How To Manage Unhelpful Social Anxiety
Most of us feel social anxiety some of the time, yet some of us struggle with it considerably. Here are some ideas to help you work on your unhelpful social anxiety and feel more comfortable showing the real you!
What is Social Anxiety?
Social anxiety is a general term for feeling anxious in social situations, with a particular concern about being judged negatively in those situations. Most of us feel social anxiety sometimes, and that’s ok!
Experiencing social anxiety sometimes is not the same as having Social Anxiety Disorder, a clinical diagnosis that needs a number of specific symptoms. Let’s look at what Social Anxiety Disorder is.
What is Social Anxiety Disorder (Social Phobia)?
Social Anxiety Disorder is applicable when someone experiences consistent and problematic social anxiety to a degree that causes significant distress or dysfunction in their life. More specifically, it involves:
Notable fear or anxiety about one or more social situations, like speaking in public, meeting a new person, going to a party, or eating or drinking in public
The person fears that they will be judged negatively by others by acting in an embarrassing way and potentially be rejected
The social situation almost always produces the fear/anxiety (i.e., these are not one-off fears)
The social situations are avoided or endured with significant fear/anxiety
The fear/anxiety is out of proportion to the actual social threat
The fear/anxiety and avoidance are longstanding, usually six months or more
The fear/anxiety and avoidance cause significant distress or impairment
The fear/anxiety and avoidance are not better explained by another mental or physical health condition and are not attributable to substance use
We can see that one needs to experience numerous symptoms related to social anxiety to meet criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder. About 7% of population would meet criteria for Social Anxiety Disorder in any given year, and about 12% of the population will meet criteria at some point in their lives.
If you have unhelpful social anxiety, meaning you experience some challenges with social anxiety that you think are getting in the way of your life, exploring psychotherapy could be a good idea, whether or not you check all the boxes for Social Anxiety Disorder. As always, note that diagnoses should only be made by qualified mental health professionals.
How Is Unhelpful Social Anxiety Treated?
The first-line psychotherapy for issues related to social anxiety is Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This is a treatment in which you’ll identify and work on:
Unhelpful thinking patterns that are increasing your worries about negative judgments from others
Unhelpful behaviour patterns, usually avoidance-related, that are continuing your social anxiety in the long-term
A key focus in most CBT treatments for social anxiety is working on behavioural exposure/experiments. These strategies involve identifying situations and triggers that you typically avoid or suffer through with considerable distress, and then developing ways for you to begin to approach what you’ve been avoiding to help learn that what you’re afraid of likely isn’t as scary as you think. This usually involves approaching the stressors slowly though!
Examples of specific strategies to focus on in CBT can include:
Relaxation strategies to manage acute anxiety.
Mindfulness practices to help increase our able to remain focused on the present moment and minimize how often we get lost in a cascade of worries.
Reframing unhelpful thoughts and thinking patterns. This is sometimes done directly using skills like a thought record and sometimes done indirectly through behavioural experiments.
Graduated exposures in which we slowly approach feared situations to help learn that they are not as scary as we fear they will be.
Most people with Social Anxiety Disorder will experience significant treatment benefits with CBT, sometimes in combination with medication. Consider connecting with a qualified mental health professional if you want help navigating your unhelpful social anxiety!
WG Psychology
WG Psychology is a psychology and psychotherapy clinic based in Toronto that helps people live more connected, purposeful lives through compassionate, evidence-based mental health support. Connect with us to see if we’re a fit!