Hello, my name is Nat! This blog was, and to some degree, is still about sharing my experiences with social anxiety and general anxiety, but I also write about lots of other things too. You may notice I blog daily about one topic or another. Believe me when I say that I am not this active in order to gain more followers. It’s not a contest to me. I write because I enjoy writing and because it keeps my mind busy with thoughts and ideas. Blogging a lot is also a unique challenge for me to push myself, to test my limits, and most importantly, to connect with other people.
Thank you for visiting my blog, and feel free to reach out to me with any comments or thoughts. You can find information on this page about how to contact me privately.
Don't mind me, I'm justanervousgirl. 
Hi Nat,
You have a lovely blog.
and I thank you for liking my post, its a great motivation from people like you.
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Hi Nat,
Nice to meet you here via Brandon knoll on his blog ‘Chaotic Shapes’.
Thank you for liking a comment on one of Brandon’s posts.
I have been blogging since end of 2017 and my site is evolving just like me. Today I had a lightbulb moment when I realised I could find your website from your gravatar link. ‘Lightbulb moment’ will be the title of my next post linking with Brandon’s paintings/sketches.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Take care
Margaret.
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I am pleasantly surprised but happy I inspired you. 😊 Nice to hear from another blogger out here in the world of WordPress.
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🙂
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Hey Nat, Good of you and keeping it up… I love your blog which makes me to create my own… Lovely Blog Nat
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You have a very lovely blog! It’s nice to meet you. 🙂
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Thanks Phoebe! 🙂
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HI
Thank you so much for finding my blog and liking a post.
Trina
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No problem, I enjoyed your writing. ☺
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Thank you so much
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Nat, have you done your Myers-Briggs out of interest? (www.16personalities.com) I’d be curious to know what yours is, if you don’t mind sharing of course. I’m an infp. I’ve been diagnosed with depression and anxiety previously and – as you read in a recent post – have suspected that I have some degree of social anxiety. I’ve been wondering whether I’m on the bipolar spectrum, too.
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Surprise, I’m also a INFP. ☺ I did two posts sharing some of the results I got from 16personalities.com, but it was mainly stuff I felt sounded most like me or I could most relate to.
As I am someone who has not yet had a professional diagnosis, may I ask if it has it been helpful for you to have a clinical name for what you go through? I am interested in getting diagnosed for the purpose of better knowing what exactly I fall on the mental health scale, it’s just I’m reluctant to reach out and find that level of support as I wouldn’t know the first place to look. I am very certain I have social anxiety, but in recent years I find myself terribly anxious even in some situations that doesn’t focus on socializing. So I wonder if I have a generalized anxiety disorder. I’ve also had symptoms of depression, but it fluctuates and I don’t know if it’s a symptom that arises because of my anxiety or if it’s actually depression in its own category.
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welcome to the club! 🤓 Oh I didn’t come across those posts, thanks for letting me know.
That’s a good question. I think different people feel differently about receiving a diagnosis/”label” for what they have. I’ll be honest, after a period of feeling really low and isolating myself, I went to see a psychiatrist really to put my mum’s mind at rest. He told me I had “a bit of depression and a bit of anxiety”… though I wasn’t convinced (as I hadn’t considered myself “unwell enough” to be given those labels). I was advised to have group therapy as well as 1-to-1. The former sounded particularly frightening, and it was interesting being exposed to lots of others (some inpatients, others ‘day visitors’ – like me – at the private hospital I went, 2-3 days a week for about 4 months). It was only there, when I met others with all sorts of diagnoses (depression, anxiety, ptsd, borderline personality disorder, bipolar, etc) – and noticed the similar personality traits, where I was like, wow, maybe I am meant to be here after all. I have another therapist now, and am on medication (sertraline) – after a period last year where I stopped therapy and the medication, and hit a dip again.
Have you been to see your doctor, or a psychiatrist – and do you feel comfortable doing so? Though I am by no means a professional, and so am not qualified to give advice, my instinct tells me that you might really benefit from talking therapy, on a 1-to-1 basis. I came across others in group therapy with social anxiety (when I didn’t realised I had it…) and, whilst group therapy was useful too (I particularly enjoyed art and drama therapy), it can be overwhelming to begin with. I hope that helps.
