I am a relatively social person. Why is it that I get social anxiety when my name is called upon?

Hi, and thanks for your question.

This is actually a common phenomenon amongst most people, and it's largely due to the "on-the-spot" nature of the circumstance of being called upon. We think that everyone's attention is on the person who's being called upon (in particular, we think that everyone's attention is on us if *we're* the one being called upon), and that our actions and everything about us is suddenly under the microscope. With that, we may feel as though we're opening ourselves up to additional inquiry (and additional expectation) and increased opportunities to be corrected, ridiculed, or otherwise the focus of potentially unpleasant or unwanted attention.

Being in the "spotlight" is hard. We fear our perceived flaws will become noticed and perhaps exploited or questioned, or that we won't have the answer for those things that's being sought. It highlights our natural tendency to question and/or doubt ourselves, and it focuses our attention outward, causing us to give more power to those around us than the power we give ourselves. This is actually a caricature of what's really going on...

What's really going on is that the other people who you're surrounded by - your "audience" as it were -- is just as concerned, intimidated, scared, trepidatious (etc.) as you are, and rather than focusing on you and what you're saying as you're called into the spotlight, they're more likely to be caught up in their own heads, dreading the moment they're called upon to take your place. In that sense, they're not present with you in the same moment you're called upon...they're off somewhere in the future, hoping they can somehow slip into a cloak of invisibility and escape the inevitable. They're not hearing a thing you say.

With that in mind, the next time you're called upon, perhaps you can think of yourself as being camouflaged in the swirling mass of self-consciousness that is the human condition, and learn to take some solace in the collectively-uncomfortable place that we all share when placed in semi-public/public spotlight-eqsue situations such as those.

Best wishes to you in your future endeavors!