What Is Social Anxiety?
While getting ready for a speech in 5 minutes, you can’t stop asking yourself a million questions in a millisecond. You keep doubting your appearance, reprimanding yourself repeatedly for laughing out loud, and even restructuring your sentences ten times before uttering them.
Well, that happens, and it’s called social anxiety!
Whether it’s the nervousness before giving a speech, meeting a new colleague at their house-warming party, or even asking a shopkeeper for a commodity, it can make everyday conversations seem tough.
However, help is available, and through the right tools and therapy, you can beat social anxiety with the guidance of a credible mental health platform like Saalvio.
What Causes Social Anxiety?
In terms of psychology, social anxiety is when an individual goes through intense and persistent fear of being judged or embarrassed in social settings.
Social anxiety is not as simple as a lot of people consider it to be. Instead, it emerges from a combination of several factors, including genetics, an imbalance of certain brain chemicals like serotonin or dopamine, and an overactive amygdala.
Hormones and a high level of natural sensitivity can also be blamed for triggering social anxiety in individuals. As per mental health specialists, various developmental and personality factors also have a role to play here. For instance, a child who is brought up in an abusive household is more likely to develop social anxiety than a child who has a supportive family system.
How To Overcome Social Anxiety? Path to Recovery
You are not alone! Social anxiety is pretty widespread, more than you can think of. Saalvio is a dedicated mental wellness platform that offers guided exercises to those dealing with anxiety issues.
Overcoming it is possible, and several methods are available to achieve this. Such as:
A. Work On Your Breathing
As per psychologists, your body is calling for extra oxygen when you are feeling socially anxious. In such a situation, the right breathing patterns work like magic. Exhaling extensively helps nudge your body into a calm mode. Box breathing, in which you inhale, hold, exhale, and then hold again, also helps relax your brain and body.
B. Mindful Walking
While you are walking all the way to meet someone, but your mind is filled with negative thoughts, you need to switch to mindful walking over casual walking. For that, feel each step that you take, notice the sounds around you, see your foot movements, and connect with the floor. This way, you’ll be able to distract your mind.
C. Give Your Anxious Thoughts An Outflow
Absorbing and keeping too many anxious thoughts inside of you is harmful. Give your thoughts an outlet through a mindful activity, such as journaling, drawing, sketching, or recording them. Putting them into words will help you understand what bothers you better, and tackling it will become easier.
How To Get Rid Of Social Anxiety? Overcoming Negative Thoughts
You can get rid of social anxiety successfully once you can recognize and replace your negative thoughts. You need to acknowledge the negative thoughts and then make an effort to replace them with positive ones. Also known as cognitive behavioural therapy, CBT, this technique to pinpoint distorted thoughts and replace them with positive ones helps a lot in overcoming social anxiety.
You can access CBT through Saalvio and get help from the comfort of your home.
Social Anxiety Medication
If you are looking for a quick fix for your social anxiety, you can surely opt for medication. But social anxiety medication is not a one-size-fits-all solution! Instead, it’s the long-term therapy sessions offered by a mental health specialist that help you deal with the problem.
Final Thoughts
Social anxiety can cost you a lot of good opportunities where you could have spoken up and earned some brownie points, especially in your career. This is why it is necessary to manage social anxiety, defeat your fears, and embrace confidence.
Ready to begin your path to peace of mind? Connect with Saalvio today!