It’s normal to get nervous in certain situations. However, for someone with social anxiety disorder, everyday events can be extra demanding.
Someone with social phobia is likely to feel more worried, scared, or frightened when involved in social interactions with others.
Simply put, individuals with social anxiety are socially silent.
So, if you feel that your silence has gone beyond just being “shy” and is stopping you from living life to the fullest, it becomes important to get help.
What is social anxiety?
Social anxiety is defined as the excessive and persistent fear of being judged by others.
People with social anxiety disorder experience unusual fear and are usually scared of being criticized or rejected by others.
Social interaction is something they would not like to be associated with and would do anything to avoid it even if it requires them to stay in the restroom for 4 hours.
Here are some 6 ways to overcome social anxiety.
1. Talk to a therapist
A meta-analysis shows that cognitive and behavioral therapies are the most widely studied psychological interventions for those suffering from social anxiety.
If you are experiencing social anxiety, it’s advisable to get psychotherapy as it helps you better manage your social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Most often, Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) is used to manage social anxiety in patients.
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) as short-term psychotherapy helps SAD patients find new ways of behavior by changing their pattern of thought.
CBT is equally effective, or more effective than psychiatric medications and other forms of psychological therapy.
Exposure therapy is mostly favored to treat social phobia where cognitive behavioral therapy is administered.
Exposure therapy is a situation where patients are faced with a feared social situation until their social anxiety decreases, or the anxiety-related expectancies are disrupted.
In a research conducted on 60 patients with a generalized social anxiety disorder, it was shown that the exposure of patients to virtual social interaction (Exposure therapy) is effective in reducing social anxiety
CBT treatments may require one or more interactions weekly, and usually last for as long as 12 weeks.
With CBT, patients can speak to someone (psychotherapist) who they can trust and are ready to help them overcome their fears.
2. Practice acts of kindness
Doing something nice for someone else is a good way to try to manage and overcome all of your worries and negative thoughts.
This means that practicing acts of kindness towards others can positively impact your mood and consequently help overcome your social anxiety.
A 2015 study shows that engaging in acts of kindness by people suffering from social phobia, decreases their social avoidance goals.
Another study also shows that showing generosity or kindness to others triggers a part of our brain linked with contentment and the reward cycle which makes us happier.
This goes to show that when we decide to give, we become happier as a result.
This can be particularly helpful for someone who is socially anxious.
Help your neighbor babysit their child, walk their dog, mow their lawn, or help bring their grocery orders as this may help you feel less tensed in social situations.
Where you show an act of kindness to someone, the person’s feeling towards you is likely going to be a positive one rather than a negative feeling.
Do this, and your interaction with others may become easier, and your fear of social situations may decrease.
3. Meet new people
People with social anxiety often find it difficult to meet new people and build long-lasting relationships.
Meeting new people as a way to manage and overcome social anxiety may become easier once you’ve gained some level of confidence in social situations.
Try expanding your social networks and develop friendships with others as a result.
Be involved in social situations that provide opportunities for constant and repeated contact with people.
Examples of where to meet new people include; Workplace, school, church, sports facilities, group lessons, etc. These are places that you are already familiar with.
Be sure to mingle with people you meet at these public places as this may assist you in better managing your social anxiety.
Checkout 7 Tips on How to Make New Friends
Checkout 10 Tips on How to Build a Long-Lasting Friendship
4. Get some medication
This is another frequently used method of treating social anxiety.
Assessment is conducted on the person suffering from social anxiety by a therapist, and medication is prescribed accordingly.
Where you are experiencing a severe level of social anxiety, it helps to get some social anxiety disorder medication.
Note that these drugs only provide temporary relief and can cause dangerous and unwanted side effects.
It’s safer to consider other anxiety management strategies like self-help, exercise, or therapy as they have a long-lasting positive effect on the social anxiety sufferer when compared to medication.
For me, after weighing the benefits and risks of anxiety medication, it is my humble suggestion that medication should be used only when the condition is severe.
5. Breath control
Social anxiety is a disorder capable of causing uncomfortable changes to our bodies.
For example, you might feel dizzy, tensed, suffocated, or experience fast and shallow breathing.
Poor breathing has been shown to contribute to fatigue, anxiety, panic attacks, and other emotional and physical disturbances.
Some of the techniques to help normalize your breath and help manage your social anxiety symptoms includes;
- Sit comfortably with your back straight
- Relax your shoulders
- Place one hand on your stomach, and the other on your chest
- Slowly breathe in through your nose for four seconds. The hand on the stomach is expected to rise, and the one on your chest shouldn’t make much movement
- Hold your breath in for two seconds. Let it out slowly through your mouth for 6 seconds
- Repeat this process until you finally feel relaxed
6. Face your fears
It is a common habit for people with a social anxiety disorder to constantly get busy with their smartphones as a way to avoid engaging in social interactions.
For instance, they pretend to play with their phones or check social media repeatedly.
A 2016 study was conducted on 367 young adults who were smartphone users. Significant positive correlations were found between the presence of social anxiety and excessive smartphone use.
A 2017 study also found that 182 young adult participants who were smartphone users admitted to being addicted to Information Technology (IT) also showed signs of social anxiety.
This goes to show that hiding behind a smartphone does not help overcome social anxiety; instead, it avoids addressing the problem.
As scary as it may seem at first, facing your social anxiety through exposure to a complex social situation would help you better manage your social anxiety.
A therapeutic approach that may be adopted is the Social Mishap Exposures.
The goal of the exposure to a social mishap is to purposely violate a person’s perceived standard and social norms to break the self-reinforcing cycle of fear and future use of avoidance strategies.
By experimenting with social failures and awkwardness, patients come to learn that even a few social failures do not lead to rejection or exclusion from social groups.
Conclusion
As you attempt to try out the various methods explained above, know that is possible to be completely free from social anxiety.
At Home of Influence, we believe you have the ability as any other person to be socially active and live the life of your dreams.
Fear is normal, but with discipline and consistency, you can overcome your social anxiety.