From what you have described (again, from a non-professional guy), you may well have some generalized anxiety and some depression, as well as the social anxiety you suspect you have… again, a psychiatrist would be your best bet to put a finger on it, and make recommendations from there. If, for whatever reason, you can’t see a psychiatrist or it’s too expensive, etc, I would really recommend trying a 1-to-1 therapist. With a therapist, it’s all about the personality/fit… you’ll know after a session or two whether they are right for you or not – and they are usually very open to seeing you for at least an initial ‘exploratory session’, as they understand that the fit is really important, and they might not be the right person for everyone!
PS. Sorry for the loooong essay
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Thank you so much for being open and blogging about your social anxiety 🙂 I have GAD, panic disorder, and emetophobia…not exactly the same struggles as you have but we’re all fighting a similar battle! I love coming across other bloggers who speak so openly about mental health.
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Thanks for dropping me a comment. Great to hear from a fellow blogger and someone who can relate to having struggles that are more than just a bad day or being withdrawn. Speaking openly about mental health can be hard, especially since I’d say about 80% of my experiences with it is not all sunshine and rainbows.
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Hello Nat, I am happy to check out your blog :). I think it takes courage to open up about social anxiety. As a very shy person I’ll be glad to read your posts and find connection.
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Thank you so much for your kind words. Every visitor and comment I receive means a lot to me knowing my words have reached people who need it. Writing about social anxiety is scary, for sure. I feel I can be at my most honest about my struggles on my blog but not as much in real life since I feel clumsy communicating the same ideas verbally instead of in writing.
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Hey Nat, thanks for stopping by Collectionofawesome.com and writing some actual comments. It makes my day when someone actually take the effort to write something. I often have moments of profound social awkwardness that I’m aware puts people off. So you aren’t alone. I think writing/blogging about it will help, even if it’s just to get things off your chest.
– Ben.
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Yes, I agree the blogging experience can be enriching with discussions going on in the comments section.
I’m thankful to be able to connect with people like you who get what I am going through. In the real world, I wouldn’t know how to begin a conversation about this stuff.
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Hi Nat! Although i am not diagnosed with social anxiety, I have been painfully shy ever since I was a kid and know exactly how you feel. I am glad to have found your blog as growing up I’ve never known anyone else as shy/socially anxious as me who I could relate to. It often felt like no one understood me. So thank you for sharing your story and creating this space 🙂
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Hello! 🙂 I’m happy to hear from you. When I first wrote my “About Me” page, I never actually thought anyone would stop by and notice what I was writing about. But I’m glad I was able to reach you and help you to not feel so alone in your shyness.
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Hi Emily! Thank you for nominating me. 🙂 I’m working on my own post as a reply to yours.
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Hi Nat. I saw you liked my review of Fangirl, and I decided to check out your blog. I love the idea of you sharing your experience with social anxiety, as it is pretty damn hard to do. So much of what you have said has resonated with me, because I go through the same things. I have mechanisms for coping, but sometimes it gets too much. So it’s nice to know there are people like me out there. You’ve got a new follower 🙂
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Hey there! Thank you for visiting my blog. I definitely try to check out other blogs under the social anxiety tag because it’s quite insightful to read how others experience social anxiety, and I find it is a great way to reach out to people through comments.
I really enjoyed your book review, and I just might check out that book sometime. I like reading for sure, though I’m not very good at managing my time because I often focus on many hobbies at once. I sill haven’t finished rereading my copy of the first book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, lol.
It means a lot to me that you say what I’ve written resonates with you. For a long time I suffered and thought I was the only one in the world with social anxiety. It’s good to know I am not alone.
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Hey Nat! I love the idea of your blog 😃In general I find talking things over or writing about them a good way to figure out what’s going on a it’s a chance to reflect as well. It’s also great that you want to be able to create a space where people can talk to each other. As someone who also struggles with social anxiety, I would love to be able to talk to other people and help them, or at least try to that is.
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Hi Emily! It’s nice to meet you. Thank you for visiting my blog. Definitely, writing about my struggles is a kind of therapy. It helps that my posts are public on here so I can get other people’s insights on my situation. Getting different perspectives about my anxiety issues can help me see things in a better light.
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I can definitely agree with that, and that’s one of the reasons why I want to talk bout my experiences with mental health on my blog. I know that I can be pretty one track minded so having the input of a bunch of other people could help. I mean I talk to my best friend about it all the time and she always helps me and gives me her honest opinion. But I feel like I annoy her from time to time because it’s always the same thing, different circumstances. That aside, I want to try to make a community in which we can feel safe to talk about anxiety and depression but also our mental health in general.
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