Overcoming Social Anxiety

How To Overcome Social Anxiety

There are several effective social anxiety treatments and techniques that you can use for overcoming social anxiety. I personally have tried many, as I know what it is like to suffer with this disorder. In order to choose from all the different options, it helps to know the advantages and disadvantages of the different treatment methods.

Social Anxiety Treatments

Hopefully you are interested in using natural treatments for overcoming social anxiety.

At least they don’t come with the awful addictions and negative side effects and consequences.

Therefore this is one huge advantage of using these natural techniques and methods in preference to the artificial ones…which have so many disadvantages.

Therapy

One of the first treatments is therapy. Therapy is used for most anxiety and mental health disorders.

Many people reach out for help, through counseling or therapy. A psychologist will often use a variety of methods such as cognitive-behavior therapy and medications. They will often prescribe social anxiety medicines to take with the therapy. The only disadvantage is the side effects to these types of medications.

Techniques for Overcoming Social Anxiety

Self-Help Programs

There are also wonderful self help anxiety programs if you prefer to do your own therapy sessions at home. There are many programs that have given amazing results. However none of them work if you don’t follow the program!

Vitamins and Minerals

You may also prefer finding anxiety relief through the use of natural herbs and supplements. These natural remedies have proven helpful for those wanting to overcome social anxiety. There are many vitamins and minerals that ease the stress and tension that can mount when having to deal with social issues. I personally find taking vitamin B and magnesium extremely helpful.

The advantages of these supplements is that they are not addictive and they also come with other health benefits.

Diet and Exercise

This is so important for any anxiety disorder. Make sure you eat healthy foods and exercise daily! A healthy body helps you have a healthy mind. There are foods to reduce anxiety and foods to increase your happy hormones. I can’t stress how important these two factors are.

Homeopathic Formulas

There are also natural remedies that come in the form of homeopathic formulas. They have the ingredients that help soothe and calm naturally.

We often lack the vital chemicals that we need to balance our hormone levels.

When things are out of whack…so are we emotionally. It is hard to function when things are not in balance.

Positive Outlook

Another important step is to make positive changes to your own outlook on life. Most people who suffer from social anxiety do so because of their own thoughts and attitudes. They tend to perceive things in a negative way all the time and they set unrealistically high expectations of themselves. We beat ourselves up, especially when faced with others perceived thoughts.

We also feel that people are always judging our every action and just waiting for us to make mistakes, which of course, is not true at all. Once you manage to convince yourself that you are not under society’s microscope all the time, you will be able to relax and live your life happily.

This takes time and practice, but if you can do this…it will change your life dramatically!

One thing you need to understand about overcoming social anxiety is that it does not happen overnight. Yes, there are ways to conquer the problem but it will take time and effort. Therefore, the best approach to getting better is to do it one small step at a time.

Take Small Steps

For example, if you have been hiding inside the house for fear of meeting someone outside and having to talk to them, try spending an afternoon on your front lawn. You don’t even have to step outside the gate but when you see neighbors passing by, try smiling and saying hello. Pretty soon you’ll feel more comfortable and you’ll be more happy to converse in no time at all.

Overcoming social anxiety may not always be that easy but it is not impossible either. Once you realize you have a problem, take steps to solve it right away so that it doesn’t get worse and interfere with your personal life, your career and your social relationships.

Do you have any questions or suggestions? Let me know in the comments below…

Affiliate Disclosure

My website contains affiliate links, which means if you purchase any products mentioned in my articles, I may receive a commission. If you do, thank you!

Comments

  1. My boyfriend gets really upset with me when we have to go out and no sooner do we get there and I start feeling sick. He thinks I am making it up, but I am not.

    • Hi Sharon,

      Ask your boyfriend to read this article so that I can help him understand you are not making it up.

      This happens to so many people and I too can still get that sick feeling in my stomach. I have never been a social butterfly and can empathize 100% with anyone suffering from social anxiety.

      If you feel you do need help, don’t be afraid to speak to your doctor or family…or even ask us more questions and we will endeavor to help you find the answers.

    • Tina marie says

      I’ve dealt with that too where its hard to get support from ure loved ones no matter how much u try to get them to understand what ure going through and that’s the worst feeling in the world to feel alone in ure misery everyday without the people ure around the most making u feel worse about what ure going through like ure making up excuses.

      Anxiety has destroyed my life for a very long time now. I actually haven’t lived an actual life yet the way I want to bc of these issues. Small things that other people have no problem doing like making a phone call freaks me out so bad so I put a lot of things off for the longest time. Sometimes I can fight through it and just do it and get it over with and I end up feeling a weight lifted off my shoulder but that doesn’t always happen every time.

