“Pater” of Hasses aren’t only avocados sent me an email about my last post:
Very interesting largely because the fear you describe is something everyone feels just not all the time. For example meeting royalty or the big boss of your company would induce the same fear as you described in your fear of day to day dealings. I guess that makes the SA issue easier to understand for a non sufferer because it’s not outside their existence. What you suffer all the time, the non SA sufferer will suffer occasionally. Thanks for the enlightening post.
You’re welcome, Pater! Anything that helps others to understand can only be good.
Here’s another way I’ve heard it put. What’s the thing you’ve done that has scared you the most? Let’s say it’s standing on the edge of a cliff. Imagine standing there by yourself, looking all the way down to the sea, knowing that one wrong step will be the end. Imagine how you feel, your heart racing, your hands shaking.
Now imagine having to walk out and stand on that cliff for five minutes fifty times a day, every day of your life.
Miriam Drori, Author 
2 replies on “By George, he’s got it!”
Yes, horrible having to face it daily. I used to ‘cope’ at school, and then at work, by giving up even trying to speak because trying brought on heart pounding, sweating, shaking – and the frustration of feeling I just couldn’t do it. My silence caused others to think I was odd, unsociable, stuck up. I definitely wasn’t imagining that’s what they thought: I did get a lot of nasty remarks to that effect. But, hey, I’ve just noticed that I’m writing this in the PAST tense. Does that mean I did get over it? Well, no, not completely, but I have improved a lot, at least in most situations.
Well done!