heck yeah for being drama free.


----------



## ApathyDivine (Feb 28, 2012)

I am more observant of people and see them how they really are.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## Imbored21 (Jun 18, 2012)

I can't burden people with my loserness because I cannot talk to them.


----------



## TenYears (Jan 15, 2010)

I think it's made me very observant also. And probably less trusting of people. I think those can be positive things, but they're also like a double edged sword. I can take them to extremes. I mean, sometimes I wish I could be just a little more...indifferent? I guess? To everything. There are people that seem to go throughout their day so wrapped up in themselves that they hardly notice what's going on around them. I have this tendency to be way too sensitive to what's going on around me. I think that can be a positive, but it can also be really exhausting.


That's really the best I can do, there just aren't that many positives for me.


----------



## My Hearse (Aug 28, 2015)

Silentious said:


> I am more observant of people and see them how they really are.
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


Yep.


----------



## zomb (May 4, 2014)

iCod said:


> That I'm not a brainwashed conformist normie with no individuality at all.


Yes. Absolutely yes.


----------



## Shy Kitten (Sep 3, 2015)

I am an observant person who thinks before I speak.


----------



## soshisarang (Sep 8, 2015)

iCod said:


> That I'm not a brainwashed conformist normie with no individuality at all.


Uh. Am i missing something here? As someone with SA, why does being a "normie" make you a conformist with no individuality?


----------



## Mattsy94 (Feb 11, 2013)

Normies can look at me and say "Glad I'm not that guy".


----------



## iCod (Feb 17, 2015)

soshisarang said:


> Uh. Am i missing something here? As someone with SA, why does being a "normie" make you a conformist with no individuality?


Being a normie doesn't make you a conformist, automatically. They just usually go hand in hand. That's why I included it in my tirade.


----------



## NVU (Jul 1, 2010)

It's pretty easy to find an adrenaline rush


----------



## Cyclonic (Oct 25, 2012)

While at lunch I overheard a young woman complaining about her social life on speakerphone for over a HALF-HOUR straight, it all seemed like irrelevant minor stuff too. Moments like that make me extremely happy to be a socially awkward loner with a simple drama-free life.


----------



## Perspicacious (Jun 28, 2015)

I see through people.


----------



## Str (Jun 4, 2013)

It prevents me from being a jerk to others.


----------



## Mikie (Aug 6, 2015)

Nothing noticable or meaninglful. Nothing i wouldnt immediately trade to be like everyone else.


----------



## akari (Dec 6, 2014)

I am sensitive towards other people's feelings - it's a burden but also a gift. Having spent a lot of time alone helped me find my own colours.


----------



## ScorchedEarth (Jul 12, 2014)

Assuming SA makes you generally avoidant.

- Stepping back from the circlejerk lets you get a better look at what's going on, including the pointless and wasteful things people do just to be accepted.

- Avoid drama and conflict.

- First-hand experience of a disorder makes you more understanding of such difficulties, in sharp contrast to most neurotypicals.

- You live a safer life overall, provided you don't let your health decline.

- More time for personal development. Doing things you actually want to do rather than what you feel you have to do in order to fit in.


----------



## WhiteSheep (Jun 20, 2015)

The fear makes life exciting.


----------



## Hayman (Dec 27, 2014)

I can think of a couple of advantages to having Social Anxiety:

One thing is for sure - my life isn't complicated by having a full/busy diary. I have no friends - therefore no birthdays or other important dates to remember. There's zero demand for me to go out anywhere. My own time, nine times out of ten, really is my own time. I enjoy that. I don't have to spend time with people of which I might not actually like or have some sort of grievance with. Indeed, there's no drama or conflict.

Following on from this, as I have no social life to speak of, I have more income at the end of each month than my fellow peers. Therefore, despite on a low income, I can save more or less as much as someone on a much better salary. I've always been careful with money and I'm a natural saver. If I had a social life, I wouldn't have any 'safety net' of savings. I'd be borderline destitute.

People say I'm pessimistic and have for a number of years. However, I've always considered myself to be nothing more than a realist. In the end, I'm usually proven correct when something bad happens - although few will actually admit to this. These are people who I refer to as '_Happy Clappers_'.

Like @Shy Kitten, I consider myself to also be observant. I don't really get the chance or opportunity to speak, so on the few occasions I do, I've often listened to everyone else's comments before hand. I can usually make fairly accurate judgements of people with barely having to actually speak to them, if at all. I'm usually a better judge of character than others who can chat all day/evening and don't really pay much attention to others.


----------



## Sdistant (Mar 25, 2015)

You're more wary of dangerous people.


----------



## kivi (Dec 5, 2014)

I guess it made me more observant. I had some successes at school and kept having them when I was having a mentally hard time (depression) at a young age (12-13). Maybe I could've gave up because of the stress but I kept going because I was afraid of the teachers/students noticing me and asking "What's happening to you, you are falling apart?". Also I have always been prepared at school because I was afraid of the teachers asking questions from the parts that I don't know. It made me clearly more hardworking.
Most of the teachers showed me special attention even though I was very quiet.


