Should I talk to a therapist about my social (anxiety and other) issues?

aw user, none of that is bad, therapists are trained to talk to serial killers and rapists.
would it help to share a few points here just to get them off your chest and for you to get used to sharing things?

They talk to people who have worse issues than you trust me. If you've never been diagnosed you should go to a psychiatrist first. Never self diagnose. You could have a personality disorder that's affecting the way you think and act, and your anxiety could be acting as symptom of that disorder. Please please go get help no matter what your life may depend on it. Good luck user

>none of that is bad
idk, it's pretty bad. it's prevented me from having a normal or happy life for nearly a decade.
>would it help to share a few points here just to get them off your chest and for you to get used to sharing things?
Nobody wants to hear about that. It's honestly so pathetic and I've asked advice here before and people don't know what to do.

Shouldn't I see a therapist before a psychiatrist?

Also, why doesn't the reply window work on this board?

I wanna hear about it, user

If your having trouble making any relationships last and you can't quit porn, then I can almost say for certain that there's other things going on than just an anxiety disorder. Have you ever been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder by an actual doctor or are you just going off what you've read on the internet user? A therapist is not qualified to diagnose. Put it this way I went to therapy for seven years trying to treat what I thought was an anxiety disorder. Within six months of seeing my psychiatrist I'm feeling better than I ever have because I'm getting the right support for my addiction issues and my OCD

ok...
It's been sort of a spiraling downward cycle of issues.
>first 2 of the last 7 years were sort of a "oneitis" period where I "liked" several girls but was had too much approach anxiety to even talk to them let alone ask them out
>one of my "friends" told one of them in an extremely embarrassing way and kind of ruined my social life for the rest of high scool
>next three or so years I "went to college" but basically lived with my parents the whole time
>never invited to any parties aside from a few with old hs friends, and never any with girls
>did stem field and it was on a different campus so there were no women around when I was on campus (and lived off campus so I was rarely around people my age unless I purposely stayed on campus after class)
>approached women a few times but always spaghettii'd the conversation, so never asked one out, and could never tell if they were giving off good vibes anyways so..
>only ever received attention from a woman once, and it turns out she was trying to make friends because she's always had controlling parents, but she somehow already had a bf anyways
>realize that I'm not good looking at all, and I probably give off bad vibes (people leave wide spaces when I walk by and look away when I look slightly in their direction)
>the last two years were even worse
>got into really degenerate porn, stuff I never want to talk about
>got into porn focusing on self deprecation
>stopped approaching women altogether, after all what was the point when I never had success or a good experience?
>eventually got interested in bi and gay stuff
>started talking to guys, I guess it's just so much easier to get attention from guys than from girls and I was lonely
>started crossdressing, starting off to see if I could impress guys with it, but later on got into it more for myself
>that worries me because I basically broke my sexual and gender identities all in a span of 6 months, in my early 20s
>still don't know what my problem is

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I'm scared of seeing a psychiatrist because they'll just put me on some sort of meds that will ruin my life even further. How can I even talk to one without that happening?

I should also add
>never made a profile on a dating site or app because too scared to (a big part is worried about people recognizing me and thinking I'm a loser for resorting to that, but also afraid of getting absolutely no responses)
>spent a long time browsing /lgbt/ and thought I was trans for awhile since it fit so many of the pieces, but I don't think that's the real issue in the end
>overheard my parents talking, and they thought I was gay for having no gf ever (which ironically turned out to be partially true later on) but it crushed my self esteem for months because my parents think of me as an abject failure
>get immensely depressed and jealous when I see people in a relationship of any kind, and it's gotten worse over time

>tfw people ask to hear your sob story, and when you post it, people are horrified and don't respond, reinforcing how sad and pathetic it really is
time to off myself desu

nope, just at work, will respond when I can user

also OP do you play any vidya

Be thankful you just have social anxiety an shit. I once had the same, thought it was bad and got over it. Then real anxiety with panic attacks hit - fucking dying, face, arms go numb, mimics stroke/heart attack.

