Anyone here with diabetes have social anxiety ?

I wouldn’t say anxiety as such, but I do sometimes dread social gatherings where I know there will be food and I’ll have to endure the usual amateur dieticians telling me I’ll be dead before bedtime.

However, I understand that diabetes can bring about general anxiety in many people. Not sure of it’s a clinical thing or as a result of the stress of dealing with the condition.

Ryann1990 said:

does the diabetes make it worse ?

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I have social anxiety (always have had), but no the diabetes doesn't make it worse.
My social anxiety is I suspect caused by my aspergers rather than anything else

I have autism so don't cope well in big crowds , My anxiety disorder makes it worse also , but I actually have more confidence since losing weight as I was paranoid that people were calling me fat while out .

I have social anxiety but i wouldn't say it has been made worse by my diabetes, probably because I've never thought of diabetes as my fault or something to be ashamed of. Now, my arthritis has DEFINITELY made my social anxiety worse.

Social anxiety absolutely. Not so much linked to my T2 but with me being overweight it has exacerbated my arthritis which in turn has made me more reluctant to go to social gatherings or just into town. I’m of the mindset that I go out early or very late to avoid the crowds and then it’s do what’s needed then get back home. Ultimately it’s only me who can overcome this obstacle.

Ryann1990 said:

does the diabetes make it worse ?

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Yes. Yes it does.

And controling bloodsugars makes it a whole lot better. High bloodsugars affect moods too, so... Lower them and it improves.

I have better control, and with it, fewer panic attacks, and when I have one, it doesn't last anywhere near as long.

I don't usually talk to people. That I do here is a bit of a miracle.

JoKalsbeek said:

Yes. Yes it does.

And controling bloodsugars makes it a whole lot better. High bloodsugars affect moods too, so... Lower them and it improves.

I have better control, and with it, fewer panic attacks, and when I have one, it doesn't last anywhere near as long.

I don't usually talk to people. That I do here is a bit of a miracle.

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There isn’t really the face to face aspect here though is there?

Type-2-Havent-A-Clue said:

There isn’t really the face to face aspect here though is there?

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Doesn't matter. People are people. And they scare me so much I can't even have a job or go outside on my own. Don't usually use a phone, hate to chat/messenger/whatsapp... Face to face doesn't matter. But this is relatively safe, because I actually know a thing or two about T2... And when I was first diagnosed as one, my depression got so much worse... All I wanted was to hear I could do something, anything, to control this, have some *hope*. In my mind, I had one foot in the grave, and amputations in my future. On the Dutch forums I gathered enough courage to ask for reassurance, and all I got was crickets. They were as lost and scared as I was. This place is different.

...Now I know things. Most importantly, I know there is hope. So if I can tell as much to a newbie before they spiral into the same depth of depression I had...

JoKalsbeek said:

Doesn't matter. People are people. And they scare me so much I can't even have a job or go outside on my own. Don't usually use a phone, hate to chat/messenger/whatsapp... Face to face doesn't matter. But this is relatively safe, because I actually know a thing or two about T2... And when I was first diagnosed as one, my depression got so much worse... All I wanted was to hear I could do something, anything, to control this, have some *hope*. In my mind, I had one foot in the grave, and amputations in my future. On the Dutch forums I gathered enough courage to ask for reassurance, and all I got was crickets. They were as lost and scared as I was. This place is different.

...Now I know things. Most importantly, I know there is hope. So if I can tell as much to a newbie before they spiral into the same depth of depression I had...

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That’s a very courageous outlook! You won’t go wrong here

I've had social anxiety since I was about 13 years old and can't say that getting Type 2 made it any better or worse. I'm fine 1 on 1 with people in face to face situations, but any group bigger than about 2 people, esp. people I don't know, I have real problems. I also loathe speaking on the phone, again esp. with people I don't know. When I was a lot younger, I tried all sorts of things to try and overcome it; now I'm older I just accept it and avoid those situations as best I can.

I think that social anxiety is such a personal thing that ANYTHING can make it worse. Anything at all.

I have social anxiety as part of my Aspergers mix. I don't interact with people if possible so I can't say that my T2 adds to my anxiety. Like @JoKalsbeek I interact with more people here than 'out there', and that isn't a lot either

Indy51 said:

I've had social anxiety since I was about 13 years old and can't say that getting Type 2 made it any better or worse. I'm fine 1 on 1 with people in face to face situations, but any group bigger than about 2 people, esp. people I don't know, I have real problems. I also loathe speaking on the phone, again esp. with people I don't know. When I was a lot younger, I tried all sorts of things to try and overcome it; now I'm older I just accept it and avoid those situations as best I can.

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Wow - you could be describing me.

I used to have social anxiety when in my teens the thought of meeting new people or going to crowded places used to make me feel physically sick. Then I joined the Air Force talk about facing your fears I got over it pretty quickly no choice but still even now there is a remnant of it new situations and people and crowded places still make me nervous that queasy feeling in the pit of your stomach but diabetes does not play a part in that or I don't think it does.

I'm going to give you my version of social anxiety from a RH er!
I have always been an outward social person because of my lifestyle, interest in sport and music, always in big crowds and I was in charge of my workforce in a factory. I had to be a social person, I trained other people in a lot of aspects of teamwork.
I have a large family!
So, at the time of retirement, I was already seeing my moods change as I became less healthy, my needs to be social went really inward and the worse I got health wise, the more I wanted to retreat into my own world. My anxiety started to go through the roof, but I still had to go and work, but I wasn't me, I was reticent about approaching people or even avoided talking. My memory was not as it should be, and I felt embarrassed by my weight and forgetting things, names or jobs or tasks that I should have done.
I was always relieved to get back to my comfort zone in my house.
I stopped going to away games, I stopped coaching football.
I was becoming recluse.
For a few years, I wasn't me, I missed family commitments. I just hid away, even going to the local shop became a chore. The wife becoming disabled and the battle to get anything done or help didn't help my mood swings.
I was anxious, second guessing, trying to find answers to why I felt awful and tired, sleeplessness, irritability and the anxiety getting worse, to a point where I would hate anyone including the wife asking me anything, I just couldn't be *****
I hated everything and everyone, I was angry, raging at times, always worrying about everything and everyone, it was my own personal hell!
My hypo hell!
These symptoms of my Reactive Hypoglycaemia, were fuelled by bad dietary advice and my hyperinsulinaemia. I was spiking and then going hypo day in day out,!

After I got a true diagnosis of what was happening to me.
I stopped the rollercoaster!
My blood glucose levels became normal.
The spikes and hypos stopped.
My health got better.
The anxiety began to abate.
The other symptoms decreased, I started to become me again!

It was the carbs, I was carb intolerant!
It was so called healthy foods that was causing the hell I was in!
As my health issues improved so did my anxiety.
I became more social and even though my anxiety didn't go completely, I was able to start going out and talking to people without regret or asking myself why!
I was two years ago just another body, who was socially awkward and preferred to work alone. Now I am a integral part of the staff, that is socially interactive, having to work under pressure and talk and make decisions about different things different days, important decisions. I am back! No second guessing, knowing what I have to do, organised, sociable!
And, I actually smile now and again and it's not wind!

I would never want to go back into my own private hypo hell.
But I still like my own company for a few hours a day, especially after a hectic day!