Social Anxiety

Warning: some sensitive subjects may be discussed

Disclaimer - As always this is my personal opinion. Please do not treat it as professional medical advice. This information is for general purposes only. If you have any particular concerns, please speak to an adult

Hi guys, sorry I have been inactive for so long but I am back, and here’s a blog that I have been wanting to write for such a long time. I am so happy to finally be sharing this one with you. I hope you enjoy it!

There are many different forms of anxiety (I have done a few blogs on anxiety so you can read those if you want to) but today I want to discuss social anxiety.

What is social anxiety?

It is when having everyday interactions causes irrational anxiety or self-consciousness. It is like an overwhelming fear of social interactions.

Here are some signs which may help you recognize it better-

· Worrying about embarrassing and humiliating yourself

· Great fear of interacting or talking with strangers.

· Fear of physical symptoms that may cause you embarrassment, such as blushing, sweating, trembling

· Skipping social events because you think it might be awkward to go

· You feel like you are not really interested in events because it might be awkward to be there

· You feel that everyone is silently judging you

During the pandemic it has been so hard to socialize, everything is online and social interactions are not very common, at least for me. Even the smallest interactions make me nervous. Everything is slowly opening up and it will take some time to get back into a routine but there is a difference between being shy and having social anxiety. For me, having a sense of familiarity helps me calm down. It could just be having the people I love around me or giving myself a pep talk (I know it might sound weird but it actually does work)

Social anxiety may not necessarily go away, it could become better over time but here are some tips which can help you keep it under control-

1. Professional help- there are different levels of social anxiety that you can have. If it gets really out of control, you should seek professional help. Do not keep anything to yourself. Make sure you know your boundaries and talk to your parents if it is really bad.

2. Talk to a friend- this personally always helps me. It kind of helps me remember that I am not alone and there is someone else out there who could probably relate to me. Friends also help take your mind off the situation which is probably best as you are likely to spend less time stressing about it. Surrounding yourself with the people you love helps a ton because they always want what’s best for you

3. Pin-point the problem- when you are nervous about some certain social interaction, it helps to pinpoint what exactly are you scared of. Are you scared of people judging you? Are you scared that you will say something wrong? After narrowing down on your fear, remind yourself that in retrospect or in the grand scheme of things, this whole thing is not that important. No one will be judging every single move you make and worst-case scenario, even if you do say something wrong, it is highly likely that the person would remember it for more than a couple of days

4. Give yourself a pep talk- I know this sounds very weird like why should I talk to myself? But what we don’t realize is that it’s those little thoughts that really affect us. You know sometimes when people say, “Oh, it’s all in your head!” most of the time it is. It is kind of like your brain convinces itself that- “People will judge me,” so sometimes it doesn’t hurt to be your own hype person and you just need a pep talk and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that

5. Focus on your breathing- calming yourself down in a situation is of utmost importance and one way you can do this is by controlling your breathing and keeping it steady if you cannot do it on your own, you could always ask an adult or friend to guide you through this process

6. Take small steps- it is kind of like conquering your fears but everyday tasks edition? Take small steps to build up your confidence. For example, if you feel anxious about making new friends, slowly work toward getting closer to them every day or even just bring your friend along to help you. One thing that you have to remember, is that social interaction is probably inevitable and you are probably going to end up doing it at one time or another. So, take small steps to conquer your fears

7. Be kind to others- just like how other people probably do not know what you are going through, you do not know what they are going through. Maybe you helped someone who had social anxiety as well by simply being nice. Passing on these acts of kindness is so therapeutic and so helpful to others. Just think of it this way- how would you want the other person to react if you were in the same situation as them?

I hope you enjoyed reading this blog, it felt very personal for me to write but I wanted to do it because I want you to know that you are not alone, you will always have someone. Please talk to the people you love that are around you if you feel anxious and my DMs are always open. You can even send in an email if you feel like it. This is a safe space and I hope you feel heard and seen over here.

Thank you so much for reading,

Mahika gupta

(BTW- I am going to be more consistent from now on so look out for a blog every Wednesday)

(Question of the day- What book are you currently reading? (I am currently re-reading ‘All the Bright Places’))

(Ps: follow my Instagram: @blogbanterandbigwords where I share polls and put teasers for my upcoming blogs, you might also find some nice quotes in there)