How To Overcome Social Phobia? 16 Tips To Deal With It

More serious than shyness, people who live with social phobia They worry excessively about an upcoming social event or avoid social interaction. In many cases, learning to overcome social anxiety can be very exhausting for those who suffer from it. In fact, this people phobia is so overwhelming that those who suffer from it end up stopping going to social events for this reason. So how can we learn to overcome social anxiety?

How to overcome social anxiety?

To face all the symptoms of social anxiety It is important to take into account the reason for this disorder and detect the situations in which the first signs begin. Additionally, some tips that you can keep in mind are the following:

1. Analyze those specific situations that trigger anxiety: Social anxiety does not present the same way for all people. In fact, some may experience this people phobia because they worry if others judge them, or in other cases simply by being around people in whom they may not trust much. Therefore, identifying these situations will help you take the first steps to find how to overcome social phobia
2. Practice with someone you trust: Instead of avoiding a social environment due to fear of ridicule or humiliation, practice the situation in advance with a friend so that you already know how to handle yourself in conversations. Remember to stay calm and speak slowly.
3. Focus on your good qualities: Social phobia tends to focus on bad things and causes being a negative self-image and in turn, one fears that other people will consider them uninteresting or boring. Every person has good and bad qualities. Identify your three strongest character traits to help you increase your confidence and improve your self-esteem.
4. Practice good eye contact: Make an effort to look people in the eye, be the first to say “hello” and don’t forget to do it with a smile.
5. Prepare for a conversation: Before attending a social event, mentally brainstorm three or four topics that will make for good conversations. Opening a discussion with a current event such as the weather or some current entertainment event serves well as “breaks ice.”
6. Talk to a stranger: Social phobics avoid interaction with strangers so as not to violate their comfort zone, so trying to open a conversation with a “stranger” like the neighbor is a way to overcome anxiety. Ask a stranger for directions to somewhere. ask the store clerk for help.
7. Challenge your negative thoughts: It is very likely that people who have symptoms of social phobia talk to themselves in a derogatory or negative way. In fact, social anxiety is related to having excessive worries around events with people. For example, you might worry too much about saying something offensive in front of others, laughing at the wrong time, saying something out of context, etc. Given these thoughts, you must keep in mind that it can happen to all of us at some point, but in reality, if we have a good perspective, it is a mistake that no one will care about and if it does, it will be in a very superficial way. People are more likely to be empathetic with you than to judge you or give you a hard time. Therefore, if you feel that your thoughts around these concerns are overwhelming you, you should try to reason with them and replace them with more useful and realistic ones. You can try asking yourself some basic questions about the moment that worries you and answering in an honest and balanced way.
8. Start by taking small steps: Will not be able overcome social phobia One day to another. On the contrary, trying to do it cold turkey will cause more anxiety and will be counterproductive for you. In reality, if you take it slower and try to take small steps, you will have a better chance of reaching your goal. For example, try not to focus on the worries that may arise when facing a conversation with someone. Try to talk to everyday people, such as cashiers. Or, on the other hand, you can try to organize a meeting with your closest friends since it is likely that you feel more comfortable with people you trust.
9. Become aware of the most subtle types of evasion: You should keep in mind that avoiding social situations completely will not help you. solve social anxiety Furthermore, it is completely normal that when faced with certain events, you want to stay away from it due to social phobia. But, if this avoidance is really due to social anxiety, you should try to take measures to try to overcome it. For example, you can say that you will only go for a few hours instead of all day, as this may give you more confidence to deal with social phobia.
10. Rename your feelings: Sometimes simply renaming a feeling of social anxiety can help you deal with these emotions. This way, if an event is coming up that you feel nervous about, instead of identifying these feelings as nerves, try to see them as if you were excited. Although it may seem like an insignificant act, this can help you because it transforms this negativity into more positive affirmations.
11. Practice kindness: Although it may seem at first glance that being kind to others is not an obvious solution to dealing with people phobia, research has shown that there is a link. This is because, in most cases, the root of social anxiety is usually the fear of rejection. Therefore, doing acts of kindness provokes positive reactions in others, which ends up reducing these types of fears.
12. Learn and use relaxation techniques: Relaxation techniques can help deal with symptoms of social phobia , especially those who are physical. These types of techniques can help calm through breathing all the physical reactions that exist in our body when we experience social anxiety.
13. Give up alcohol and other drugs : Many people try overcome social phobia on certain occasions with the use of alcohol or even other drugs. In reality, doing so ends up being counterproductive and creates an unhealthy habit because it creates the belief that you cannot socialize without the use of these substances.
14. Try to get out of your comfort zone: For overcome social phobia It is important to try to gradually leave the comfort of our comfort zone. Therefore, going to certain events that do not generate so much anxiety or trying new things will give you enough confidence to leave this zone.
15. Act with more confidence: Learning to be confident is like learning anything. That is, the more you practice it, the easier it will be for you to deal with these feelings. This implies that you must become the center of attention, but it would be interesting to be a little more assertive to overcome these fears.
16. Seek professional help: The first step to improvement is self-acceptance that there is a problem. Sometimes social anxiety or phobia requires additional help as self-treatment requires a lot of determination and discipline. Counselors and mental health professionals are available to treat social phobia with psychotherapy and medication in extreme cases. Professional help can give you the extra discipline you need to overcome this problem.

The key to overcome social anxiety is to detect what is causing it. That is, to face these feelings, you must put yourself as a priority and work within yourself.