social phobia how to overcome

social phobia how to overcome – Social phobia which is commonly referred to social anxiety, is the fear of interacting in public.  This sort of social fear can be derived from a number of different causes whch can be hard to actually pinpoint.  However, there are many common causes to this phobia or anxiety which we can work on once we understand the reasons for it.  Most of the times these fears are created in our mind which causes our bodies to react in that anxious sort of fearful way.  If we understand the root of the cause we can begin to work on treating our social phobias over time.  Bear in mind your phobia and fear of interacting in public won’t dissapear and I do not reccomend taking medication to cure your phobia.

Ever since I could remember, I had some sort of social phobia.  I would often get anxious when approaching people and worry what I would say or what they would say.  This would often create the anxiety and the fear of rejection or being embarrassed.  What started off as minor, slowly got worse and worse as I started to avoid most social interactions to avoid the feeling of anxiousness.  By avoiding those situations I started to reinforce the anxiety which made it get worse.

What could have stemmed from bad experiences while socializing with peers when I was younger or from a lack of self esteem in myself, I think it could have been both.  What you need to realize is that your fears are usually created by yourself and are usually fears that we don’t need to worry about.  If you say the wrong thing or feel akward, so what.  Over time you begin to learn to socialize better but letting yourself give in to this phobia will only perpetuate the cycle.

Many times the anxiety or fear we create is due to the fear of the social phobia itself.  We are afraid of feeling anxious in a social situation which creates the situation itself.

How To Overcome Social Phobia – social phobia how to overcome

social phobia how to overcome – We can overcome social phobia by doing a number of things.  First, we can work on our self esteem and our self conidence.  We need to look at why we feel insecure and inadequate to socialize in the first place.  Many times we feel like we cannot add value to an interaction and we are so self concious that we don’t even realize that maybe the other person might feel the same as we do.  You must also remember that we are all people.  We are all humans and non of us are perfect.  Where you may lack in social skills you may make up in other areas of life.  Understand that you are unique and just because you lack at socializing, doesn’t mean you are a bad person or inadequate.

Second, you need to stop avoiding social interactions.  I know…  It is much easier when you feel anxious and you want that feeling to go away and if you avoid it all together, that feeling will disapate.  Well, what about the next time?  And the time after that?  That feeling will always be there unless you face your fears of socializing head on.  I know the first few times, maybe even the first 50 times might not show any progress, but over time you will begin to feel more confident about yourself for facing your fears and you will feel more comfortable in social settings.

Remember the first time you tried to ride a bike?  You probably didn’t make it far before falling.  But after time, you got better and learned how to ride the bike with ease.  Now, you don’t even think about it.  This is the same with dealing with your social phobia disorder and know that after time, you can remove those training wheels and not even have to think about it.

Reward Yourself – social phobia how to overcome

Every time you approach a person or start up a random conversion (which you should do just to work on your socializing skills), reward yourself.  Tell yourself great job and be proud of yourself for facing your fears.  But, if sometimes you happen to avoid a situation because sometimes the anxiety might be too much, don’t beat yourself up.  If you beat yourself up, your just going to hurt any progress you made.

Also, reward yourself when you are in the middle of an interaction or before a social interaction.  Tell yourself your smart, funny, kind or whatever it may be that makes you a good person and unique, which will help you feel more confident and comfortable talking to another person.

social phobia how to overcome – Remember, it may not even be the lack of social skills that you have but the anxiety and fear itself which is keeping you from expressing those skills.  I know I thought I was bad at talking with people when really, I wasn’t.  The anxiety was keeping me from expressing myself and being me.  Once I could work on removing those social phobias I could work on being me.  Everything else comes natural once you remove those barriers.  Trust me, you aren’t as bad as you think and the anxiety isn’t you.  It is just a part of you.

 

Check Also:

The Mystical Bond Between Exercise & Anxiety – conquering depression and anxiety through exercise

Dealing With Anxiety – is it easy?

Anxiety And Insomnia – How can I stop anxiety induced insomnia?