I consider myself as a shy person and suffering from social anxiety disorder to some extent. I am due to enlist for a 3 month term in the Army (which is obligatory in this part of the world). Although I am 41, it seems that I will have to do at least a reduced 6 week term. My problem is that while talking to friends who have been there, they describe what seem to be a nightmare for the socially anxious. To start with, the living quarters is basically a large room that sleeps anywhere from 30 - 50 people. The bathroom offers no privacy what so ever. On top of that the whole experience will be in Greek (which is a language I have yet to feel totally comfortable with as a first generation Greek, although I've been here for around 15 years and recenly aquired the nationality). I am just wondering if anyone in this Group has had to serve in the army at any point and what their experience was ?

This post has been edited by drowning: Apr 24 2008, 02:47 PM

I suffer from social anxiety and am sure I'd struggle with this...it is one way of facing you fears though.

I hope it all goes well for you.

It only sounds worse than it really is. The reality is that you will be far too busy to really feel the effects of your anxiety disorder (most of the time). When I was in the military, which was a short time ago, you get used to the lack of privacy really quickly. I too, was concerned about that aspect before I enlisted, but my fears faded within the first two weeks. The recruits your bunking with won't care either; they won't look at you or anything while your dressing or using the restroom. You'll probably only be given a VERY short time to change clothes, use the restroom, brush your teeth, take a shower, and other personal hygiene tasks 5-10 minutes MAXIMUM (10 minutes is being nice). Remember that this is only for a short period of time, and the regular Army when you get out of recruit training is very different, and normally you will have far greater amounts of privacy afforded to you.

I completely understand being nervous about not being able to speak the language like a native. I don't think it will be as catastrophic as you think. I've been in a similar situation myself (not in Greece though). First of all, you should be very proud of yourself for recently getting your Greek citizenship!! It is very difficult to be a "stranger in a strange land" so to speak, and there isn't anyone who can call you less of a citizen, just because you are a first generation. The fact that you didn't seek an exception to your military draft due to your anxiety disorder really says something about you as a person. I also think that it will be easier to understand the language because you will essentially be told what to do all the time, usually as a group, and the groups directions will be helpful. It's the best way to learn a language really. If you are worried about being seen as different or standing out because of your accent, I wouldn't worry too much. You are just as Greek as any of them are. You'll probably make some good friends while you are there too.
In truth, it is probably a very good thing for your Social Anxiety Disorder, as it will force you to be around other people, which is an excellent way to overcome some of your anxiety socially.

GOOD LUCK@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post has been edited by Irish_Eyes: May 3 2008, 02:30 AM

I wish you luck with this and am wondering if you will be using medication to get through this? I think it might help take the anxiety down, so you stop worrying and stop having these anxiety-provoking thoughts. I know what a deterrent these kinds of thoughts can be as I experience them myself, and there's a term used for them that's called 'anticipatory' thoughts. Like when you take a test, your thoughts can jangle the last nerve you have just thinking about it, so you are set up to fail before you even get to where the test is taken. I remember crying prior to taking my driver's test, and that was a long time ago, but it's the best thing I can recall, as it's a common experience.

My experience with being on ssri meds is that you know the anxiety is there and the thoughts are bothersome, but they don't result in feeling nervous; just thinking nervous. Usually finding a coping mechanism to take the nervous ideation down works, like reading, listening to music, talking to someone about something else..... anything to occupy your thoughts, so the trivial thing that got the anxiety laden throughs going is kicked out. One of my favorite coping mechanism when I'm driving and feeling anxious is to listen to a radio talk show or sing to the music. It works for me, but probably looks pretty kooky to having a 56 year old woman singing rap song, lol! At least it's the kind of beat that is uplifting, although some of the lyrics are just plain XX. My teens think it's pretty funny that I listen to it, but it also makes me laugh depending on what I'm listening to, lol!

I'm no spring chicken, either, but I still get anxious when I have to prove myself. I have to have supervision on my new job, and even though I'm doing fine, I can get myself all upset a couple of days prior to this meeting with my boss. Hopefully, it goes down with time and experience, but it's the way I deal, and it's not great, lol!

Jackie

I've been told that is one of the best ways to overcome the anxious feelings one gets before it snowballs--distraction methods like listening to music, singing, stopping what your doing to do an exercise like pushups, stretching, or jumping jacks, and other things like the radio talk show.

I actually used to enjoy the radio talk shows, which now you can find almost any of them for free on the internet. Your probably the "cool mom" Jackie, even though your teenagers would never let you know it, of course! Most moms are pretty uptight about rap music...