Social Anxiety

Feeling nervous in a group interaction, prefer not to open the camera in an online meeting, being anxious before a phone or a huddle call… These are some of the situations most of us face during a workday. Being anxious during or before a social situation is a common thing and it has many aspects in itself. The term “social anxiety” can be defined as the fear of social interactions and being evaluated by other people negatively. Some of the cognitions behind social anxiety might be “what if I say something wrong”, “what if I cannot explain myself properly”, “what if others can find out that I am anxious”, and so on...

For some people, these worries may be so intense that the individual avoids most social situations or simply puts up with them while feeling extremely uncomfortable. As you refrain from engaging in these interactions, things can get more complex and difficult. At this point, one’s relationships in daily life or the working environment may be negatively affected.

It should be known that social anxiety is different from being shy or defining ourselves as an introvert. If one suffers from social anxiety, it can be difficult to enjoy oneself even when there are no other people around because you never know when you’ll run into someone and have to strike up a conversation with them.

Here are some emotional and behavioral symptoms of social anxiety;

- worrying to be embarrassed or humiliated by others
- the fear of being judged in a social situation negatively
- the fear of being noticed as anxious by others
- avoidance of situations where the individual might get attention to oneself
- expecting the worst case as an outcome of a social interaction
- fear of having to interact with strangers

The fact remains that not everyone who experiences these symptoms suffer from social anxiety. The severity and frequency of these symptoms are the points to focus on here.

How has social anxiety been shaped during remote work?

Another form of social anxiety has popped up in recent years. Especially after the pandemic, online meetings started to happen very often which prepared the environment for many people to experience “Zoom anxiety”. According to a study conducted at a company in England, almost three out of four employees experience this state of anxiousness.

There might be so many reasons for this online conference anxiety, one of which is the thought of the inability to use body language effectively in communication. We are aware that all participants can see our facial expressions, body language, and even our eye movements in an online meeting when our camera is on. If one has anxiety because of this thought of inability, it is common that this person may choose to attend the meeting with the camera off.

Another reason for the anxiety stated by these individuals is that some kind of problems may occur during the online conference and cannot be fixed immediately. Even if we find it pointless to worry about things beyond our control, there may be times when we can’t help but worry. Employees who are worried about facing such a situation are afraid that other participants in the session will see their “incompetence” or make them wait. Although the problem is not caused by us, we may assume that others will think that there is an inadequacy in us.

Define your triggers!

It is very important to observe in which situations we experience anxiety and to be able to identify what exactly triggers us. It can be helpful to take notes of what goes through our minds and bodies during a state of anxiousness. In order to ease its physical reflections, we can try relaxation techniques such as breathing and muscle relaxation exercises. The reflections of anxiety on the body should not be underestimated, and it is very important to observe how our body reacts in certain social situations.

In our daily life and work environment, we often need to make social interactions and unfortunately, we cannot escape from these situations forever. It is all to say, social anxiety is a common disorder and if our daily life is affected negatively by this state of anxiety, getting help from a professional is very valuable and necessary.

See you in our next blog. Stay socially connected :)

References

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Brown, M. (2021, September 24). Report: The emergence of remote work anxiety is crippling productivity & employee mental health. Breeze. https://www.meetbreeze.com/blog/remote-work-anxiety-employees-survey/

Healy, P. (2017, September 28). The Hidden Anxiety of Remote Work. Medium. https://medium.com/future-of-work/the-hidden-anxiety-of-remote-work-b6a99066ba46

Kaan, T. (2020, December 7). Video konferanslar, birçok kullanıcıya anksiyete yaşatıyor! HWP. https://hwp.com.tr/video-konferanslar-bircok-kullaniciya-anksiyete-yasatiyor-163539

Prentiss, S. (2021). Speech Anxiety in the Communication Classroom During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Supporting Student Success. Front. Commun., 6. doi.org/10.3389/fcomm.2021.642109

Slattery, J. (2021, January 23). Cameras in Zoom: Should They Be On? Hand in Hand. https://handinhandclarion.wordpress.com/2021/01/23/cameras-in-zoom-should-they-be-on/

Social anxiety (social phobia), (n.d.). https://www.nhs.uk/mental-health/conditions/social-anxiety/

Strahan, E. & Conger, A. J. (1998). Social Anxiety and Its Effects on Performance and Perception. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 12(4), 293–305.

Şentürk, E. et al. (2021). Predictors of Depression, Anxiety and Stress Among Remote Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic. Work, 70(1), 41–51.