Navigating Social Anxiety
For some, social situations can be more than stressful; according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, over 14 million American adults suffer from social anxiety. Social anxiety can negatively impact friendships, stunt professional growth, and often leads to low self-esteem. Social anxiety can also lead to feelings of shame, guilt and embarrassment.
Social anxiety can feel overwhelming, but by implementing the following strategies, you can work toward relieving symptoms and creating better experiences for yourself in social situations!
Identify your triggers
Are there certain places, people, or groups that trigger your feelings of social anxiety? What social situations make you feel the most uncomfortable? Large parties? Meeting new people? Work functions? Identify your specific triggers to begin working through your feelings of social anxiety.
Learn and implement stress reduction strategies
In uncomfortable social situations, lean on your self-regulation skills. Practice mindful breathing, use visualization techniques, or even step away for a few moments to take a break.
Plan conversation topics
Being aware of the news and current events can be helpful in starting and maintaining conversations with others! You can also discuss favorite books, recent travels, or just ask open-ended questions to get to know others. Having a few pre-planned topics to draw from can make social settings feel less stressful.
Socialize in smaller settings
Spend 1:1 time with others or mix and mingle in smaller, more intimate group settings. Perhaps you can’t avoid a big group gathering? Find smaller pockets of people to socialize with within the large social gathering can feel more comfortable.
Bring a buffer
Is there a work party you can’t get out of? A networking event you must attend? Recruit a pal, spouse, sibling, etc to go with you. Having a familiar face with you can help ease your feelings of tension and provide comfort.
Socialize in small doses
Mentally commit to being present and engaged for shorter amounts of time. Your office holiday party runs from 7p-10p? Go for an hour and a half and call it a night! You have a coffee date scheduled with a friend of a friend? Forty-five minutes is more than enough time to connect with them and make a lovely impression. Setting time limits for yourself can help to create a sense of control and provide you with power and agency, even in stressful situations.
Remember-YOU are in control! You are! You can accept or refuse invitations, leave events, socialize in smaller doses, and take breaks from social gatherings. You are in control, and you can determine how you spend your social energy.
You deserve to have a happy, healthy social life and to feel connected with others! If you have applied these tips and/or are feeling overwhelmed with the feelings, and consequences of social anxiety, do not be afraid to seek professional support. Social anxiety is often rooted in negative social experiences from childhood, and therapy can be a beneficial tool in working through those past situations and the accompanying negative beliefs impacting you as an adult.
Interested in More Support With Anxiety Therapy in Indianapolis, IN?
If you're looking to ease your everyday anxiety symptoms, seek out a skilled anxiety therapist at Indiana Counseling and Resilience Center. Together, you and a skilled professional can develop effective strategies to reduce stress and help you regain control of your life, and reduce your everyday anxiety. Remember, you deserve a peaceful and fulfilling future, and anxiety therapy can be a powerful tool to help you achieve it. Follow these three simple steps to get started:
Contact us to schedule an appointment for anxiety therapy
Begin meeting with one of our skilled anxiety therapists
Start managing your everyday anxiety symptoms in a healthy way!
Other Services Offered at Indiana Counseling and Resilience Center
At Indiana Counseling and Resilience Center, our team wants the best for our clients and we want to support you in any way we can. So, in addition to providing you with anxiety therapy to manage your anxiety symptoms, our skilled team of skilled and caring therapists specializes in trauma & PTSD counseling, couples counseling, and EMDR therapy. We offer our services both in-person and online in the state of Indiana. For more about us check out our FAQs!
