I had it... I don’t know if what I went through back then (2017–2019) was actual social anxiety, depression, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, or a mix of all, but it was awful. I wouldn’t wish that shit on anyone.
This blog helped me a lot because a psychiatrist helped me understand how it all snowballed and what "the cure" was. It’s crazy how many people around the world struggle with social anxiety today, and what’s even worse is that some don’t even realize they have it because it’s an undetectable form.
The way I see it, and probably the way I developed a so-called social anxiety, was through heavy social media use—especially Facebook. I quit Facebook in the summer of 2017, and a couple of years later, I felt like a normal human being again.
Does that mean everyone on Facebook has social anxiety? Of course not. I might not have even been that deeply affected, but social media is still a poison to humanity...
Sure, there’s useful info on certain platforms. I use Twitter a lot because I’ve learned so much in my journey as a crypto investor from CT, but social media also constantly shows us what we’re not, what we don’t have, and makes us buy shit we don’t need and do shit we normally wouldn’t.
I was out for coffee today, and someone at the table mentioned a rich man's daughter who was denied the new iPhone 16 Pro Max by her dad (I bet she already had a recent model that does exactly the same things), so she sold one of her expensive watches—something she got as a gift—just to buy the new iPhone.
Social media’s impact is so strong that even kids are brainwashed into believing they need an iPhone. A friend of mine’s daughter, who’s just eight, is desperate to have one. When I asked her why, she just said, “Everyone else has one.”
At her age, I doubt she’d develop social anxiety over not having an iPhone, but imagine being in your thirties, scrolling through the internet, seeing random people (some you don’t even know personally) traveling all the time, always rocking the latest iPhone, driving new cars, and dating hot girls.
At some point, that shit gets to you. You start feeling depressed—so depressed it actually hurts—because all you see when you look in the mirror are fake needs and unfulfilled desires. Instead of working to become a better version of yourself, you just end up dwelling on what you don’t have but wish you did.
Most of the things we truly need are actually free, yet we keep chasing things we don’t, and when they become more and more expensive and harder to reach, that’s when social anxiety kicks in. That’s how you end up with an illness that shouldn’t even exist in the first place...
What others have or do shouldn’t matter to you. Building the best version of yourself should be the priority, though...
Have a great Sunday, and see you all next time.
Thanks for your attention,
Adrian
