According to the National Institute of Mental Health, up to 40 million American adults suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder each year. Social anxiety can have a crippling effect on your day-to-day life, as you fear engaging with others in social environments. This can have disastrous effects on your career and on almost every other aspect of your life, from social activities to doing your grocery shopping. Social anxiety can control your life to the extent that you are afraid to leave the house. For some it can be extremely debilitating.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety
Social anxiety is a phobia, and like any other phobia, it is driven by fear. Many people will have a slight fear of new social interactions; nobody wants to appear foolish or have others not like them. If you suffer from social anxiety, this fear will be much more intense than the average person’s, so much so, that you will do almost anything to avoid any social interaction. It can affect people physically, mentally and behaviourally. Physical signs of social anxiety can include profuse sweating and blushing. Your thoughts in social interactions will be focused on the other person. You will be sensitive to any signs of disapproval coming from them, and be prone to misinterpreting neutral behaviour as judging behaviours. Continue reading “How to Overcome Social Anxiety”