hey guys,
Iwas just wondering if anyone of you have problems with maintaining eye contact with people you are talking to? I;ve has this problem since I was a kid and hasn't changed. Since I do look people in the eye when I talk to them, people think that I'm arrogant, which was not my intention. I just have this feaer if they look into my eyes, they'll discover something about me that I don't want them to know. Does this make any sense.

Thanks for letting me share.

DS

Perfect sense to me. I've had this problem all my life. With me, its comes from Social Anxiety. When I'm down I can't make eye-contact. When I'm up, I have a boost in confidence and search out people to converse with. Its a never ending cycle of up and down.

Thats exactly how I am too!!!!

Cant look at anyone at the moment, too much on a downer now, but when I feel good there is no limit to the eye contact.

Thats how I feel too, I dont do it because I think when I am down that if they look into my eyes they will see all the darkiness and sadness from within and then I start thinking they know all my inner thoughts

Me Too !!!
Iv'e had this problem for as long as I remember. When I was young I thought it was just from being shy, But when I got older I knew it had do be something more then that. The only time I really looked anyone straight in the eyes was when I was at job interviews. I had a very hard time doing it and it made me more uncomfortable..But I did it lol. However now over the years I can't look anyone in the eyes. My Pdoc brought it up in a statement the other day and told me he thinks it's from my Social Anxeity. But the way I look at it I avoid people as much as I can, so it dosen't bother me much. I wish you luck it's nice to know that i'm not alone. Thanks for posting this and all that replied.
Jabberjaws.

Someone once told me that a way to tell if a person is lying is if they look to the left instead of making eye contact. After he told me that, I kept noticing how many times I looked to the left while I was having a conversation with someone. I worried for months that people thought I was a liar even if the conversation was a neutral topic or just small talk. I finally realized it was psychobabble he picked up somewhere and was just plain silly!

Yes! I have had this problem for as long as I can remember. The only people that I can ever make eye contact with are people that I know VERY well, like my mom and my boyfriend for example. I have failed miserably when it comes to job interviews or meeting new people because I can't look them in the eye, and I can just imagine what they think of me. Either I am looking down or sideways nervously playing with my hands or something. It's almost as if I ashamed of myself! I have low self-esteem, and no confidence. I feel embarrassed at the things I say, and worry what the other person is thinking about me. What bothers me most is that you know when you are doing it, but you can't stop yourself no matter how hard you try. I'm probably going to have to deal with it for the rest of my life

This post has been edited by nealy57: Aug 24 2008, 10:41 PM