While there’s no magic cure for social anxiety disorder, there are proven treatment options that can help diminish, and eventually eliminate, symptoms. A social anxiety disorder can affect anyone, regardless of age, ethnicity, or gender identity. Symptoms may include the persistent fear of being judged or humiliated in specific social situations, and excessive anxiety that does not appropriately match the tone of the situation. Patients struggling with social anxiety sometimes enroll in counseling or obtain medication to manage the symptoms of their anxiety disorder.
If you feel that your social anxiety has taken over your life and disrupted your ability to handle social situations, check out these 5 tips on curing social anxiety now.
First, let’s review the definition of social anxiety disorder. While it is typical to feel nervous in certain situations, such as a job interview or a dinner with your partner’s parents, it is not typical to experience social phobia and intense anxiety toward everyday situations. A social anxiety disorder is often manifested in severe fear or distress toward these social situations. A person may worry that people will harshly judge them or reject them. These symptoms may be so severe that they hinder a person’s daily life.
Social anxiety, also known as social phobia, can be triggered in a variety of situations such as:
While these situations may not seem like a big deal to some people, they can still cause social anxiety and apprehension in people living with social phobia.
What causes someone to develop social anxiety disorder? Like most mental health disorders, social anxiety disorder is caused by the intricate interaction among a variety of biological and environmental factors. Common causes stem from inherited traits, an overactive amygdala, and learned behavior. Let’s explore each common cause of social anxiety together.
Social anxiety can present itself through emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms. Common symptoms of social anxiety disorder include:
A variety of risk factors can increase one’s chances of developing a social anxiety disorder. Family history, individual temperament, new social situations, or insecurities can cause social anxiety disorder. While symptoms of social anxiety disorder usually start in one’s teenage years, they can appear during one’s adult years when they start a new job or make an important presentation.
If you think you have a social anxiety disorder, reach out to your primary care physician for an appointment. Your doctor will likely try to rule out other conditions that could be causing your anxiety. During your appointment, your physician will perform a physical exam, discuss your symptoms, and review social situations that could be causing your anxiety. In order to make a diagnosis for social anxiety disorder, patients must experience persistent fear or apprehension toward specific social situations, avoidance of anxiety-inducing situations, and excessive anxiety that interferes with their life.
Patients with social anxiety disorder often take a variety of steps and lifestyle changes to manage their disorder. If you are working to overcome your social anxiety disorder, check out these tips for conquering it below.
1. Challenge And Counter Your Negative Thoughts
People with social anxiety tend to suffer from negative and intrusive thoughts. They may fear that a certain social situation could make them look stupid or that they will embarrass themselves in front of a large group of people. Challenging or countering these thoughts is an effective method for managing your social anxiety.
Many patients with social anxiety also fall into the trap of engaging in unhelpful thinking styles. They might catastrophize an event or personalize someone’s behavior toward them. To start disengaging from these thoughts, patients with social anxiety must identify any underlying negative thoughts they may be holding. They should then analyze and challenge these thoughts. By logically evaluating their thoughts and emotions, patients with social anxiety can stop these negative thoughts and replace them with more realistic, positive ones.
2. Keep Your Focus On Others Instead Of Yourself
People with social anxiety tend to get caught up in their own discomfort and nerves. As a result, those with social anxiety often struggle to focus on people around them instead of themselves. When they focus too much on their fear and apprehension, patients with social anxiety can accidentally induce extra anxiety and stress on themselves.
Don’t do this! Instead, try to focus your attention on those around you. Start a new conversation with someone else or engage in a current conversation to take your mind off your current anxieties. Try to focus on what the other person is saying rather than tune into those negative thoughts nagging you. Social anxiety can be a bear to deal with, but remember that it isn’t as noticeable as you think. Just try to focus on the present moment as best as you can. As you continue to practice this, your social anxiety should eventually become easier to manage.
3. Make A Greater Effort To Become More Social
Challenge your social anxiety by seeking out new relationships and finding supportive social environments to join. Something as simple as saying “hello” to your co-workers or asking them what they did over the weekend can help you manage your social anxiety. As your efforts at alleviating your social anxiety become easier, make sure you continue to cultivate your new relationships. Some patients who struggle with social anxiety also take social skills class or volunteer with small groups of people.
4. Limit Unhealthy Foods And Habits
Your diet could have a significant impact on your mental health as well as your ability to manage your social anxiety. Avoid consuming excessive amounts of caffeine from coffee or soda, as it can increase your symptoms of anxiety. Try to drink only in moderation and avoid smoking. Both alcohol and nicotine can worse your social anxiety and its accompanying symptoms.
5. Try Alternative Treatments Such As Meditation And Yoga
Meditation and yoga can also be incredibly helpful for people with social anxiety. Try pairing these practices with at least 30 minutes of exercise a day to help manage your social anxiety.
Treatments For Social Anxiety
Patients can choose from a wide variety of treatments for their social anxiety disorder.
Most of the time, your primary care physician will recommend a specific treatment for your social anxiety disorder. If you desire convenience and ease when it comes to your social anxiety treatment, you might enjoy online mental health counseling. Online therapy works well for people with busy schedules or who are unable to find a physician nearby that can help them.
