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What to Do if You Have Social Anxiety

Social Anxiety Disorder

What to Do if You Have Social Anxiety

About 12% of the entire population have had Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) at one point in their lives. SAD affects most areas of someone’s life, from having difficulty making and maintaining friends, finding or building a career, and finding it challenging to be in the presence of many people.

Social anxiety disorder is among the most chronic mental challenges and can worsen if left for a long time without treatment. Among the available treatments for people with SAD are cognitive-behavioral therapy, medication such as SSRI, and social anxiety activities- these are things that one can do to challenge their anxiety. In this article, we concentrate on improving your anxiety, or better yet, social anxiety activities that can help with your anxiety disorder.

Ways to Overcome Social Anxiety Disorder

Get Out There

Whether your social anxiety disorder is mild or moderate, it all makes someone feel terrible, and you need to do something to get out of it. Though going out can be hard to do, you must try doing things that social anxiety disorder prevents you from doing.

This means accepting invitations and doing things that make you feel uncomfortable. Ensure that you are prepared to handle things before you get out there and know how to behave. You may be surprised to find out that the SAD disappears as you continue socializing with other people. If you find that being in the presence of strangers is a bit difficult, try first with family members. Ensure that you are present at family gatherings and that you participate in discussions.

Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder – Keep a Journal

Keeping records of what you have achieved can help you track your progress. List down any social gathering you attended and what your experience was. Did you say anything? If yes, how did you feel? Would you like to continue attending social gatherings? Keeping a journal about your achievements will help you understand when you are progressing towards your recovery, as well as when you are falling back to the SAD.

Set Goals

Setting goals of what you want to achieve isn’t enough; you need to put them down on paper. Be sure of where you want to be later in life and acknowledge where you are at the moment. You can do this by evaluating yourself with some questions and see how you score.

After you start overcoming your SAD, evaluate yourself once more and see how far you’ve come. Do not compare yourself with others as far as social success is concerned. If you want to compare, compare where you were in past days with where you are now.

Improve Your Health

Ensure that you are in perfect health at any cost to avoid poor physical health being the main factor for your social anxiety disorder. Exercise more, eat a healthy balanced diet, drink lots of water, and have enough sleep. This will ensure that you are always in shape to avoid social anxiety disorders associated with body image. Incorporate chamomile tea into your diet to soothe your nerves. If your schedule does not allow you to join the gym or participate in regular exercise classes, consider walking or running.

Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder – Ask for Help

If you think that the social anxiety disorder is taking a wrong turn on your daily routine, seek help immediately. Do not wait until you get into a crisis before speaking to someone. Remember that therapies and medication, in some cases, can ensure that you feel better.

If you cannot speak to your doctor, reach out to mental health resources and get started. You can also speak to a stranger if you find it challenging to open up to a friend or family member. Just don’t keep quiet; speak up.

Be Your Best Advocate

The only person who can look out for you better is you. Learn more about social anxiety disorder to be able to make sound decisions. If you feel that you are not ready to go out with friends, then don’t. Give yourself time until you gather enough courage to be among many people. Remember, no one can understand you better than you do.

Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder – Congratulate Yourself

You might not be the greatest confident public speaker, but remember that away from social life, you are a great person who has achieved a lot. Though you face many challenges out there, you should be proud of what you have achieved in life.

Maybe you once helped someone with your kind words, therefore being unable to speak out in front of many people does not mean that your words to a single person are not necessary. Being able to go out of your house is something to be proud of. Concentrate on your achievements instead of your shortcomings and feel better about yourself.

Do not Dwell on Negative Thoughts

Do not dwell on that voice in your mind that tends to say that people are judging you or they are looking down on you. Sometimes our mind can play a trick on us by trying to make us believe in unrealistic things. If you think that your audience’s facial expression is not welcoming, do not dwell on that. You may be right or wrong, but it’s advisable not to dwell on the negative side.

Overcoming Social Anxiety Disorder – Bottom Line

Do not let fear dictate how your life will be. Make the first and most important step of facing your challenge head-on. If you feel this is not yet time to face the elephant in the room, take time and start small. Remember that social anxiety disorder is not a one-person thing. Almost everyone gets nervous in certain gatherings time and again. The best way to come out of SAD is to acknowledge that you are affected and seek help.

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Danielle Aubin (she/her), Online Clinical Social Worker/Therapist, Roseville, CA
gu wellness counseling, Virtual Therapist Service in Denver, CO

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