11 Things People Don’t Realize You Are Doing Because You Have Social Anxiety
You visualize interactions before they happen. Whether it's a first date, or a group hangout, you visualize and imagine what you are going to say in your head beforehand and try to think of every possible scenario that could happen.
1. You can’t sleep soundly.
You replay and overthink your day to an unhealthy level. You never go to sleep feeling calm and your mind is always on high alert.
2. You never answer unknown calls.
Never mind answering the phone at all, but unknown numbers are especially nerve wracking for you. You always worry if it is someone from the past or someone who happens to not be fond of you, so you’d rather not pick it up at all.
3. You don’t exercise in front of people.
If you exercise, you don’t do it at the gym. You hate walking into a crowded place where people are looking at you and potentially judging you. You would gladly workout at home or with a personal trainer who won’t be checking out how fast you are running and judging you for it.
4. You despise being the ‘host’ of a party.
Whenever you are the host of your own birthday party or gathering, you constantly worry about what could go wrong, and think of all the scenarios that could turn the party into ruins. You also worry if other people will be having fun, and you are never happy with how everything is going.
5. You visualize interactions before they happen.
Whether it’s a first date, or a group hangout, you visualize and imagine what you are going to say in your head beforehand and try to think of every possible scenario that could happen. You try your best to plan out everything in your mind before it begins.
6. Holding eye contact with someone for too long makes you anxious.
Even with a good friend, but especially with a stranger, letting eye contact linger on feels uncomfortable for you. It makes you feel incredibly awkward, so you would rather not make eye contact at all.
7. You do anything to get out of confrontation.
You despise any type of confrontation no matter who it’s with. You would rather run from the scene instead of confront someone or have someone else confront you. Confrontation scares you to death, because you don’t know what the outcome will look like, and it’s not something you can dissect in your head.
8. You overthink everything you have ever said to your crush.
When you have a crush, you are more nervous than most people. You overthink your texts and your conversations so much, that it leaves your head spinning. You also overthink what they say to you, trying to figure out if they have feelings for you, or not.
9. You don’t do anything without planning first.
Plans make you feel more in control and more like you have the power to make an interaction a good and successful one. You always have to plan whatever activity you are doing next, in order to feel more at ease about social gatherings and conversation.
10. You have a small group of friends.
You aren’t comfortable with huge groups of people, and if you had too many friends, you would feel more stressed and overwhelmed. Your small group of friends is all you need to provide you with comfort and love. You don’t need a bunch of fake friends.
11. You fear situations and events days before they actually happen.
Whether it’s a holiday party or an anniversary dinner, you usually get wrapped up in what could go wrong and on what you could potentially say to ruin everything. It’s difficult for you to turn off those negative thoughts because social anxiety can have such a strong hold on you. 
