I'm not really sure if this is the right forum, but I have trouble in social situations. It's not so bad when I'm with good friends, but I've moved recently and don't often encounter actual "good friends." I get nervous around people. I feel like some pressure builds in my head, my neck sometimes itches and gets splotchy. The worst part is my voice. I don't have a deep smooth rolling voice. My voice is higher and doesn't flow or articulate very well. When I'm around people, my throat tightens up and talking is even more uncomfortable. Almost everything I say is prefaced by the thought "what inflection can I use to minimize the awkwardness of the sound of my voice?" Talking in social settings isn't easy and natural for me. It is concentrated and forced, and always hurts my confidence.
These symptoms manifest even when I'm not directly in contact with people (e.g. I feel my throat tighten if I'm just on the bus around people or at Wal-Mart). Even when I'm alone my voice bothers me and I can't seem to really settle into and be comfortable (although the nervous tightness isn't there, only my naturally difficult voice).
I'm at a fairly unstable place in my life right now. I've been calling into question a lot of things and don't have a strong foundation in life at the moment. So maybe finding my way through that would help my confidence, but I don't know how far off that will be and I think it affects my problem but doesn't cause it.
Thoughts? Suggestions? I don't really know how to go about addressing this...