
Brittany93
New member
Hello!
I have suffered with social anxiety ever since I was around the age of 13 or 14 (I'm now in my mid-twenties). Over the past few years, I have noticed that my anxiety is basically unnoticeable while I'm at work, and yet almost constant in any situation outside of my job. I work as an x-ray tech, and I find it quite funny actually that my social anxiety is not an issue when I'm interacting with patients. As I'm sure that any of you who work in the medical field know, caring for patients involves A LOT of one-on-one conversation and physical interaction. Oddly enough, not only do I not feel nervous working with my patients, but I actually feel overly confident at times.
However, place me in a social situation outside of work and I struggle terribly. I find it hard to even make small talk with others due to the fear I'll say something stupid. If someone randomly comes up to me I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. I won't lie...even writing this gives me some anxiety. The one time I was asked out I almost had a full mental breakdown.
I'm just curious if anyone has ever dealt with a similar problem? Where you can function totally fine (for the most part) at work, but is a complete wreck in all other social situations. I guess for me, having a task to focus on (like taking an x-ray) is a distraction for me. When I have to be myself? Forget it!
Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks!
I have suffered with social anxiety ever since I was around the age of 13 or 14 (I'm now in my mid-twenties). Over the past few years, I have noticed that my anxiety is basically unnoticeable while I'm at work, and yet almost constant in any situation outside of my job. I work as an x-ray tech, and I find it quite funny actually that my social anxiety is not an issue when I'm interacting with patients. As I'm sure that any of you who work in the medical field know, caring for patients involves A LOT of one-on-one conversation and physical interaction. Oddly enough, not only do I not feel nervous working with my patients, but I actually feel overly confident at times.
However, place me in a social situation outside of work and I struggle terribly. I find it hard to even make small talk with others due to the fear I'll say something stupid. If someone randomly comes up to me I feel like I'm going to have a heart attack. I won't lie...even writing this gives me some anxiety. The one time I was asked out I almost had a full mental breakdown.
I'm just curious if anyone has ever dealt with a similar problem? Where you can function totally fine (for the most part) at work, but is a complete wreck in all other social situations. I guess for me, having a task to focus on (like taking an x-ray) is a distraction for me. When I have to be myself? Forget it!

Any thoughts or comments would be appreciated. Thanks!