Social anxiety is a feeling of discomfort or fear in a social situation where one may be judged or evaluated by others.
Social anxiety is sometimes called social phobia or social anxiety disorder.
If you begin to have anxiety in social situations more frequently that cause you distress and stop you from doing things you ought to do, then you might start looking at it as a disorder.
A social anxiety disorder causes anxiety, discomfort or panic in social situations. This makes people with it tend to avoid such situations or go into them with lots of distress.
5 Ways to Deal with Social Anxiety
If you’re currently living with a social anxiety disorder, follow these five simple steps to control it:
Control Your Breathing
When you’re anxious, you may begin to breathe very fast and shallowly. This can make you uncomfortable.
However, you can slow your breathing and control your anxiety if you sit in a comfortable position, relax your shoulders, put one hand on your belly and place the other one on your chest, breathe in slowly through the nose and hold your breath briefly.
You can repeat the process several times until you feel relaxed.
Exercise
Physical activities like jogging can help control your anxiety.
The same thing applies to progressive muscle relaxation, which involves flexing and releasing muscles in your body and focusing on the feeling of the release.
Apart from these two, yoga has also been found to be helpful, especially certain types involving deep breathing.
Get Prepared
Always be prepared for such situations that make you nervous when you’re in the midst of people instead of trying to avoid them.
If you want to go to a party or work function that causes you anxiety, engage in some relaxation or breathing exercises before leaving the house. This will help calm you down.
If it’s going for a first date, read newspapers and magazines for topic ideas to discuss when you meet.
Shift Your Focus
Pay attention to what is happening around you rather than what is going on in your head.
Listen to conversations or constantly remind yourself that others won’t know you’re anxious by simply looking at you.
Use Your Senses
Make use of your senses, including the senses of sight, sound, smell, touch and taste, as they can help calm you down in moments of anxiety.
To do this, you may listen to your favorite song, chew your most flavorful gum, snuggle with your best pet, look at your favorite photograph or smell your favorite scent.
Treatment of Social Anxiety Disorder
While being nervous in social situations might seem a bit normal, a social anxiety disorder makes daily living a challenge. It makes you feel self-conscious and scared when you’re in the midst of people and lowers your self-esteem.
If you’re currently living with a social anxiety disorder, please don’t think that all hope is lost as the Center for Connection, Healing and Change is always there for you.
The Center for Connection, Healing and Change offers a deeper dive into your relationship with anxiety and how it plays out in your life, utilizing evidence-based therapy models and offering a tried-and-tested approach to treating anxiety.
Schedule a free consultation with us today, or visit our offices in Woodbridge or Fairfax if you’re in Virginia and need to be treated for your social anxiety disorder.