According to the Mayo Clinic, Social Anxiety Disorder, fear, and anxiety lead to avoidance that can disrupt your life. Severe stress can affect relationships, daily routines, work, school, or other activities. Social Anxiety Disorder can be a chronic mental health condition, but learning coping skills in psychotherapy and taking medications can help you gain confidence and improve your ability to interact with others.
So, what do you do if you are struggling with social anxiety? Here are 5 tips!
1. Breathe.
Find a breathing practice that works for you to ground yourself. One that works particularly well at calming the nervous system is square breathing. Inhale for 4 seconds, hold it, exhale, hold it, and then repeat. Picture a square box as you breathe, and imagine yourself tracing each side of the square as you do this exercise.
2. Journaling.
Journaling is a great way to get emotions and fears out. Sometimes, things seem less scary once we have processed them in writing. Journaling also offers an opportunity to reflect on our anxieties and notice patterns that lead us to feel this way.
3. Prioritize your time.
Pick and choose what you want to spend your time doing. Maybe that’s permitting yourself to stay home or to connect with smaller groups of people rather than placing yourself in large gatherings.
4. Pay attention to your thoughts.
Do your thoughts seem primarily negative? Do you find yourself thinking about worst-case scenarios often? Can you find a way to challenge some of those thinking patterns and create more adaptive thoughts? Journaling about those thoughts is also helpful.
5. Find a therapist.
Having a mental health professional to talk through your anxiety with can be very helpful. They can help gently hold up a mirror to behaviors and offer you support and coping skills.
If you are struggling with social anxiety, contact one of the therapists at Heartland Therapy Connection today. We are ready to support you! You can call or text us at 816-287-0252. Or email us through our website. We’re here for you.
