subject: Control Social Anxiety - Tips You Need to Get Over Social Anxiety Symptoms [print this page] Control Social Anxiety - Tips You Need to Get Over Social Anxiety Symptoms
Social anxiety can not only take over you, but your life as well. The minute that you start to feel the symptoms of social anxiety come on, your whole attitude and demeanor can change. You can go from being a friendly and outgoing person to looking like you are shell shocked in certain social situations. This is not a good feeling and anyone that has experienced social anxiety symptoms knows that it is something that you would not wish on anyone, not even your worst enemy.
There are so many situations that can get stifled by social anxiety disorder. Just imagine being set up on a blind date and at the last minute, you back out because the symptoms are becoming too much to bear. Even something like a job interview can become an experience that you want to avoid, so you can end up suffering career setbacks because of your social anxiety problems.
Here are some tips that can help you start to regain control and get over issues in social situations:
1. Slowly condition yourself to get in situations that you would normally avoid. This is when the 'baby steps' method starts to come into play. You need to be able to slowly work your way into whatever kind of situation might bring on an episode or attack. For example, if being in large groups of people will definitely bring on an episode, then trying to be around 4 then 5 and then 6 people is a way that you can take baby steps to get yourself ready to move on to larger groups of people.
2. Monitor where you feel it more than other places. We all have comfort zones where the social angst does not seem to have much of an effect on us. For example, at the workplace, you mat have no problems whatsoever, but when you enter into a crowded shopping mall, you might feel an onset of an attack. Social anxiety does not always get triggered in all situations, so being aware of where it happens most can be helpful.
3. Learn how to use simple reframing techniques to change how you feel. Your mind always creates some kind of a mental picture, and when you learn how to control that mental picture, you can change how you feel about certain situations. A lot of successful public speakers that previously had issues with social anxiety have reportedly used these reframing techniques to help them get over their struggles.
