→ Previous: Causes → Next: Symptoms There are 9 factors that maintain and exacerbate your social anxiety despite repeated exposure to social situations. The key factors that maintain and exacerbate your social anxiety are: Negative core beliefs about yourself and others.  Negative automatic thoughts. Paying attention to the negative and ignoring positive/neutral feedback (attentional bias). Self-focused attention. Negative self-image. Avoidance. Safety behaviors. Anticipatory anxiety. Negative post-event processing. 9 factors that maintain your social anxiety Interventions th ..read more

→ Previous: Social anxiety treatment options → This is the last article in the series Here's how I think about medications vs. cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). Maybe in time humans will come up with the perfect treatment for social anxiety i.e. one that works for all individuals all of the time. But at this point, that does not exist. But just because that does not exist, that doesn't mean we shouldn't be using the tools we humans have developed to try to help people achieve their goals and have a quality of life. So the tools we have now are basically drugs/medications and therapy ..read more

→ Previous: How can I desensitize? → Next: Medications vs. CBT Anxiety management techniques vs. a treatment program If you have social anxiety, you've probably heard people say "do deep breathing" or do progressive muscle relaxation. These are helpful anxiety management techniques, but they are not a comprehensive treatment program. To overcome social anxiety, you need more than individual anxiety management techniques—you need a comprehensive treatment program. A comprehensive treatment program includes desensitization training, developing new thought patterns and perspectives, and an ..read more

→ Previous: How can I reduce my fear? → Next: Treatment options When you have social anxiety, the primitive fear center in your brain (the amygdala) is setting off false alarms. The amygdala thinks a situation is dangerous when it is not dangerous. To change this, you need to desensitize your amygdala. You can do this through a process called Habituation. The Law of Habituation When you desensitize, you're taking advantage of the Law of Habituation. The Law of Habituation says "the more you do something, the less your fear it." So whether you're practicing in a lab, real-life or using ..read more

→ Previous: Severe vs. normal symptoms → Next: How can I desensitize? Overcoming social anxiety boils down to three things.  1. You gotta really want it! You have two voices. One voice focuses on the fear. The other voice focuses on wanting more freedom and a higher quality of life. The second voice says "I want this now." When the "I want this now" voice is LOUDER, you are motivated. You gotta be motivated to do the next steps. 2. Lots of studies have shown that thinking about things in new ways can reduce anxiety symptoms. So it's about changing your perspective of yourself and o ..read more

→ Previous: Why is my body doing this? → Next: How can I reduce my fear? Think of social anxiety on a continuum of 0 to 100. Where 0 = no anxiety and 100 = worst anxiety you can imagine.  Here are a few important points: check No one is at a zero in every social situation. (Even presidents and prime ministers are going to have some social anxiety in some social situations sometimes.) So your goal is not to get to zero anxiety. Your goal is to get to manageable anxiety. check "Low fear group." Those who have a 1-30 fear level have some social anxiety symptoms but it's manage ..read more

→ Previous: Symptoms list → Next: Severe vs. normal symptoms ​ Question "Why is it when I'm in a new situation my body reacts by getting shaky and I feel on edge and physically sick, yet in my brain I know it's not a big deal? Like the other day I was going to an acquaintance's business to talk to them about doing some casual work there. There was no pressure, it wasn't an interview, and I was looking forward to it. Yet my body reacted like I was about to walk into the middle of a battlefield. I kept thinking to myself What the hell?! Everything is fine, stop freaking out. I trie ..read more

→ Previous: 9 factors → Next: Why is my body doing this? Every individual is unique and may have different symptoms (or combinations of symptoms). Here are some typical social anxiety symptoms: check Feeling awkward check Self-focused awareness (focusing on how you're performing vs. other person) check Mind going blank and difficulty concentrating check Freezing ("deer in the headlights syndrome") check Desperate need to escape the situation check Blushing check Sweating check Heart racing and rapid heart rate check Shortness of breath check Trembling or shaking check Abdo ..read more

→ Previous: Overview → Next: 9 Factors Social anxiety is typically caused by a combination of predisposing factors + a life stressor. Some of the pre-disposing factors could be: check Heredity (anxiety in your family) or other biological/medical causes check You were bullied check Your parents or authority figures communicate an overly cautious view of the world check Your parents or authority figures are overly critical and set excessively high standards check You're told that you need to be perfect, and you think you're not measuring up check Your parents or authority figure ..read more

This is a multi-part series explaining how to overcome social anxiety. → This is the first article in the series → Next: What causes social anxiety? At the core of your social anxiety is a fear that you will be judged negatively by others. The more you fear negative judgment, the more intense your symptoms and the more severe your social anxiety.  Ultimately, the fear of negative judgment—and the symptoms that follow—are stopping you from having the quality of life you want. They may be stopping you from graduating from school, interviewing for jobs, getting promotions, interacti ..read more