Social Anxiety Disorder, also called social phobia. is the fear of social situations that involve being the centre of attention and interacting with other people. It is one of the largest mental health care problems, affecting approximately 7% of the population. People diagnosed with this mental health problem have trouble developing friendships, show poor performance at school, and have low confidence in social gatherings.

Social phobia is a problem that commonly develops in early adolescence, but can also begin in elementary school years. Teenagers who experience stressful and embarrassing moments over a prolonged period of time are more likely to develop social phobia.

Symptoms of social phobia commonly fall under three categories:

Physical symptoms: what happens to your body when in social situations and even after

Blushing
Having red flush appear on face, neck, and arms
Talking incredibly fast to avoid awkward silence
Heart palpitation
Feeling nauseous
Trembling
Uncontrollable sweating
Jaw clenching
Difficulty catching one’s breath
Lightheadedness or dizziness
Muscle tension
Dissociation and feeling that your mind has gone blank

Cognitive symptoms: your thought patterns

Dysfunctional thoughts including self-doubt in feared situations
A tendency to disregard any opportunity to have positive social interaction
Negative evaluation of oneself in feared social situations
Strongly held beliefs about one’s inability to interact comfortably in performance-
related situations
Difficulty concentrating
Confusion and unease

Behavioural symptoms: the way you act in certain situations

Intense fear of being in situations where one will be surrounded by strangers
Fear of situations where you may be judged by others
Worrying about humiliating oneself
Avoiding situations in which one will be the centre of attention
Limiting experiences where one will be required to speak with unknown people
Escaping a social situation
Fear that other people will notice awkward behaviour such as trembling and
blushing
Overthinking one’s behaviour and regretting flaws in interaction after attending a
social gathering
Expecting extremely negative consequences after a previous bad experience
Feeling anxious in anticipation of a feared social situation

6 Proactive Ways to Overcome Social Anxiety

Below are some great ways to overcome social anxiety and improve your social health:

1. Breathe it out

One of the physical symptoms of social phobia is shortness of breath. When your body is tense, it interrupts your breathing as a response to stress. To counter this overwhelming feeling of stress, try focusing on your breathing.

Deep breathing is an effective technique for relieving anxiety because of its effect on the nervous system. To practice deep breathing, find a relaxed environment that is free from distractions. Start by taking a long breath in through your nose to fill your lungs, then hold your breath for three seconds.

After a short pause, exhale slowly through pursed lips, allowing the muscles in your face to relax. If you notice your mind wandering somewhere else, switch your focus back on breathing in and out.

2. Try a self-help manual

While there is no replacement for counselling when dealing with mental problems such as social anxiety disorder, self-help books can supplement conventional treatments. Self-help manuals are written with the intention of helping readers improve some aspect of their lives that may be causing social phobia or anxiety. Through the practical advice outlined in these books, people are encouraged to check in with themselves periodically. This is a vital step in overcoming anxiety.

3. Get enough sleep

Adequate sleep is vital to good mental health. But if you find that your social phobia is causing you to lose sleep, then you need to address the sleep problems through the help of your physician. Mental health professionals can suggest an action plan, medication, and mindfulness meditation to calm your mind and help you sleep through the night.

4. Work with a therapist

If you have reached a point where social phobia has started to decrease your quality of life, and you haven’t had much success with self-help methods, then it may be time to seek the help of mental health professional. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy can help you manage your social anxiety problem by allowing you to learn the correlation between your thoughts and behaviours that follow.

From your very first cognitive behavioural session, you will get the chance to define your goals and bring up any concerns you might have. How long you need to attend therapy sessions will depend on the goals you set at the start of the session. Common goals from this type of therapy include:

A better relationship with other people
Improved social skills
Reduced social anxiety Symptoms improvement

5. Face your fears

One of the many treatments for Social Anxiety Disorder is exposure therapy. The concept of this treatment revolves around confronting your fears by breaking the pattern of avoidance. The exposure to feared situations and activities can help decrease excessive fear and weaken previously held beliefs about feared situations.

With the guidance of a therapist, you can create an exposure hierarchy in which you can list situations, objects, and activities that cause you anxiety. The list begins with the moderately difficult behaviour, then progresses to the more severe ones. In creating your hierarchy list, try thinking of anxiety-provoking activities and situations and rate each of them on a 10-point scale (10 being the situations that cause the most fear). The list may include things such as starting a conversation with a stranger in a social setting or being introduced to other people.

6. Challenge unhelpful thoughts

It is not uncommon for people with social phobia to have negative thoughts that are outside their control. Thoughts that can have an impact not only on your social anxiety level but also on your overall way of life. It is therefore important to keep in mind that you can always challenge these unhelpful thoughts and perceive them as just thoughts that do not always represent facts.