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How It’s Like to be at a Party with Social Anxiety

This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at WMU chapter.

“Hello. Don’t mind me, I am just here to stand in the corner and observe.”

 

Parties aren’t for everyone. Especially when you’re the one in the crowd who would rather be at home watching Netflix.

 

Do I take my shoes off at the door?

Where do I put my stuff?

Do I know anyone here?

Where should I stand?

What should I do?

Dance? Eat? CRY?

 

I sometimes feel like I want to talk to everyone. Running around the party introducing myself to people and making friends. But that’s only when the alcohol hits me.

 

I’m the one at the party who’s looking for a dog to pet. Or a human to talk to that wont make me feel intimidated. I am just trying to enjoy my time but my anxiety is screaming at me.

 

I would like to think I can make new friends at parties, but parties are not a place to make friends. Well not for me. Yeah I could socialize with new faces but I would rather cling onto my friends like leaches. They can’t leave my side, because then I would be alone. At a party filled with people, I would be left alone and that is just not for me.

 

I think I’ll just stay home tonight. No worries and no troubles. I’ll be able to do whatever I want to do without judgment. Listen to what I want to listen to and talk to whom I want to talk to.

 

It’s funny. I go to music concerts and sporting events all the time. It’s my favorite place to be, but when it comes to partying.. you won’t see me there. Unless it’s my birthday party. I would never miss my own birthday party.

I am a senior at Western Michigan University studying all sorts of things. Film, Video, and Media Studies Major with minors in Journalism and English: Rhetoric and Writing Studies. I can basically do it all.. You can normally find me dancing my booty off to live music, yelling at the Detroit Red Wings through the TV screen or trying to be crafty. I like to write. I like to take photographs of nature on my fancy camera. And I like to pet my cat.