Social awkwardness, anxiety, or avoidance

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Social awkwardness, anxiety, or avoidance?
social awkwardness 24%  24%  [ 21 ]
social anxiety 23%  23%  [ 20 ]
social avoidance 39%  39%  [ 34 ]
other - please explain 15%  15%  [ 13 ]
Total votes : 88

Asp-Z
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09 Dec 2011, 7:28 am

dianthus wrote:
Which one affects you the most?

Social Awkwardness = making mistakes in social situations, difficulty reading signals from other people

Social Anxiety = fear of social situations, fear of being mistreated

Social Avoidance = would rather not interact with people, prefer being alone


I have all three.



Mummy_of_Peanut
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09 Dec 2011, 7:42 am

For me, the awkwardness led on to anxiety, which then made the awkwardness a lot worse, and the increased anxiety from this led on to avoidance. Awkwardness isn't so bad these days (and I don't really care anyway now) and my anxiety is now in check, as a result. So I no longer feel the need to avoid, like I did a few years ago. Social awkwardness, anxiety and a wish to avoid will probably always be a part of my life, but they are not disabling (until I go back out to work that is). I don't know which to pick, if all 3 had been an option, I would have gone for that.


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izzeme
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09 Dec 2011, 7:53 am

all of them for me, which one is the worst depends on the situation and my energy levels, if i'm feeling good and just in my dorms commonroom, it's mainly awkwardness, any bar/club triggers avoidance and places i dont know yet have anxiety as the main affector, but there is no time at which even one of the three does not apply



Tuttle
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09 Dec 2011, 11:12 am

I eventually decided to vote "other". Instead of any of those three its a combination of
"I actually don't know how to start" and being overloaded in social situations.



felinesaresuperior
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09 Dec 2011, 12:21 pm

i make mistakes in social situations and i fear being in social situations, but mostly i just prefer to be alone. oh, i've tried being with people in my twenties. i've tried and tried, but it just doesn't work. i'm very anxious and depressed and bored and frustrated and whatelse when other people are around me. i desperately need to be alone. i just like animals' company.
what's so great about being with people, anyway?



MathGirl
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09 Dec 2011, 12:22 pm

Social awkwardness only, really.


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Joe90
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09 Dec 2011, 1:44 pm

I selected ''Social Anxiety'', which also comes under Social Phobia. I worry too much of what others think of me, which makes me be someone I'm not. I can't help it, it's because I am too self-aware to not care about making a fool of myself, and I also fear social rejection and humiliation. I enjoy one-to-one conversations, and I do like chatting, and I like to have friends, and I'm not that bad at making and keeping friends, but what I do avoid is night socialising. I avoid parties, bars, anything like that, because that's when young girls are all dolled up with make-up on and are drinking and dancing and you're more expected to be social because that's what those sorts of environments are specifically for, and because I'm quiet and anxious, I fear that young people will sense this and might take the piss. It happens when I walk into a fashion shop, so it's bound to happen when I walk into a bar full of obnoxious youths. It just is not the environment that suits me, because I don't like drinking (it upsets my stomach), and I don't enjoy dancing, and I'm not very good with grooming myself and I'm no good at dressing up. I'd rather stay home, and just socialise with my own friends in the day (who are older than me and like me for who I am), and have nice peaceful nights in my house, which I call my ''comfort zone''. Well, I shouldn't have to explain myself here because other Aspies must know how I feel about this. :)


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readingbetweenlines
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09 Dec 2011, 5:03 pm

Social anxiety.
Hate parties and similar social gatherings.
Enjoy one to one interaction.
Small number of close friends.
Hate being stuck in a room with people in a room during training courses etc.
Just thinking about our open plan office makes me break out in a cold sweat.
Am interested in people though, esp. in what makes people tick.


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09 Dec 2011, 6:31 pm

I honestly feel like I suffer from all three equally.

I literary went though all three of those things today at work.



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10 Dec 2011, 12:32 am

Awkwardness when I was younger, which lead to anxiety and avoidance.



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10 Dec 2011, 1:16 am

Some submergence of social awkwardness and social anxiety. Its more like, I dont know how to do this little by little NT social interaction. And I have huge anxiety towards it so I remain aloof a lot of the time.


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10 Dec 2011, 1:01 pm

Social failure is such a big deal for me, and I hate it when people say ''don't let it be'', because I don't know how to not let it be. I can't stop the conscious thoughts that come with my social anxiety. They are hard to ignore.


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13 Dec 2011, 10:31 pm

I'm not sure how someone can just "decide" not to be socially anxious when so often people intentionally do things to make others uncomfortable for not being socially smooth. Besides, if what they do doesn't get to you, then they think you're intentionally being socially inappropriate, because you seem not to care what others think. So, when they say, "Don't let it get to you," they don't really know what they're saying.


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13 Dec 2011, 10:40 pm

Okay if I could do this poll over I would add:

social confusion
social overload



nick007
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13 Dec 2011, 11:05 pm

My awkwardness caused me to have lots of social problems that increased my anxiety & made me want to avoid more. I got a lot better with all 3 after I started working; I worked 28months in retail. My anxiety got even better after I started taking Buspar a few months ago. I think what's limiting me most now is caused by my history of not being social & having social problems. I don't get out much partly because I don't have friends to do anything with & I cant go out & make them on my own because I live in a rural area & cant drive so it's kind of a catch22


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13 Dec 2011, 11:27 pm

dianthus wrote:
Okay if I could do this poll over I would add:

social confusion
social overload


Both major factors for me, particularly the social overload.


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