I am a 18 year-old sufferer of social anxiety disorder. I can't
express myself. I have no control over my thoughts and feelings
when around people. I think that everyone is monitoring me for a
flaw in my appearance or attitude (or just about anything I can
think of about myself). Whether it's my clothes, the way I walk;
what I'm looking at; my facial expressions. I know logically that
the possibility of every person I see looking out for those flaws are
ridiculous; but in my mind, I can't help but get the feeling that they
are. It causes me a lot of stress and insecurity..
School for me is a living nightmare. It's where I experience the
most anxiety and emotional pain of my day. It's just a bunch of
running away and hiding -- hoping people don't see you and
make fun of you. I have this notion that everyone is against me
and dislikes me as a human being -- even some of my nicest
friends I'm suspicious of. I can't maintain conversation because I have this
constant belief that he or she is looking out for anything about me
to make fun of once I walk away. Even if there is one person walking by I panic just as much, yet
trying to look the most casual I possibly can. But from one look at
him I'm already convinced that he's being critical of me, so I try to
look comfortable and "normal" anyway.

@Poster i know how you feel..