SOCIAL ANXIETY

Social Anxiety is a feeling of discomfort, fear, and apprehension that is based on interactions with others. Social Anxiety specifically refers to a fear of being negatively judged or looked down upon by others. Social Anxiety can not only be felt during an interaction but also felt when thinking about past and future social interactions. Social anxiety is very commonly felt by people with other mental health conditions.
Some of the main social interactions that stir up social anxiety are
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It is possible to live a normal and healthy life with social anxiety! The most important thing to know about social anxiety is that it does not need to define your life. Statistics from http://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-statistics |
Recovery Stories
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Childhood anxiety, even severe and chronic, doesn’t necessarily stand in the way of success and achievement. But caring parents will do anything to help relieve their children of misery. Scott Stossel, the editor of The Atlantic magazine, tells his story of struggling, coping, and living a very productive life. "By the time I started nursery school, I had developed severe separation anxiety. By age 10, I had a proliferating array of pretty intense fears and phobias—of heights and enclosed spaces, of flying, and especially of vomiting. So my parents took me for a psychiatric evaluation, and I was diagnosed with a range of anxiety disorders. "I got worse before I got better, but psychotherapy and medication got me through middle school, and I managed—despite intermittently debilitating anxiety—to have a successful academic career in high school (which I mostly disliked) and college (which I mostly loved)." To read more of Scott's story (along with the stories of many others) check them out here: http://www.adaa.org/living-with-anxiety/personal-stories/childhood-darkened. |
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Author Jennifer Shannon credits her own daughter's struggle with social anxiety as inspiration for writing The Shyness and Social Anxiety Workbook for Teens. Here, Rose speaks about her social anxiety as a teen and how cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) helped.
Aaron Burstein - Social Anxiety at 130 BPMWarning: Foul language |
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Draw My Life - Social Anxiety
Warning: Foul Language |
living with social anxiety

A Dangerous Cycle
Social anxiety can greatly impact one’s self-esteem and create a negative self-image. It can be a dangerous cycle as feelings and displays of anxiousness feed the negative self-image and embarrassment of the person affected, who is likely to already have a low self-esteem. Social anxiety is often accompanied and made worse by other mental health conditions.
In education and employment
Social anxiety can cause large problems for students and workers when it comes to completing their tasks and keeping in touch with their superiors as well as their peers.
Social anxiety can greatly impact one’s self-esteem and create a negative self-image. It can be a dangerous cycle as feelings and displays of anxiousness feed the negative self-image and embarrassment of the person affected, who is likely to already have a low self-esteem. Social anxiety is often accompanied and made worse by other mental health conditions.
In education and employment
Social anxiety can cause large problems for students and workers when it comes to completing their tasks and keeping in touch with their superiors as well as their peers.
- Letting your superiors (teachers, bosses, counselors) know about your struggles with social anxiety will allow you and your superior to be on the same page concerning your condition. By telling your superiors that you have SAD you are letting them know that they are in a position to help you accomplish your goals by limiting the situations that could cause great anxiety.
We want to make clear that social anxiety does not always lead to lower self esteem. Here is a comment by a young adult who reviewed our website:
"I have social anxiety myself, but very good self esteem. I noticed that a lot of the info about social anxiety [says that is] fear of being judged or seen negatively, which is true for a lot of people. But most of my anxiety is just fear of going out*... with not much thought process behind it. I don't think I'll be judged, but I feel uncomfortable in the sight of others...."
~Anonymous
*This fear is not to be confused with agoraphobia.
"I have social anxiety myself, but very good self esteem. I noticed that a lot of the info about social anxiety [says that is] fear of being judged or seen negatively, which is true for a lot of people. But most of my anxiety is just fear of going out*... with not much thought process behind it. I don't think I'll be judged, but I feel uncomfortable in the sight of others...."
~Anonymous
*This fear is not to be confused with agoraphobia.
How to get help for social anxiety
Different Types of Treatment Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a short -term goal-oriented psychotherapy treatment that helps to change patterns of thinking or behavior of people’s struggles and it also helps them change the way they feel. Resources for CBT: https://www.anxietybc.com/sites/default/files/ThinkingTraps.pdf https://www.beckinstitute.org/get-informed/what-is-cognitive-therapy/ Exposure Therapy is a treatment used to treat anxiety disorders by exposing clients to different circumstances they may not be comfortable with. Resources for Exposure Therapy: http://www.div12.org/sites/default/files/WhatIsExposureTherapy.pdf http://psychcentral.com/lib/what-is-exposure-therapy/ |
HOW FRIENDS AND FAMILY CAN HELP
Some great tips for friends and family are:
These sites can also help your friends and family learn how to help and understand your social anxiety! Use the information you find to talk with your friends or family, or send them the links! http://www.anxietybc.com/self-help/how-friends-and-family-can-help http://www.adaa.org/finding-help/helping-others/spouse-or-partner http://socialanxietydisorder.about.com/od/copingwithsad/a/helpfamily.htm http://socialanxietymouse.tumblr.com/helpothers |
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Social Anxiety Support Groups
Here are some great groups who work hard to help those that have Anxiety Disorders.
- Social Anxiety Support-http://www.socialanxietysupport.com/
- Anxiety and Depression Association of America-http://www.adaa.org/
- Social Anxiety Association-http://socialphobia.org/
- Andrew Kukes Foundation for Social Anxiety-http://akfsa.org/
- Social Anxiety Institute-https://socialanxietyinstitute.org
Books ABout Social Anxiety
Erika Hilliard gives a comprehensive guide on living a confident life while dealing with anxiety. (Click to go to Amazon page)
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