I used to have really bad social anxiety, and separation anxiety when I was away from my family. It took me until I was 15 to go to my friends (yes, even my BFF for over 10 years) houses on my own. I'm so much better now though, and I find it a lot easier to talk/approach people. But I do still panic when I'm introduced to someone new!
I wouldn't call myself 'shy' as much as I am 'weary' or 'not social'. I don't mind talking to people irl, but I've had a lot of bad experiences with people, so I mostly keep to myself. Online I am WAY more social.
As a kid, I would always stammer and talk rapidly to the point where nothing I said made any sense. Eventually, I decided to simply look into the person's face and talk honestly in a monotone. I stopped doing that and started to avoid eye contact later on because I realized I was making people uncomfortable. Some time later, I just said **** it and stared them in the face and try to sound convincingly like a normal functioning human being and not a robot.
I had bad social anxiety but I sorta got pushed into situations. The thing about High School is you usually end up not caring about what others think and making friends. I remember senior year being a big year for me because I made a ton of people laugh and smile because I just started talking. I ignored the "maybe they secretly hate me" thing because that's just being paranoid.
Now, I have no trouble ordering from a cashier or talking to customer service. I do have issues talking to some cuties and people I know that hate me or maybe I hate them.
Edit: Weird advice you don't have to follow. I found asking the person questions about themselves keeps a conversation going.
Yeah i am in public but at school i sometimes do crazy things but feel awful afterwards for putting myself out there. I also reeeeaaally do not like to be videoed, photos i can handle (barely) but videos i just cant.
I dont think i was always like this, but then again a lot of things about me have changed.
