Feeling Nervous When Meeting Others
You might have social anxiety.
We sometimes feel nervous when meeting new people in social situations.
Fear not, for you are not the only one who encounters these fears, as millions of individuals from around the world have experienced general anxiety and/or social anxiety.
Clinically, there are mental health conditions that surround anxiety, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and/or Social Anxiety Disorder (SAD). You can get diagnosed with these through your physician, psychiatrist, and/or psychologist — however, diagnoses typically come from your physician or psychiatrist.
Identifying Anxiety
Although most people experience some anxiety across novel social events, it can significantly affect those with GAD and/or SAD. For example, these individuals might feel a continuous, intense, and crushing feeling that they are being judged and watched by others.
They might also be immensely fearful of their own behavior, leading to potential embarrassment. This can also prohibit individuals from conducting daily activities effectively, such as going to school, attending work, and many more.
Explaining Social Anxiety
For the purposes of this piece, we will focus on social anxiety, which can occur in several contexts.
Researchers are always trying to identify the cause of increased social anxiety, whether it is through neurological analyses, environmental mapping, and many more. It seems to be rooted in multiple variables, so it is quite hard to pinpoint — thus, research is ongoing, at best.
For some people, the lack of social skills can create problems in interpreting others’ behavior, fostering further misinformation. Others may experience anxiety because of a fear of rejection, fear of the unknown, or general demotivation after meeting new people.
Although many people experience such feelings at various points in their lives, those who have severe levels of it find it hard to incorporate daily activities.
To help pinpoint the underlying causes of anxiety, individuals might seek professional help, such as through their physician who can refer them to a therapist, such as a psychologist or a psychiatrist. It does also require a fair bit of introspection, creating new coping strategies, and discussions with other peers.
Common Therapies
The most commonly used form of therapy for anxiety is called Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy (CBT). Through CBT, you can analyze the patterns in your thoughts, thereby creating ways to increase your scope of control in a situation. Thus, it would be easier to manage overtime through a patchwork of tangible breathing techniques, exercises, and gradual reframing.
That being said, there are other therapeutic modalities for managing anxiety, such as through Acceptance-and-Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Brief Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), and many more.
A therapist can help customize your treatment plan so that it fits your unique needs, and may require bits and pieces of many therapeutic modalities.
This assistance may also involve medication to reduce social anxiety symptoms, but only a physician or psychiatrist can prescribe medication.
If professional healthcare support makes you uncomfortable, you can definitely explore resources online, such as looking up local crisis lines, or finding local counselling services with your school and/or workplace (if such exist). You deserve help in finding the right ingredients that fulfill a desire to feel better about yourself.
It definitely requires a lot of courage to accept needing extra support, especially when facing challenges and difficulties that impede personal growth. You deserve to see the support that you need. Mental health is a part of personal health, and you want some kind of resource or person that helps you reach your full potential, toward a better outlook on life.
Final Takeaways
Mental health can be influenced by various variables and the research behind the root causes of anxiety is ongoing at best.
However, if you have such severe social anxiety that you have difficulty interpreting your own behavior and the behavior of others, and you find it challenging to do most daily activities, it is okay to seek additional reinforcements, such as therapy, coping skills, and many more.
While cognitive-behavioural therapy is the most commonly used therapy for anxiety, it is not the only treatment available. There are always other techniques or strategies that help create new methods for improved emotional regulation, especially on a day-to-day basis. These may include reflecting, meditating, journaling, discussing with friends, and many more.
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