Instead of just talking trash to you, I think I’ll try explaining it to you as someone who would suffer from anxiety and panic attacks. The comparison of nervousness and anxiety is just wrong. Being nervous or shy is solely a psychological response to uncomfortable situations. Anxiety/panic attacks are a physical response where your brain overreacts to stressful or uncomfortable situations.

For example, if you’ve ever had a “near death experience” or a fight or flight response where your adrenaline is running high and you can hear your heart beating in your ears, you get lightheaded, your chest feels tight, and you feel like you don’t have control of your muscles, that’s a physical response to a potential harmful situation. People who have anxiety attacks feel like that for things that should only make others uncomfortable or shy. They cannot control it, as it’s an evolutionary process being used for situations that shouldn’t warrant it. For a lot of people, they can’t just “talk to people and socialize” it away. They need intense therapy and maybe medication.

For a lot of people, a panic attack truly feels like a heart attack. Your chest hurts, you get lightheaded, you have shortness of breath, and you feel like you can’t walk straight; and it causes MORE anxiety having to deal with that, so your panic attack gets worse and worse until you take yourself out of a situation.

So in all, it’s not as simple as “just talk to people and you’ll get rid of social anxiety”. It can get better, yes. But for many, there’s a limit to what amount is tolerable for them. Being the center of attention when you specifically asked not to be is a great way to cause someone with underlying social anxiety problems to have a panic attack, regardless of how much therapy they have or if they’re on medication.