Social anxiety is the worst thing anyone can be plagued with. If you go somewhere where you know a whole group of people are going to be, you are going to sit in your bed, starring blankly at the wall, just worrying.

"What if I say something stupid?" "What if they think I’m ugly?" "What if they don’t like me?" "What if I make a fool of myself somehow?"

And then you get there, you sit down and you just keep your mouth shut. You are too paralyzed with fear to speak. Even if you wanted to, you can’t. It’s as if your jaw is wired shut and no one knows except you.

You have to pick something off of the table and you worry about it. Why? Because you’re shaking. You are shaking so bad and it is noticeable. You just know everyone is going to notice and think something bad or odd about yourself.

You barely eat because you worry that everyone will judge you if you eat more. You worry more people will see you shake. But you also worry that your stomach will growl and draw attention to yourself. Because you are starving, but you just don’t want to make a fool of yourself.

You are not speaking, you are not eating, you are shaking, and your heart is beating so fast that you worry the left side of your body is going to go numb any second now. You are starting to feel hot and you don’t want to turn red in front of everyone.

Tell me again how social anxiety is just me being “shy”