Social Anxiety is Real

Social anxiety is real. Social phobia or anxiety affects up to one-third of individuals with ET, according to Schneider’s study reported in the May issue of Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Whether you’re anxious to walk outside your home, worried about what the girl next to you in class is thinking about your shaking hands or meeting your significant other’s family for the first time, anxiety is real. Having tremors plus anxiety is like wearing your anxiety as a logo on your t-shirt!

Many people with ET experience social anxiety;” a form of anxiety experienced as shyness or a fear of public places, performance, public speaking, social situations, interactions with others, and being evaluated or scrutinized by other people. The term social anxiety also is used to describe anxiety brought about by anticipating embarrassment or shame.”

Tremors are impossible to hide when your anxious or emotional. Even after you have calmed down it still takes a moment to let your body relax and for the tremors fade away, if they do. There are often individuals who have so much social anxiety they get to a point where its takes over and they don't want to partake in social outings or gatherings. Besides the obvious physical disability that interferes with writing, feeding, dressing or other activities of daily living, essential tremor often is a cause of embarrassment. Shaking in public makes individuals feel embarrassed, which in turn aggravates the tremor, creating a vicious cycle.

There is no simple way to overcome the social anxiety that can accompany a visible handicap of any sort. In my opinion, the key to overcoming is acceptance and acknowledgment. Once you can accept your condition and learn to acknowledge that only your opinion matters and no one else's; then the social anxiety begins to fade away.

#socialanxiety #essentialtremors #anxietyisreal #justbreathe #essentialtremorawareness #ETawareness #nosimpleanswer #vulnerabilityisbeauty #strengthisbeauty #loveyourself #ET101 #girlwithtremors

Comments

Deep Brain Stimulation: Have you ever considered it?

Have you ever considered Deep Brain Stimulation? That question threw me for a loop this past week during my most recent Neurologist appointment. I have been asked this question by a handful of people but I hadn’t paid much thought to it until this week Deep brain stimulation. DBS. Brain Surgery. Drilling into my brain. “A Brain Pacemaker.” Neurostimulator. Neurosurgeon. Electrodes. Just a very small handful of the thoughts running through my brain over this past week. The definition of Deep Brain Stimulation is a neurosurgical procedure involving the placement of a medical device called a neurostimulator (often referred to as a brain pacemaker) which sends electrical impulses, through implanted electrodes, to a specific targets in the brain for the treatment of various movement disorders. Heavy stuff, right? Average female in their mid/late twenties isn’t weighing the Pros and Cons of brain surgery. But hey, I am definitely not someone ...

Essential Tremors: Bodybuilding

M ore than 200,000 people are diagnosed with Essential Tremors each year. Essential Tremor, also known as ET, has no known cause yet is the most common movement disorder. ET is distinct from but often misdiagnosed as Parkinson’s disease, although some patients do have both conditions. ET and Parkinson’s patients can both benefit positively by the integration of physical activity into their daily routines. I recently came across a research study that studied the effects of strength training on individuals with Essential Tremors. Their goal was to see if when ET patients incorporated just a seemingly minimal amount of training into their weekly routine, could it help their symptoms of essential tremor?’ These symptoms they defined as dexterity and reduction of their tremor . The exercises included bicep curls, wrists flex and wrist extensions. All done with dumbbells and on both the most affected and least affected limb. Th...

Living With Essential Tremors

If you're reading this, I would like you to do me a favor. Don't worry, I'm not about to give you a tutorial of where the "Donate" button is located. Seriously though, let's imagine, ok? Now start nodding, don't stop. Tense your neck and shoulders, now bounce your legs and maybe begin to shake your hands, keep nodding. Hard to do? Possibly annoying or maybe getting a little painful? You can stop now, you probably already did. Now imagine doing all the above while getting dressed or eating lunch, in public. This is a very small example of the life of a someone with tremors. Hi, I'm Erika. I've had 'diagnosed' ET (Essential Tremors) since I was 13; currently I am 25. I have decided to begin this blog as a steppingstone towards my goals for my future. Raising awareness about Essential Tremors and movement disorders has been a passion of mine since I was very young. I began a support group at age 18, meeting almost every othe...

Tremor Chat

Search This Blog