Social Anxiety

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Has anyone else ever been diagnosed with social anxiety? How do you overcome it especially if you also have ptsd and autism and panic disorder? How do you work through it or what medications help alleviate the symptoms? Any advice for me? I don't know if the medications not working because I also drink 1 cup of coffee and 1 or 2 energy drinks each day with my 80 mg of prozac and 100 mg 3x day of neurontin?

Cognitive behavioural therapy helped me with social anxiety, even though that's not what I was seeking therapy for. In fact, that's the only thing it helped me with. Maybe it's good for that?

being a hermit out in the woods. as far as what to take for it, Sativa pot tends to be an effective anti-anxiety agent when people need relief from anxiety quickly because it will inspire and energize them, allowing them to focus on other tasks and sensations. Conversely, for those with long-term anxiety who want gradual relief, Indica is a slower and more relaxed form of pot.

I have Autism, Agoraphobia, GAD, Panic Disorder, CPSTD, PTSD, and ADHD.
I don't do caffeine and I've never had an energy drink.

Neurontin made me horribly depressed and anxious so that was a no-go.
Everyone I know who's used it felt the same way.

I don't do SSRI either, just low dose ADHD meds.
SSRI always made me more anxious.

The only thing that helps me is trauma therapy.

I learned my triggers and figured out most of the anxiety I experienced was because I was forcing myself to try to do things my neurology is not set up to do (sensory processing disorder) I knew deep inside that my abilities and skills were not adequate to meet expectations of most others, and that I could not change a lot of that due to my neurology. I learned my abilities in "real time" interactions were impaired due to 25th percentile visual processing, and 35th percentile audio/hearing processing.

Once I adjusted the things I attempted to do to fit my abilities and my own skills and stopped trying to live up to the expectations of others, much of my anxiety went away.

See also "performance anxiety" and "learned helplessness"

I no longer go places where there are lots of people, loud background noises and music, nor do I "eat out" or go to bars, restaurants and other busy active noisy places.

It has reduced the sensory overload I experience. I limit my interactions with others to only a couple of compatible individuals at a time. I have learned scripts for doing grocery shopping, post office, doctors office, etc and with a long lifetime of practice, I have learned what to expect from situations that used to throw me into panic. Over my long lifetime, anxiety has got better.

I have social anxiety, but not Autism. I have never been diagnosed with the latter. I also have schizophrenia, and have received official diagnoses of this by multiple psychiatrists.

I used to get panic attacks frequently. But after years of this, I finally went on Lexapro 30mg. I am also on olanzapine (Zyprexa) 30mg. Since going on the Lexapro, I started out not having any panic attacks at all. I went on like this for years before they resurfaced again. Lately, I have been getting panic attacks maybe once a week for maybe 10 to 15 minutes each time. It's debilitating and demoralizing. It makes me feel totally powerless and out of control. Like there is nothing I can do about it other than endure it.

I should mention that 30mg of Lexapro is a rather high dose. I would not recommend anyone try this without prior consent and consultation by a psychiatrist. The meds make me feel pretty powerless, as well. So no matter what I do, I feel powerless.

I was dx'd with social anxiety, but I think it had more to do with being autistic than having clinical anxiety. I got over it by working customer service, which I don't think would have been the case if the underlying issue was anxiety.

That said, the way to overcome social anxiety is by baby steps. Taking small steps out of your comfort zone until your comfort zone is much bigger.