Social Anxiety and the Benefits of Steemit
I'm Changing
My first week on Steemit has been full of good vibes, some enlightenment, and personal development. I noticed something today: I'm behaving a bit differently and I need to talk about it.
Steemit has immense therapeutic value in the form of positive feedback, encouragement to contribute and develop ideas, and acceptance of variety.
I have had social anxiety in varying degrees for about 15 years. I can identify a specific set of events which triggered it, but that's a story for another time. The everyday impacts on my life have decreased over time, especially since I'm no longer in school, but it is still an ever-present little monster.
I have been in and out of treatment for it with some results, but not to the degree I desired. Perhaps I wasn't fully committed to following through. But...
Today, while going about the usual business, I was a bit... better. To the extent that others actually pointed it out to me!
Steemit is slowly reconditioning me and that's so incredible. Some of the changes I've noticed are:
- it's a little easier to contribute to conversations
- I'm more comfortable in public
- my general mood is a little brighter
- I'm slightly more prone to speak first
- I'm sleeping less (haha)
The heart of Steemit is in genuine interaction with the aim to improve oneself and others. I have had nothing but positive interactions... with strangers. I don't do that. This is a big deal.
This is a life changer.
If you have social anxiety and want to talk to someone that's familiar with it, I'm here. The best way to contact me is probably the PAL discord channel. I'm cobloc. If you have any advice for me, I'd love to hear it as well.
If you would like to do some more reading on social anxiety, here is a good article: What is Social Anxiety?
You can make it, I'm sure.
via GIPHY
This is great!! I'm happy to hear that you have noticed these changes and commend you for being so open. It's fascinating to me that an online community has had such a big impact on someone's social intelligence. For some reason, I feel as though Steem welcomes people for who they are. I struggle with traditional social media because most of it is a facade and doesn't represent who people are and what they are truly going through in life. Sometimes just by looking at Instagram I get an uneasy and anxious feeling which normally leads to putting the phone down immediately. Anyways, enough rambling. I'm happy for you and intrigued all at once. Thank you for sharing that.
Facebook: "This is the best of me."
Steemit: "This is me."
Never really had outright social anxiety but definitely am more introverted by nature so I can somewhat empathize. Your openness on this is refreshing. You can also feel free to DM me any time on Discord to chat about whatever. I love the positive feedback and relationships we've been making on Discord as well. Cheers friend. /followed.
Likewise. I plan to make this all about me. Yeah, I'm making something about me. ( I'm talking to myself to you...)
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This is such a great post cobloc. I'm really happy to hear your positive progress. I hope to achieve some postive changes myself in the areas you have outlined.
Regards
Cyberscriber
I appreciate the response. I hope you do, too. And welcome to Steemit!
thank you!
Come to think of it... I've been here for many days, but so far... I've not been barbecued yet. o.0
I think you're right! Something VERY strange is going on, here!