Posted by bluedog on December 8, 2002, at 10:23:03
In reply to Social Anxiety Disorder, depression and PTSD, posted by fuzzymind on December 8, 2002, at 4:04:03
Hi Fuzzymind
I have always been bullied no matter where I go. Suffering from social anxiety is like wearing a HUGE flashing neon sign that says "bully me" Sociopaths ( your so called "friend" definitely sounds like a sociopath to me) seem to have an inbuilt radar that picks up on the weakness that social phobics have in relation to their fear and inability to stand up for themselves especially in public.
As for the rest of society, they don't read the signs quite as clearly but they do seem to sense something "odd" or "not quite right" about social anxiety sufferers and this leads to isolation and terrible amounts of anguish, suffering, loneliness and depression for those with social anxiety.
I literally FELT every word that you wrote about your experiences and related them to my own experiences to this very day. All I can say is that you are not alone. Also, you will discover that not everyone in this world has cruel intentions and that you should associate with friends who are truly supportive and accepting of you as a person and who will not judge you in any way. You just need to learn to recognise at the very beginning of any relationship whether or not someone will be truly accepting of you (Yes, yes!!! I know this is much easier said than done but you have to try)
As for your so called "friend" the only advice I can give is to read the information contained in the following links. I found this information extremely helpful in understanding the processes that were going on when I was being bullied and I hope it can give you some insight and some clues as to some coping strategies you can adopt to try and protect yourself from the sociopaths in this world.
see http://www.successunlimited.co.uk/bully/serial.htm#Introduction and
http://www.successunlimited.co.uk/bully/amibeing.htm
thinking of you and wishing you all the best
bluedog
poster:bluedog
thread:130982
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20021203/msgs/130999.html