----------



## mjkittredge (Sep 8, 2012)

Being a quiet observer, I can learn from others mistakes, think things over deeply. And really enjoy it on the rare occasion I get in a good situation with the right type of people.

If I'd had it easy all my life I wouldn't be as tough, as strong as I am, and wouldn't appreciate the good things as much.

Struggling, suffering, loneliness, all of it played a part in making me who I am today.


----------



## BlueDay (May 6, 2014)

As someone else mentioned, less obligations. No worrying about birthdays, parties, gatherings. More freedom. Plus you really save on gas!


----------



## teenage wildlife (Jul 26, 2014)

I have no trouble in school in terms of my behavior, and teachers always write on my report card that I'm a 'pleasure' to have in class. In general adults seem to like me because I'm well-mannered. I also rarely have fights with people.


----------



## eukz (Nov 3, 2013)

Nothing.


----------



## shyicebear (Sep 25, 2015)

I've become more creative in getting things done.


----------



## PlasticTree (Jan 3, 2015)

I think my SA has made me more appreciative of things - things done for/given to me, things I've accomplished, etc. 

It's really hard to find something *good* about having SA, but it's all gone into shaping me into the person I've become today. Which is, right now, a person I'm not satisfied with, but I feel one day I will be.


----------



## visualkeirockstar (Aug 5, 2012)

I'm not annoying.


----------



## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

SAS
_Posted via Mobile Device_


----------



## srschirm (Jun 25, 2006)

We tend to be self-conscious, so we are careful about not hurting others.


----------



## Moment of Clarity (Nov 3, 2011)

NVU said:


> It's pretty easy to find an adrenaline rush


:heart



Perspicacious said:


> I see through people.


What if what you see isn't accurate?


Showard239 said:


> I have a realistic grasp on life.





iCod said:


> That I'm not a brainwashed





ApathyDivine said:


> I am more observant of people and see them how they really are.


Super thin ice. You are all fooling yourselves.

If you are blind to your own prejudice, you cannot understand because all you see is distorted by the lens of your conditioning.



PlasticTree said:


> I think my SA has made me more appreciative of things - things done for/given to me, things I've accomplished, etc.
> 
> It's really hard to find something *good* about having SA, but it's all gone into shaping me into the person I've become today. Which is, right now, a person I'm not satisfied with, but I feel one day I will be.


 Exactly how I felt about it.


----------



## Upgrade (Jul 3, 2014)

It's tough for me to find something good about having SA. For example: I want to say that SA helps me have more time to myself and not dealing with the drama of relationships. That doesn't mean I want to be alone deep down, it just means because of SA the stress is not worth it to me; so I want to be alone because of the stress. If I didn't have SA I would most likely be able to have time for myself and have relationships and not feel completely drained.

SA _may_ have saved me from doing some stupid things in life that I would greatly regret. Most of my regrets now are things SA prevented me from doing but...you never know, maybe it was a blessing in disguise that saved me from making some really really bad decisions.

I think any challenge in life strengthens a person in ways they would have never been strengthened before.

I think an easier question for me to answer is "What do you think having SA seems to help you to accomplish that you probably wouldn't have accomplished as easily otherwise (if you had normie syndrome instead of SA)?"

This is all hypothetical...but:

More time to think, explore thoughts without as many distractions, larger amounts of free time to practice skills, learn, read, research, stay on a healthy diet/regimen, I don't have any kids or any pregnant girlfriends, No STDs, I'm not being paternity tested on Maury. More efficient workouts in the gym because I don't stand around talking to anyone about how many beers I drank last night or who won a football game I give two sh#ts about.

Just basic stuff most people can do just fine at if they don't have their head up their ***; nothing groundbreaking. I do feel having SA makes it a bit easier to accomplish these things with greater efficiency, but I can't magically turn off my SA to find out if that is in fact true so I'll never completely know if it's easier or not.


----------



## slowlyimproving (Jan 2, 2014)

Showard239 said:


> What's something positive that you can say about your social anxiety?
> 
> Mine is that I'm very observant and I have a realistic grasp on life.


I like that. I'm very observant too.


----------



## Pongowaffle (Jul 23, 2015)

It might force you to be more independent and tailor you to have higher tolerance for loneliness.


----------



## dune87 (Aug 10, 2015)

I usually spot socially shy and anxious and "uncool" people, the people that seem invisible, and I actually go out of my way to talk to them. People like myself inspire me get out of my shell more, if that makes sense... Because I know how they feel, and it feels very familiar and comfortable to me. Feeling like an outcast and struggling with something that other people think is trivial has also made me more aware and empathetic of other kinds of "different" people who encounter difficulties in life.


----------



## nanamisama (Oct 3, 2015)

Being empathetic towards others, especially those who are quiet, because you know how it feels to be sad and alone


----------

