What is your biggest fear in a social situation? Are you afraid of being judged? Being misunderstood? Or do you fear the anxiety of being in a social situation so you avoid it at all costs?
My biggest fear is being completely ignored in a small group of people. I try to follow along with the conversation while maintaining eye contact with people around me, except no one wants to look at me, and they continue the conversation with each other while I start to become invisible. Its as if once you stop talking, your physical presence starts to fade away and they notice less and less of your physical form, and then at some point you disappear entirely. (You might notice they walk away or leave you without noticing you're still there.) I might be exaggerating a little, but this form of neglect has happened to me many times in my life. Its the reason I avoid meeting groups of strangers or people I don't know. I feel that my time could be better spent alone or elsewhere than to be ignored and treated as non-existent. I put up a defense mechanism so that I feel indifferent or uninterested in meeting new people because of this fear.
Does anyone have a similar fear?