Feeling nervous in social settings is normal, but your everyday social activities can be overwhelming if you have a social anxiety disorder. Social anxiety disorder causes intense and persistent fear of being negatively judged in social settings, humiliated, or embarrassed. New York anxiety treatments can help you manage the disorder, which is critical if it is causing distress and interfering with your daily life. You can benefit from therapies like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) or prescription medication, including beta-blockers, anti-anxiety, or antidepressants. The treatment may also include addressing underlying mental and physical conditions that could aggravate social anxiety disorder. Besides treatments, you can also employ certain care measures to ease social anxiety. Among the measures are:
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Relaxation techniques
Anxiety causes physical changes like fast and shallow breathing. The changes are uncomfortable and often worsen the situation, causing more problems like feeling suffocated, tense, and dizzy. Relaxation techniques like controlling your breathing can help ease the tension and alleviate the impact of such changes. For long-term impact, you can employ measures like taking yoga classes. The progressive relaxation techniques in a social setting, like yoga classes, can help you learn more about controlling your concentration, remaining calm, and effectively managing your overall mood and anxiety.
Take it easy
Even with treatments, including medication, social anxiety won’t disappear overnight. You should not jump into considerable social activities immediately after treatment or an anxiety attack. Take it easy, such as spending more time socializing with individuals you are comfortable around and eating with close friends or relatives in settings like a restaurant. As you gain confidence, try to make and maintain eye contact with people you meet and start conversations. Beating yourself up only derails the progress, but if you take smaller steps at a time, you’ll tackle the social anxiety and comfortably navigate even the most demanding social settings.
Prepare for social engagement
Social anxiety worsens when your engagements seem to be awkward, like an abrupt conversation end. Preparing for a social engagement like a date can help keep the conversation going. Research interesting conversation starters and stories or read about current trending events. With such information on top of your head, you won’t struggle to maintain an interesting conversation, which helps minimize the chances of a serious anxiety attack.
Acknowledge the negative thoughts
Negative thoughts are often automatic and emanate from situations or people. Most of the thoughts are usually wrong, such as misreading facial expressions. Thoughts such as assuming facial expressions are about you, not the conversation, can quickly spiral and cause an anxiety attack. Acknowledging the thoughts and actively addressing them can help alleviate the feeling. For instance, challenge the thoughts with positive reinforcements. When you feel anxious, remind yourself of a similar situation you were in, which prepared you to remain calm and focused. Such reinforcement can help you tackle anxiety and excel in social engagements.
Anxiety is part of life and can make you more productive when well-managed. Don’t let social anxiety result in self-isolation; seek professional help and adopt remedies like those above. Contact Rappore today for more on social anxiety disorder and treatment.
