I copied and pasted these from a thread where poeple were posting their "you know you have SAD when" experiences. First of all what a great thread, i related with so many it made me feel a lot less alone in my struggle. I just wanted to point out the similarities between SAD and Schizophrenia these are all common SAD "thought sequences" but they are very similar to(yet much milder than) schizophrenic delusions of persecution. Schizophrenic hallucinations often involve seeing eyes watching you and constantly being watched or scrutinized(under surveillance). Obviously they are not the same disorder but its possible they have the same genetic predisposition and only differ because of life experiences and other environmental factors. For example someone who felt like people were always watching their every move, might interperet that as being under surveillance its a very fine line. incidently the endocannabinoid system seems to have some regulatory role in it in my opinion. People all have delusions, the severity and subject matter are the only differences. here are a few of the common "thought sequences".
You know you have SAD when...
When you internally narrate the terrible things everyone simply must be thinking about you, obsessively
you think people are noticing your every move
...you stare at the ground everytime you see someone from afar and constantly repeat to yourself(on your head AND even sometimes whispering)"leave me alone,just leave me alone,leave me alone,leave me alone please leave me alone..." and you feel like you are close to death when they pass you by on the streets.
Don't use buses because you think everyone is watching you walk to a seat.
Everytime you eat, you bring an enormous stack of napkins, and wipe your face after every single bite, thinking that theres debris hanging.
when you are watching a movie with some one, and the character makes a fool of him self, and you think the person with you is thinking you are as idiotic as the character of the movie.
you are making a new friend for the first time in years, but constantly think that they are making fun of you behind your back and don't really want to be your friend (so you end up sabotaging it yourself.)
When you're walking into town and think everyone is looking at you (and that includes people in cars...)
you can't concentrate or even sit still in class because you think people are thinking bad things about you
You constantly hope no one finds out that you somehow 'don't belong here', like you snuck past some bouncer just to get into your car.
You feel like someone is watching you 24/7 UNLESS you are inside your room, door closed
I really feel like its important to get all your feelings like this that you harbour inside yourself down on paper and to go over them rationally with someone you trust. This is the idea behind CBT and it helps for SAD and Schizophrenia. Seriously make a list of all the things you "know" people are thinking about you or whatever it might be and go over it with someone who you know will give you the truth. My running theory is that people are only gentically predisposed to develop thoughts/feelings like these lots of ppl with the same genes don't develop them so they can be changed.
You know you have SAD when...
When you internally narrate the terrible things everyone simply must be thinking about you, obsessively
you think people are noticing your every move
...you stare at the ground everytime you see someone from afar and constantly repeat to yourself(on your head AND even sometimes whispering)"leave me alone,just leave me alone,leave me alone,leave me alone please leave me alone..." and you feel like you are close to death when they pass you by on the streets.
Don't use buses because you think everyone is watching you walk to a seat.
Everytime you eat, you bring an enormous stack of napkins, and wipe your face after every single bite, thinking that theres debris hanging.
when you are watching a movie with some one, and the character makes a fool of him self, and you think the person with you is thinking you are as idiotic as the character of the movie.
you are making a new friend for the first time in years, but constantly think that they are making fun of you behind your back and don't really want to be your friend (so you end up sabotaging it yourself.)
When you're walking into town and think everyone is looking at you (and that includes people in cars...)
you can't concentrate or even sit still in class because you think people are thinking bad things about you
You constantly hope no one finds out that you somehow 'don't belong here', like you snuck past some bouncer just to get into your car.
You feel like someone is watching you 24/7 UNLESS you are inside your room, door closed
I really feel like its important to get all your feelings like this that you harbour inside yourself down on paper and to go over them rationally with someone you trust. This is the idea behind CBT and it helps for SAD and Schizophrenia. Seriously make a list of all the things you "know" people are thinking about you or whatever it might be and go over it with someone who you know will give you the truth. My running theory is that people are only gentically predisposed to develop thoughts/feelings like these lots of ppl with the same genes don't develop them so they can be changed.
via Social Anxiety Forum http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/forum/f26/correcting-delusional-thinking-325057/
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