61- Special edition 2 : Mental health awareness month (8) - poll

Hi everyone, as you know I suffer from social phobia. I created this blog to express myself and talk about my experiences and quest towards healing from this phobia.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, so I started posting specific entries for this month and created this quick interview which shall be featured in an upcoming post about awareness to Social Anxiety, to show that this is a very serious topic and that many suffer from it.

I want to show that there can be various causes to social anxieties and that each person is affected differently.

I hope to demonstrate that each individual finds tools to cope with this social anxiety or phobia.

As part of my own healing process, I want to raise some awareness and bring the community together, just like Kristen’s week on youtube, which have had tremendous success and an active participation from many vloggers.

I want people who suffer from mental illnesses in general, and social anxieties in particular, to help one another, because sometimes we all feel like we are alone in our little corner and it can be quite depressing at moments to feel that way. Yet, we may be able to shorten the great distances between us with the help of the internet, and that is partly the goal of this blog in general, and this questionnaire in particular.

I want to create more understanding between us and people who are so-called ‘’normal’’, as in ‘’not suffering from these issues’’.

You can choose to reply to the questions in two ways:

• First, you can just log-in and post your answers as a comment. Your name (or profile name) will  be displayed.
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• Second, you can email me at lulupetals@mail.com and I shall copy your replies if you prefer them to be anonymous – I won’t spam you or send you anything else than a thank you for your participation.

I need your replies by 27th of May, as I plan to publish the results of this survey with my own thoughts as a conclusion to May’s mental awareness on the 30+31/05.

And these are the questions :

Question 1: can you give me a quick background into the sources of your social anxieties?

Question2: how do your social anxieties affect your daily routines and interactions with people around you in your private and public life? How severe do you rate your anxiety?

Question3: have you sought professional help or treatment for your anxiety? if so, what kind and what was your general experience?

Question 4: do you do anything for self-help?

Question 5: do you openly discuss your social anxieties with your inner circle of friends and family, and co-workers? If yes, are there general reactions from people?

Question 6: do you wish people in general had more understanding and more empathy towards those who suffer from social anxiety or do you think it’s a private subject to keep to oneself?