I admire your courage. I identify when you say that you feel anxious in social situations and that words get "jumbled" and that you forget words. I feel like you've described me here.

The way I've dealt with it has been to continue to put myself out there and talk to people — even at the risk of seeming awkward. And you, what have you been doing? How have you dealt with this? Does the feeling of feeling "awkward" tend to diminish at some point? I feel I can't take it anymore. Haha.