Strategies for Managing Social Anxiety: Building Healthy Connections
Social anxiety can be compared to an invisible weight since it can be an overwhelming burden to carry, but it isn’t continuously obvious to others. Just as physical weight can make it troublesome to move and work, social anxiety can make it troublesome to interact with others and take part in social activities.
Social anxiety can moreover be compared to a chunk of ice. The visible part of the iceberg is the anxiety that individuals encounter in social circumstances. Be that as it may, the invisible part of the iceberg is the underlying thoughts, beliefs, and fears that contribute to social anxiety. These fundamental components can be as noteworthy as the anxiety itself. There are several things that individuals can do to oversee social anxiety.
1. Question Negative thoughts and emotions:
Folks who deal with social anxiety regularly have one challenge they face negative thoughts and prejudicial beliefs in situations that involve social interactions. These beliefs make decision-making difficult and lead to social anxiety symptoms. Questioning these thoughts and beliefs not only helps with dealing with anxiety but also helps improve decision-making skills and provides a rationale behind every conundrum faced.
2. Exercise relaxation techniques
Relaxation techniques like deep breathing, mindfulness and muscle relaxation. It can reduce anxiety symptoms. It also manages social anxiety. There are many relaxation techniques available.
3. Set realistic social goals
It’s essential to set practical, realistic and reasonable goals for ourselves. By engaging more with the people around by going into small social gatherings and asking someone for directions on the road. By checking the level of comfort that you receive, you’ll eventually be able to increase your social goals.
4. Expose yourself to social events
One of the best ways to deal with social anxiety is to expose yourself to social events. You can start by small social gatherings like talking to a cashier at a grocery store. Improvement will be observed with consistency and pushing yourself to try and engage in ‘small talk’. Do not de-motivate yourself if continuing the conversation puts you in the spotlight, consistency is about exercising the activity in any manner possible, no matter how small or big the gesture is.
5. Social interactions
Typically social interactions cause stress in large groups or a crowd, to ensure your anxiety doesn’t bother it is better to start with a small support group or a community. Speaking about issues has been proven as one of the best ways to deal with anxiety that is what Cognitive Behavioural Therapy is all about. Letting emotions out is what helps individuals face and develop tactical approaches to solving the very issues discussed by them.
6. Seek help from professionals
If the social anxiety symptoms interfere with day-to-day life or it’s severe then it’s important to see a mental health professional. A specialist would be able to help you get through it by helping you manage your symptoms.
Tactical Approaches to Build Healthy Connections:
With managing your social anxiety, it is also important to develop techniques for building healthy connections.
- Be yourself. People find out when you’re being fake so it’s important to be genuine.
- Be emphatic. Getting involved with others, and interactions helps in multiple ways, especially in understanding what others feel and how certain situations lead to certain reactions.
- Be supportive and helpful. Offer your help to people who deal with similar situations, and be a support system to anyone and everyone you can.
- Be a patient listener. Listen to people attentively.
- Be respectful. Treat others with respect, and avoid any arguments.
- In case you feel uncomfortable or overwhelmed in social events or by the thought of any social event, just start by meeting a few people, or going to small gatherings.
- Have a goal before going to a social event. Like, think thoroughly before that what outcome you are looking forward to achieving by this meeting and achieve that goal.
- Always have some backup plan prepared like if you start feeling uncomfortable then maybe go for a walk or take deep breaths or anything that calms you down.
- Don’t be too hard on yourself. If you do anything wrong in the meeting, it’s okay. Do not overthink about it, just move on and learn from the experience.
With managing your social anxiety, it is also important to develop techniques for building healthy connections. Building healthy connections takes time and effort. Just put yourself out there and make efforts to meet and connect with others. With time, you’ll have a social network of caring and supporting people. Making strong connections can be difficult for people experiencing social anxiety. Just follow these strategies and you’ll see improvements.