      I just hate the feeling everyday as if u were drowning pretty much dealing with this. Its definitely affected my jobs my relationships and its holding me back from seeing my true potential and it makes me feel so sad that I’m wasting my life away bc I’m constantly worrying myself to death or just get scared of everything so u feel like ure never getting anywhere and time is just passing u by

      • Jennifer Johnson says

        Hi Tina Marie,

        I know exactly how you feel. Even today (with me having this website) some of my family think I am weird and a little bit trippy. I know they don’t want to listen as they look at me with that ‘just wake up to yourself’ kind of look.

        On the other hand, there are others who are beginning to understand…as much as they can.

        If there is a social gathering they understand ‘better’ now if I seem reluctant to want to go and even organize anything. I hate being involved in the organization of any social activity too.

        My stomach still makes me want to lie down…and today I know it is my anxiety…years ago I wondered why I always felt sick when something important was on.

        Anxiety destroys all our lives…if we let it. We usually let it because we don’t know how to deal with it. It is the hardest battle I know! We are battling with our inner fears. They don’t go away…they usually grow…but we have to give it our best shot and learn how to manage it…learn how to keep it under control.

        If we win occasionally it is a wonderful feeling…just as you said about a huge weight being lifted off your shoulders. If we lose occasionally, it’s the time to get stronger! See what triggered it the most and be better prepared next time.

        My heart ached when I read how you hate making phone calls…I hate it too!! The phone rings and it may as well be a bomb going off as I hate even looking to see who it is! I always say to my husband, ‘Can you get it please? I’m a bit busy.’ or I love it when we are eating dinner…becasue he swallows quicker than me and runs to get it. If I have to ring anyone that is not family…I have to make a time to do it…and prepare myself to do it…or I won’t.

        Years ago, I had the biggest panic attack over having to make a phone call. It was to someone I hadn’t met. It was to make an appointment that was very important and I just couldn’t do it! A friend, who asked if I had made the call, couldn’t understand why I couldn’t, so drove many miles to make me do it! I still didn’t do it. So they dragged me to them face to face…which was worse!

        I’m sharing my story to hopefully give you some hope.

        My husband said to me that he read once, “You only have to be brave for the next 20 seconds.” He said it helped him make quick decisions and take action if he was nervous about anything and it has helped me too.

        So if I can say anything to help, be brave for the next 20 seconds…

        Jennifer

  2. I just left a comment on another one of your articles explaining that I have this disorder and then I stumbled upon this and wished I would have read it first.

  3. My face turns red whenever I talk to someone or make eye contact with someone or when I’m standing in front of people of when someone calls my name. How do I help stop my face turning red? I also breathe heavily, sweaty hands, racing heart and everything feels like a dream. Is this part of social anxiety? It always feels like everyone is judging me.

    • Jennifer Johnson says

      Hi Tayler,

      As you probably gathered from reading my article I have suffered from social anxiety all my life. All the symptoms you have described as having…relate to almost everyone with this type of anxiety.

      How do you stop your face turning red? This is something that can’t be fixed with a simple solution. It takes time and a lot of self-help effort. I wish I could give you a simple solution.

      As I said above there are steps you can take to help overcome your social anxiety issues. It can be done because many people have done it. I have for one…although occasionally the feelings return when least expected.

      As for feeling the breathing problems and a racing heart etc., that is why many people feel like they are having a heart attack. Feeling sweaty, out of breathe, red-faced and being judged by onlookers…is all part of social anxiety.

      If you are prepared to help yourself, then you have a good chance at managing or overcoming social anxiety. What I recommend is to not ‘try’ too hard, as that ‘trying’ can work against you.

      Focusing on the problem at the times when it is a problem will cause your anxiety levels to heighten. You need to work on yourself and prepare yourself when you feel safe and non-threatened.

      There is a wonderful self-help program that has helped many. I would love you to read the comments as I think the comments will give you hope.

      You can read them here:
      https://anxietyreliefstress.com/the-linden-method-review-the-anxiety-disorder-and-panic-attacks-cure/

      Please ask me any questions you like and whenever you want. Feeling alone or talking to others that don’t understand makes it all that more painful.

      Jennifer

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About Jennifer Johnson

I suffered with social anxiety and stress for years. I discovered what my triggers were and learned to control them. Hopefully some of the natural anxiety relief techniques I have tried, will also be your solution.