Here on Sunday Sprout we get into research of various topics.
In this blog we are going to get info on Social Anxiety and therapy of treating social anxiety.
What is Social Anxiety :
Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD), often referred to as social phobia, is a mental health condition marked by intense feelings of fear and anxiety in social situations. This fear can lead to significant distress and disrupt daily life, especially in areas requiring social interaction.
Signs and Symptoms of Social Anxiety :
The signs and symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD) can vary in intensity but generally include physical, emotional, and behavioral manifestations. Below are the common signs and symptoms:
Emotional and Psychological Symptoms
- Intense fear of social situations: Fear of being judged, embarrassed, or humiliated in social settings.
- Excessive worry: Persistent concern about upcoming social interactions, often days or weeks in advance.
- Low self-esteem: Feelings of inadequacy or inferiority in social scenarios.
- Fear of rejection: Strong sensitivity to perceived or actual criticism.
Physical Symptoms
- Blushing: A visible sign of embarrassment or nervousness.
- Sweating: Excessive perspiration in social settings.
- Trembling: Shaking hands, voice quivers, or overall physical instability.
- Rapid heartbeat (palpitations): An elevated heart rate due to anxiety.
- Dry mouth: Difficulty speaking or a sensation of dryness when nervous.
- Nausea or stomach upset: Feeling sick or having a “knot” in the stomach.
- Dizziness or lightheadedness: Resulting from heightened anxiety levels.
Behavioral Symptoms
- Avoidance of social situations: Steering clear of events or interactions that might trigger anxiety.
- Difficulty speaking: Trouble articulating thoughts, especially in group settings.
- Fidgeting: Inability to stay still due to nervousness.
- Limited eye contact: Avoiding direct eye contact to reduce feelings of vulnerability.
Common Triggers
- Public speaking or performing in front of an audience.
- Meeting new people or being the center of attention.
- Eating or drinking in public.
- Using public restrooms.
- Starting or participating in conversations.
Over time, these symptoms can lead to avoidance behaviors, reduced quality of life, and isolation if left untreated. Effective treatment options, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), medication, or mindfulness techniques, can help manage these symptoms.
Social Anxiety Treatment Therapy :
There are many Psychiatrists or Psychological treatments you can go through to have a cure of Social Anxiety but here I have got various points to tell you which can get you out of Social Anxiety.
1) Get Good Friends Around You :
Social Anxiety is something where we get lonely due to social fear. So getting around with good friends always helps you to be away from Anxious situations.
Look for those friends who never leave you alone.
Whether you have the anxiety or not, having good people around you is always a good thing to have in your life.
Get friends in your life with whom you can go to discotheque or you can go on long drives with them.
2) Get like Minded People around you :
It is possible that you might not have got good friends around you but you still should look for ” like minded ” people around you.
” Like Minded ” people around you will always help you in the difficult situations.
” Like Minded ” people will help you in tackling various social and financial situations and you will beat loneliness.
Have friends in life with whom you can talk about various life situations.
3) Talk to yourselves :
The best thing when you don’t have any of your friends is that keep giving yourselves positive Auto suggestions .
Many times due to social anxiety we tend to get anxious and our routine lives gets affected. In these conditions the best mate you can get is yourself only.
Many times Social Anxiety is a result of Social Trauma or bad social experience only, in these conditions talking to yourselves or becoming your own friend is the best situation.
You also should take care of yourself that you don’t give dangerous suicidal or negative thoughts to yourself. Talking positively and becoming your best friend in your minds is a great art. 🙂
In short talk to yourself and be your own bestie.
As per WHO 1 in 4 older people experiencing social isolation. So social anxiety is growing and talking to yourself might be a good practice to get out of isolation.
4) Give yourself New Tasks and New Goals :
To beat loneliness one should talk to themselves and try to give newer tasks to self.
As social anxiety affects our daily routine one should be trying to be more and more active.
Talk to yourself and give yourself auto suggestions about achieving more and more goals and tasks in your life.
Giving yourself more and more tasks and goals will get you away from loneliness and social anxiety.
Give yourself little challenges and goals in your life which you can overcome and find more happiness in your life. Overcoming little challenges and goals will prepare you for bigger goals as well.
5) Work Upon Your Hobbies :
To beat social anxiety you need to be more and more active in your life and your hobbies can help you get rid of anxiety.
There are many hobbies that one can have like playing tennis, going for a bike ride or anything.
- When you are doing activities like playing tennis etc it will bring joy and happiness in your life and you can over come Social Anxiety.
- Playing tennis or Singing a song can give you more chances to meet more people and have more friends that can beat the anxiety in your life.
Many times a passion for a hobby can lead you towards having a good career or business around your hobby so having a hobby and working on it is a great thing to do.
6) Listen to Jokes or Watch Cinema :
When you are down you can try listening to jokes or watch some movies or cinema for fun.
Here are some funny jokes and comedians you can listen to.
You can listen to good and nice songs also to get yourself out of acute anxiety.
Listening to jokes and good songs can bring the happiness that you want in your life and you can always get some inspirations from these jokes and songs.
Give some time and space to yourself in your life to get chilled out so that you can release the tension in your daily routine.
7) Get Rid Of Negative Thoughts :
Social Anxiety may lead to negative thoughts and that is the thing that you definitely want to get rid of in your life.
Negative thoughts may get you away from having good friends. Even when you get hurt in your life from some friends you should always try to find better friends who can help you in bad situations.
As mentioned earlier getting inspiration and positivity from jokes and songs can also get you away from negativity.
8) Do the Things that you like :
In the jobs they say that ” you will have to like what you do or do the things that you like ” but I would say world is changing.
People are looking for more freedom in work and more happiness.
When you do the things you like you are happier and you can beat the anxiety.
Final Thoughts :
I think these 8 points are enough to solve the situation of Social Anxiety and with time I will bring more points to get rid of Social Anxiety.
I think these are the very basic thoughts I have shown to you that many people might be missing out in their lives.
Many times when you are anxious and it continues in your life you need to bring very basic routine life changes in your lives.
Bringing very basic life style changes like getting around with good friends or looking for good people around you takes a good effort. It also takes a good amount of time to get freedom of work in your life as well.
So that’s the thing. Work upon these points, get some life style changes and you will get better in your life.
Happy Living