is shyness a mental illness?

Wow....

What are the guidelines of "shyness" that is being dicussed?

Look at the personality tests such as Myers-Briggs. According to that about 25% of the population is shy.

Are we talking fear of crowds, fear of answering the phone or door?

I agree with the moderator, take the anti drug rants and put them in a thread and group where they actually apply to the issue.

W

sincefour wrote:Wow....

What are the guidelines of "shyness" that is being dicussed?

Look at the personality tests such as Myers-Briggs. According to that about 25% of the population is shy.

Are we talking fear of crowds, fear of answering the phone or door?

I agree with the moderator, take the anti drug rants and put them in a thread and group where they actually apply to the issue.

W

This thread was originally posted in the anti-psych forum and was moved by the moderator. The author made comments objecting to it being moved but it seems the moderator wants to control what is discussed, by who and where.

If anything, it should be moved back to where the author originally posted it.

Shyness isnt a problem, chronic shyness is.

sadgurl wrote:Have you ever had a diagnosis with anything element?

just asthma. But no, I've never been to a doctor about that sort of thing, so I've never had a chance to be diagnosed. I sort of think that if anyone went to a psychiatrist, they'd eventually come out diagnosed with something, whether they have it or not. But that depends on the psychiatrist. One place I know of in our area sounds pretty good 'cuz they have two dogs that you can play with while you're in there to make you feel more relaxed, and I love dogs!! But I don't think I'll be going to a psychiatrist any time soon.

NO shyness is not always due to anxiety that's for sure, some people are just shy, i've always been a shy person ever since I was a child still am.

Just curious as to what brought element to the psychforums.



No not everyone would come out with a diagnosis if they went to go see a shrink... lol IF you aren't suffering from symptoms of anything like anxiety, depression etc, then they wont diagnose you or with it.

Shyness is not uncommon and doesn't mean you have social anxiety disorder.

Here is the article posted in the Antipsych Forum that seemed to prompt the author to start this thread.

Psychiatry's sick compulsion: turning weaknesses into diseases

By Irwin Savodnik

[Irwin Savodnik is a psychiatrist and philosopher who teaches at UCLA.]

...."The association specializes in turning ordinary human frailty into disease. In the last year, ads have been appearing in psychiatric journals about possible treatments for shyness, a "syndrome" not
yet officially recognized as a disease. You can bet it will be in the next edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, or DSM-IV, published by the association. As it turns out, the association has been inventing mental illnesses for the last 50 years or so. The original diagnostic manual appeared in 1952 and contained 107 diagnoses and 132 pages, by my count. The second edition burst forth in 1968 with 180 diagnoses and 119 pages. In
1980, the association produced a 494-page tome with 226 conditions. Then, in 1994, the manual exploded to 886 pages and 365 conditions, representing a 340% increase in the number of diseases over 42 years. "

http://www.psychforums.com/viewtopic.ph ... 8570a7bd96

sadgurl wrote:NO shyness is not always due to anxiety that's for sure, some people are just shy, i've always been a shy person ever since I was a child still am.

Just curious as to what brought element to the psychforums.



No not everyone would come out with a diagnosis if they went to go see a shrink... lol IF you aren't suffering from symptoms of anything like anxiety, depression etc, then they wont diagnose you or with it.

Shyness is not uncommon and doesn't mean you have social anxiety disorder.

At first i came 'cuz I thought I was bipolar, but I dont think so anymore. I get very badly depressed at times. I used to think about suicide a lot and I cut myself and hurt myself. And then the next thing I knew, I was feeling great!! It was up and down all of the time. And then finally after a year or so, things calmed down. I've stopped thinking about suicide for the most part. I usually don't want to hurt myself anymore either. But I still get really depressed sometimes. Like last night, i was miserable. But I think if something was wrong with me, I'm better now, 'cuz I don't have ups and downs like I did before. it ended sometime in october or so I think. I'm not sure exactly when.

maybe they wouldn't all be diagnosed, but I think everyone has problems and if you told a shrink about your problems, they'd think something was wrong. IDK. maybe not.

Yeah, I don't think anythings wrong with me 'cuz I"m shy. I just am. probably because I was homeschooled for so long. IDK.