i’m 20 years old and have pretty bad social anxiety (not diagnosed, but i have pretty much all of the symptoms to a high degree). i’ve always struggled being social and initiating conversation, but one thing i have been doing in recent months is going to parties/meetups with people on my uni course. obviously, i go to socialise, but since i feel anxious i dont really talk a lot and i use these events as sort of exposure therapy to get myself more used to hanging out with people i dont usually speak to. however, because i’m so quiet.. i feel like people assume i don’t want to be spoken to, when this couldnt be further from the truth. why would i be there if i didnt wanna be spoken to? so i usually leave feeling way worse than i did before and it’s doing absolutely nothing for helping my social anxiety. i’m not really sure what to do to make myself more approachable that doesnt push me too far out of my comfort zone, as for social anxiety you need to make small, realistic steps outside of your comfort zone to really make it work. i also feel like other people are spoken to way more than me and i dont know if its the way im presenting myself or if me being quiet is the issue. it’s so difficult bc i want to get better and recover from social anxiety which is why ive been doing this, but in reality it’s making me feel worse and i worry people dont like me bc i give off bad vibes or something. which i do have a resting bitch face, so that could be part of it. but anyway, i’m stuck