You don't have to take anything you don't want to... A psychiatrist is just like a therapist they ask you questions and talk with you but they're more qualified in regards to diagnosing and treatment. I never used to leave the house, couldn't keep a job or a relationship, I had nothing. I went to get proper help now I'm employed full time, I'm engaged and happier than I've ever been.

Refuse medication if they suggest it. Check laws but where I am unless is a court order type of thing they can't make you. Don't bring it up and if they do say you would rather not take medication. If they persist, refuse.

If you want to get the most out of therapy, you have to be absurdly honest with them with literally everything. No matter how ridiculous or stupid they sound. You're their employer, and if they are going to help you in the best way they can, you have to tell them absolutely everything that is on your mind and in your heart. They're trained to sort through it, and they will, and they will help you.

ok

Sort of? I used to a lot but I just don't have the motivation for it anymore, and I know that it's bad for me so I try to avoid it too.

I still don't understand. A psychiatrist is there for for mental illnesses. Do you really think this might be a mental illness?

I'm just scared about getting thrown out or worse for being pathetic and an incel, and I'm afraid of my parents finding out that I went to therapy, and I'm afraid of everyone else figuring it out too and realizing that I "tapped out" on life essentially.

Help
Do I start by telling a GP that I have anxiety or go elsewhere?
I know exactly what's causing my anxiety/stress but have been unable to neutralise those issues. Can a therapist make me better able to deal with those issues?
Are there obvious differences between anxiety and depression? I think I just have anxiety, for now.
Is treatment likely to involve meds? I'm already taking various meds for other physical health issues. Are non pharmaceutical treatments effective?
I have low libido, likely due to prolonged stress. Will this resolve itself once the anxiety is addressed?

That dude's priorities are completely out of order. He's worried about therapist boners? The fuck? Every doc I've had looked like a third grade teacher. You should try to find a same sex therapist so they can relate to you better.

I've been seeing a therapist for roughly 6 months now but there's no progress on my depression and/or social anxiety issues whatsoever. I'm afraid that if I change the therapist, my next one will be even worse. Most of the counselors in my area are some old people. I doubt they'll be able to even comprehend my problems, let alone give me an advice on how to go about it. They are from a different generation.

Ask your gp if you should see a therapist?

There's nothing wrong with getting a second opinion.

I met one for the same reason and the first thing he told me is don't do research on your own or don't self diagnose.

If you have anxiety you need medication, if you have stress you need therapy. Stress reduction texhniquesbinvolve sort of desensitizingg you to the stressor and sensitizing you to the beliefs that you can move onward and through all that puss fulled goo that you call people. Generally the issue is that when you want to belong to therapists group, you have to deal with therapists day to day as a sort 'what to expect when expecting' and know ahead of time that causation does not imply correlation but it sure as shit comes off that way. So when you deal with therapy you understand that tjere are no legal ramifications to her or him conducting themselves inapproproately with a whiny douche that they know goes on Jow Forums because ad revenue and marketing societies work that way now. Similarly if you decide not to you should understand that people work that way too. If something or someone stresses them out it should be pretty clear that when you encounter another form of the same thing in another person it wont be the same thing and realizing that is the first step to battling, properly, any kind of stressor to away from anxiety and more towards resolution. Without the stressor then youll have to make sense of the anxiety to what your person regards itself in dealing with that anxiety as a stress agent, so that then you can. More properly apply your sense of time, schedules and journals and such, to comply with a more sensible outcome of the sense of that time to properly put yourself away from it whether on accident bc you already list that time with them and they are stressing over texts or bc you have managed to move away from the situation by putting yourself in more positive, as in good, situations.

If youll believe me your libido problems are from your diet. Stop eating the meats, inflaming your asshole and leaking nasty shit into your digestive system and make more productive choices like learning a new appetite or eating more vegetables and having fewer whole meals. Snacks. Snacks. WT Snacks.

i had the worst anxiety in an area where people don't even know that's a thing. completely ineffective towards girls, 4 semester in University and barely exchanged 10 sentences with girls.
finally starting leaving all the bad habits that I think were the root cause including porn and mastrubation. when things started getting a little better I met a psychologist and currently on meds and things are a lot better than they were. my advice to all is don't do self diagnoses, that's what the professionals are for.

pseudoscience