Learn How to Overcome Social Anxiety. It’s not so Difficult.
Social anxiety disorder involves the fear of social situations, and in order to overcome social anxiety, an individual must spend a considerable amount of time and energy. Social anxiety disorder is more recurrent in situations that you are unfamiliar with or are in situations where you will be watched or evaluated by others. Anxiety builds up from the fear of future social situations, which often makes individuals go to great lengths to avoid social affairs entirely. The fear of being judged or measured in comparison to others is another basis of social anxiety disorder. You may be afraid of how badly others think of you, or that you do not measure in comparison to other individuals. People with social anxiety disorder often overcome social anxiety by realizing their fears are somewhat irrational and overplayed. Unfortunately, social anxiety disorder is recurrent, which means the anxiety (the anxiousness) can still occur in the future. Initially, people who dealt with social anxiety disorder did not go to any professional or seek professional opinion. It was previously considered an internal affair that could not be fixed through traditional means. To overcome social anxiety, it takes many different sources, as well as understanding the problem entirely.
Individuals with social anxiety disorder often feel singled out. In order to overcome social anxiety, you must realize that you are not the only one with social anxiety disorder. It is actually a quite common disorder, as many people struggle with these fears. The situations that trigger the symptoms of social anxiety disorder are the components that differ from individual to individual. The most common trigger is social and performance situations, which is termed the generalized social anxiety disorder. Most people overcome social anxiety caused by the generalized social anxiety disorder by practicing in front of crowds. The most common (specifically) social phobia is the fear of public speaking in front of an audience. Some triggers of social anxiety are: meeting new people, being the center of attention, making small talk, performing on stage, being watched while doing something, being teased or criticized, eating or drinking in public, taking exams, using public bathrooms, going on a date, being called on in class, taking with people or authority figures, speaking up in a meeting, attending parties, or being the center of attention.
Ways to Overcome Social Anxiety
One way to overcome social anxiety is to challenge negative thoughts or beliefs. Negative thoughts and beliefs are the number one cause of social anxiety disorder. These thoughts serve as a self-protection mechanism against being put in a nervous situation that causes anxiety. The first step in order to overcome social anxiety is to identify these negative thoughts, which are often automatic or inherent in nature. The next step in order to overcome social anxiety is to challenge these thoughts immediately. It helps to ask questions that counter negative statements. These questions should logically counter any negative statements that seek to deter you from being put in a possibly “embarrassing” situation. This realistic nature of questioning is positive and alleviates a substantial amount of the anxiety felt in social situations.
Another way to overcome social anxiety is to antagonistically challenge some of the changes when you begin to feel anxiety. One of the first steps in order to overcome social anxiety is to maintain your breathing. Over breathing is a common symptom of social anxiety, so in order to overcome social anxiety, you must control your breathing to maintain your balance of oxygen and carbon dioxide in your body. Keeping this maintained will improve your tone, if your social anxiety trigger is public speaking. Learning to overcome social anxiety depends on learning to slow down your breathing. This will reduce the physical symptoms of anxiety. Learning to slow down your breathing and maintain your breathing rate is a great way to overcome social anxiety in a painful situation.
Lastly, if these previous techniques did not help you overcome your social anxiety, you should actually try face your fears head-on. Now, this may sounds like a terrible way to overcome social anxiety, but this is actually the most helpful solution. The basic driving factor of social anxiety disorder is avoidance. By keeping avoidance high, social anxiety disorder and its symptoms are very hard to eliminate. To overcome social anxiety disorder, one you continue to confront social situations, you may alleviate a substantial amount of symptoms, so practice makes perfect.
During our research we have found a great program entitled “10 Steps to Overcome Social Anxiety“. People knowing about this program have shared with us that each step of the course covers one important facet of social anxiety in detail, with lots of thought-provoking information and tried and tested exercises to help you get an understanding of how your own thought processes and reactions have been shaped and what you can, practically, do about it.