Anxiety Update

Hey everyone! Thought I’d let you all know about something I just realized.

So I just graduated from college last week (HOORAY!) and my parents came up for the ceremony. Over dinner we got on the subject of my social anxiety. My mom mentioned that I tend to shy away from making eye contact (something she says I picked up from her). I’m considering making an amendment to my “Conquer Anxiety” goal to include eye-contact because I didn’t realize I was so bad at it and I think it’s important.

In any case, something else that came up was the question of whether I am “shy” or not. My step-father had mentioned offhandedly that I was still shy, but have come a long way, to which my dad responded: “Eric’s not shy.” He then referenced the many times that I would volunteer to speak in front of audiences, perform on stage, or sing in public. Read More…

May 26, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Conquer Anxiety  No Comments

The Final Assessment

I apologize for not delving deeper into what’s been going on with me and my quest for an anxiety-free (or moderately anxiety-free) life. I admit that some of my posts have been vague, and my methods unclear. The main reason for this is that my methods have indeed been unclear (even to me!)

The process of recovery from an anxiety condition is a largely individual process. You can have allies, companions, and aids, but no one can really share your experience. No one can point you to exactly what you need to do to get better. It really depends on your own personal needs. That’s why there are so many different methods psychologists, psychiatrists, and self-help gurus promote: each one works for certain people and perhaps not for others. Read More…

May 5, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Conquer Anxiety  No Comments

Road to Victory

It’s extremely important, when striving for a new goal, to take time to reflect on your progress. If you don’t, you’ll never be able to see just how far you’ve come.

Lately I’ve been working on speaking up, initiating and maintaining conversations. I’ve also been trying to send more invitations. Each of these has become a lot easier, almost effortless!

However, I’m still finding it difficult to do all of these things with complete strangers. I still want to work on initiating conversations strangers and inviting acquaintances to do things (in other words, making new friends). Ultimately, I am on the right track. Read More…

April 2, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Conquer Anxiety  One Comment

Honorable Mention vol. III – Mental Health

Hello and welcome to Street Saint’s third Honorable Mention. Once again, I have received content from bloggers all over the place and chosen all of the best and most relevant articles and placed them all here. In fact, I received so many submissions this time around that I wasn’t able to go back through and provide snippets like I usually do. :(

This month is “Mental Health March,” so all of the articles were on the topic of mental disorders, depression, anxiety, and everything in between. And since there were so many great submissions this time around, I’m going to have the same theme for April as well! I’ll have to think of a catchy alliteration for it. “Anxiety April,” sounds too depressing…

In any case, my picks are bellow! Enjoy! Read More…

April 1, 2010  Tags: , , ,   Posted in: Honorable Mention  4 Comments

Spring Break Reflection

As a result of my recent spring break excursions, I’m really starting to feel huge improvements on the social anxiety front. I’ve begun to realize after conversations with people how calm I’ve been. I haven’t freaked out when in uncomfortable situations and I haven’t felt the usual discomfort of not knowing what to say.

In terms of my anxiety goals, I already seemed to have knocked out 1) Speaking audibly and 3) Holding conversations. I have also noticed that I am more comfortable greeting people (though this is still a struggle), so I figure I can continue to focus on goal #2. Read More…

March 16, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Conquer Anxiety  2 Comments

Anxiety Goals

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about my social anxiety, and how it’s effected my quality of life. And in order to make the path to recovery more clear, I decided that it would be best to compile a list of specific things I wanted to work on.

As I mentioned in The Benefits of Introspection, it is helpful to identify all of the aspects of yourself you want to change and then work on them one at a time. Since social anxiety is a huge undertaking in and of itself, it makes sense to break it down further.

The following are the factors that I’ve decided to work on. Read More…

March 5, 2010  Tags: , ,   Posted in: Conquer Anxiety  No Comments

Goal Revision: Find a Life Partner

I’ve done a lot of thinking (and I mean a LOT) about this “Find a Life Partner” goal of mine and I’ve come to the conclusion that it needs to be reworked.

Yes, I want to enter a relationship, but I don’t want it to be forced. I haven’t exactly been trying to force anything at this point, but something about striving to find a “life partner” seems a bit insincere. I don’t want my companion (provided I actually succeed) to feel as though I am only getting with her because of my goal. If that were the case, I could probably just go to some bar or club somewhere and ask out every girl I see until one says yes.

I don’t want to resort to that. I am a Nice Guy after all. Read More…

February 17, 2010  Tags: , , , ,   Posted in: Conquer Anxiety  No Comments