Social Anxiety In Children And Teenagers
Social anxiety can affect children and teenagers. While it is normal for adolescents to feel self-conscious and apprehensive toward the idea of being rejected, feelings of anxiety that are extreme or intense enough to disrupt their ability to function normally require professional help. Social anxiety usually develops around the age of 13. It can also co-occur with other disorders such as depression or ADHD. Social anxiety is more common in females than in males. Adolescents who underwent a traumatic experience are also more likely to develop social anxiety.
Signs of social anxiety in adolescents are similar to those observed in adults. If you believe your child is suffering from a social anxiety disorder, it is imperative that you schedule an appointment with your child’s pediatrician. Their physician will perform a physical evaluation and ask a comprehensive set of questions regarding their recent moods and symptoms before making an official diagnosis.
Are you or a loved one currently struggling with a social anxiety disorder? Reach out to the online mental health professionals at BetterHelp today. Our mental health counselors are here to assist you or your family members in coping with social anxiety and phobia. With the right help, you can overcome your social anxiety disorder.
Social anxiety is more than just being occasionally shy in a social situation. Social phobia is an anxiety disorder that makes a patient believe that everyone is constantly judging them, watching them, and waiting for them to fail. As a result, social phobia can make social situations such as public speaking, weddings, and even simple things like meeting new people a chore.
If left untreated, a social phobia can affect daily life, cause stunted social skills, and severely impact your mental health leading to increased anxiety and depression.
Luckily, there are many ways to help treat social phobia, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), support groups, relaxation techniques, and medications. If you believe your anxiety symptoms are interfering with your daily life, it is important to seek help.
Some immediate solutions to overcome social anxiety and the symptoms of anxiety you may feel when going into social situations, are to practice relaxation techniques. These are things such as grounding exercises, deep breathing, meditation, and yoga.
It can also help immensely to prepare yourself for the social situations you will be going into. You can overcome social anxiety by practicing before giving speeches, or visiting the location of an event beforehand. If you will be meeting new people, it may help to read magazines or newspapers to be able to have things to talk about.
One of the best things you can do with any anxiety disorders is to seek professional help. With the help of a doctor or therapist, you can develop a treatment plan that will help you overcome social anxiety and reduce the symptoms of anxiety you experience.
This treatment plan can be as simple as helping you practice social skills and eye contact to helping you feel more comfortable discussing personal information with people. They can also help you overcome social anxiety by helping you manage the physical symptoms of anxiety as well as the mental symptoms of anxiety such as intrusive negative thoughts.
Talk therapy, support groups, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medications options are all other ways your doctor or therapist can help you overcome social anxiety.
It is rare for any anxiety disorders to go away on their own without treatment. However, unlike generalized anxiety or bipolar disorder, social phobia can be more easily managed with the help of support groups and therapy and may not require medication.
The physical symptoms of anxiety experienced with anxiety disorders can be managed with relaxation techniques and preparation before engaging in a social situation. Over time, you may notice that you have trained your brain so it doesn’t feel anxious when doing specific things such as public speaking.
Overcoming social anxiety by yourself can be difficult if you don’t know where or how to start though. While the physical symptoms may be manageable, the mental symptoms of anxiety disorders tend to take more work. This is why it is so important to discuss your mental and physical symptoms with a doctor or therapist.
Unlike other anxiety disorders such as generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety or social phobia is brought on specifically by the fear of interacting with people, particularly those you don’t know. It is the pervasive negative thoughts that enter your mind in social situations.
These negative thoughts can cause you to feel anxious and give you trouble meeting new people and engaging in small talk or making eye contact due to the fear that they may be judging you even before you speak.
Eventually this can lead to long term problems with developing social skills and being in social situations. As with other anxiety disorders, social phobia can lead to panic attacks and may eventually cause a panic disorder. That is why it is so important to reach out to your doctor or therapist if you feel that your ability to succeed in social situations is getting worse.
Social anxiety has a host of mental and physical symptoms that impede your ability to handle a social situation. Some of the physical symptoms of anxiety are sweating palms, uncontrollable blushing, trembling, stammering and stumbling over words, an increased heart rate, and nausea.
Without treatment, anxiety disorders like social anxiety can start interfering with everyday life.
The buildup of overwhelming mental and physical symptoms of anxiety can cause intense frustration, which can lead to tears. Especially if a person with social anxiety is thrust suddenly into an unfamiliar situation with no preparation, such as public speaking in front of a group.
This typically only happens in extreme situations, however if a person has been experiencing social anxiety for a long time without seeking treatment, the condition can worsen over time and the symptoms can get worse. Seek help in overcoming social anxiety by speaking to a therapist as soon as possible.
No mental or physical condition can be truly self-diagnosed. To receive a diagnosis, you must speak with a doctor or psychiatrist and they must examine your symptoms. However, unlike more serious mental health disorders like bipolar disorder, you may be able to take online assessments to determine the likelihood of having social anxiety.
If you suspect that you may have an anxiety disorder, or any other mental health disorder, discuss your symptoms with a doctor.