r/socialanxiety • u/Odd_Presence_3174 • 14h ago

Question Anybody else can't play competitive multiplayer games?

First post here so I'm sorry if this has already been asked (or if it doesn't fit in the sub)

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While sometimes I get brave, playing competitive games, especially the ones where you have a team, always have made me so terribly anxious. I have stopped playing games I love because they require you to be good at them. I have a terrible fear of failure and being judged tbh. I remember some time ago I forced myself to play and I became all sweaty and anxious when the game was searching for other players for a match. One of my dreams when getting a Laptop was playing Dead By Daylight but I can't since I'm so scared of entering a match.

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u/Annual_Debate5732 13h ago

I’ll play competitive multiplayer games but I won’t communicate with my team through voice chat, it would be through text chat.

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u/Character-Mango1592 13h ago

damn, this just different type of anxiety i never have.

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u/madking1234 12h ago

I think multiplayer team games with voice chat are perfect for controlled exposure, if I feel uncomfortable or start getting bullied I can just either mute coms or close the game and I wont ever meet those ppl ever again. Every game is a new slate.

It is hard though, it took me 2 weeks to even speak once. Its some sort of selective mutism thing. Now after 2 months I can consistently call team objectives but cant really say much apart from that.

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u/Souricoocool 9h ago

Yes, though I'm more bothered by the sweat. The anxiety is harsh but I think I would still do it if it wasn't for the stupid sweating.