Dear AzulOscura,

What a wonderful topic. Thank you so much for starting it. Hopefully many people will see it and share their achievements regarding social anxiety.

I used to be afflicted with severe, severe social anxiety. A psychologist taught me a little trick. I thought his idea was crazy but I tried it and it helped me to much.

He told me to imagine myself as an alien from another planet sent to earth to observe and learn about human behavior. Anything I learned in a social interaction would be a great achievement, prize and treasure. If I went into a social situation and was ignored... Great, I derived information for my planet. If I was in a social situation are treated rudely...Great, more information for my planet. If I approached a stranger and tried to start a conversation and was rejected . . . Great, even more information.

No matter what happened to me in a social situation, it was a win-win situation for me because my secret goal was to acquire information for the people of my planet.

For me, anxiety is related to the possibility of threats to my self-worth, identity or survival. But when playing this game, my self-esteem is tied to my secret mission as an alien, so my self-esteem and survival is invulnerable.

By turning my social anxiety into a game like this, it took the stress and pressure off of me. This turned into a great achievement for me personally since my fear of social situations decreased and decreased.

I hope others will share their successes. Thanks again for starting this topic!

Sincerely yours, Yao Wen