Tips for Overcoming Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is defined by the Mayo Clinic as when “fear and anxiety lead to avoidance that can disrupt your life. Severe stress can affect your relationships, daily routines, work, school, or other activities.” It is common to feel nervous about certain social interactions or settings, but social anxiety is different. Social anxiety severely affects social interactions and relationships by causing you to be overcome with fear or discomfort. If you are experiencing symptoms of this experience, we wanted to share tips for combating it.
Therapy
Seeking a therapist who specializes in anxiety can be a crucial part of combating social anxiety. They can walk you through scenarios, thoughts, and reasoning behind your feelings as well as guide you through steps to progress
Celebrate the Wins
Start small with reasonable and attainable goals. For example, maybe set a goal of staying in a social setting for 20 minutes. Or maybe you aren’t ready to attend a party but you can work up the courage to go to dinner with a few people. Celebrate little wins and work your way towards more.
Lean on your support system
Lean on those you can count on for support with the struggle. Express your feelings and anxiety to those you trust and love and let them know what they can do to support you in this journey.
Identify your triggers
Identifying and understanding your triggers will allow you to better predict where you may and may not experience social anxiety. By narrowing down what situations you can handle better than others and why you can work towards avoiding your triggers or finding solutions to how you react to them.
Social anxiety is much more common than you may think and we hope you can find this as a resource in assisting you with the journey of living with it and learning how to handle it.
