just turned 33 never had girlfriend or sex...should i seek counseling

[fred44]

You need to fight your anxiety by confronting it. Practice being in uncomfortable situations, talk to strangers, ask a random girl out for dinner. It's the only way to overcome your anxiety. When you practice you will gain confidence.

Long story short, my wife has social anxiety also, had a desk job her entire life working on a computer. She was downsized last year and couldn't find work in her field. My father suggested her to get into sales, something she would never do because of her anxiety and reluctance to talk to strangers.

So one day I told her to get dressed, gather a stack of resumes, and we went cold calling car dealers to see if anyone was hiring sales people. The first place she walked into caused her an amazing amount of stress. Luckily, the sales manager was not around, so she just left her resume. But just this simple action of walking into a place asking for work was waaaaaaaay out of her comfort zone. But she survived and we went to the next place. Each place she walked into became easier. By the end of the day, on the last interview, the manager offered her a job. She has been working there since April and actually loves it and is outselling men that have been in sales for years! She learned a lot about herself and realized she actually loves the interaction with people, once she gained the confidence and overcame her anxiety. But the only way she did that was by confronting her fears.

[Nothere1]

I have social anxiety, you can't really beat it. I've been homeless before in which have done some very embarrassing things before, to name a few, shaving in parking lots or bathing in a Walmart sink. I can do these things when I need to but still get nervous around people. I have tried the flat out ask someone out on a date, it work great because I didn't care what they thought of me or if I made a mistake. If later I asked some out that I was actually interested in I still became very nervous. And to the OP, you think you have issues, not only do I have to try to get over my social anxiety but I can't be touched by a nother human with out freeking out due to my screwed up nerve system. The longest I can go is rough-housing with a nephew for 20 minutes and strangers are complete out of the picture, I get screwed up for days if I shake someone's hand. I would suggest a phychiatrist.