A boy is looking for players on Reddit for the PS4 because he has few friends due to an illness. Now he is overwhelmed with requests.
What exactly happened? The user Finlay5020 started an emotional post on Reddit. He is a 15-year-old boy from the UK and loves playing on his PlayStation 4. Now he wants to play with other people.
But this is not very easy for him, as he suffers from social phobia. Because of this, he has few friends and knows hardly anyone who would play with him.
In his post, he explains that he has great difficulties talking to people outside of school or even speaking into a microphone. His major passions include
- Rainbow Six Siege
- Ark Survival Evolved
- Call of Duty – Modern Warfare
- GTA 5
- The Escapists 2
Many of these have a strong multiplayer mode or are designed for it. Finlay even offered to buy the games if someone is interested in playing with him. His post does not seem very optimistic because of this.
Over 900 comments and many new friends
How did people react? The post has now received almost 8000 upvotes (as of 9.03.20: 7800). Many show understanding, and almost 900 people have reached out after his post.
Among the 900 people are also some who themselves have social phobia. Some of them are surprised that they are not the only ones who suffer from it while playing. User PiDDY writes:
I am 25 and have the same problem. I only play with one friend.
Edit: I didn’t think that so many are in the same boat. Reddit can be really surprising. Thanks for the kind words and support.
PiDDY, source: reddit.com
How does Finlay react to this? The post starter is completely overwhelmed by the many responses. “I am flooded with requests,” he writes in an edit. He really did not expect this reaction. A little later, he happily adds in another edit:
I know this is silly, but I screamed like a baby because I am so happy about the great support. It’s only virtual, but it really helps me a lot. I never thought there would be so much support in the subreddit.
I’m sorry if I can’t respond to all requests quickly, I hope you understand that. Thank you very, very much.
Finlay5020, source: Reddit.com
What is Social Phobia?
What is social phobia? About 10 out of 100 people suffer from social phobia, as explains it Psychenet.de in their advice. According to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, around 10 million people are affected in Europe.
They fear that others will label them as embarrassing, crazy, or even ridiculous. We find such things rather funny when we laugh at others. However, people with social phobia can take simple jokes very personally.
They fear situations like exams or speaking in public, and usually, these people withdraw completely from public life. For them, any public situation is associated with great fear.
In the worst case, there are even physical reactions to fear. These include rapid heartbeat, nausea, and even panic attacks.
Cognitive behavioral therapies can combat these. Antidepressants are also used but are controversial among doctors.
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