How to cope with extreme social anxiety?

[Raze]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcAOv9GT2Ug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1AjuygSNos

 

Edited July 29, 2023 by Raze

[Razard86]

1 hour ago, Raze said:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcAOv9GT2Ug

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1AjuygSNos

 

lol never change you always respond with links so funny I love it.

[Salvijus]

5 hours ago, tesseract 369 said:

I do vipassana, and meditate during the day as well

Goenka style? 

If you could remain aware and observant during the midst of anxiety and socializing. It would change your relationship to anxiety and how express yourself. Anxiety would just become something that's there but it doesn't cripple or limit you. There would be more distance between you and anxiety. And your socializing would change. You'd no longer need to worry about what to say as the words would naturally arise from the space of awareness.

Edited July 29, 2023 by Salvijus

[Loving Radiance]

Your nervous system needs to rewire.

Meet the social anxiety in small portions. When it comes up feel the it in your whole being. Make it a meditation: Notice sensations. Notice emotions. Notice thoughts. And breathe.

There's always going to be fear involved if you want to meet and be the real you.

Edited July 30, 2023 by Loving Radiance

[mydiamondsandpearls]

Make sure you take care of your body physically. Get enough sleep (super important!). Exercise or walking (walking is amazing for mental health). Eat healthy. Baby steps with social situations. Good luck!

[Yimpa]

6 minutes ago, mydiamondsandpearls said:

Exercise or walking (walking is amazing for mental health).

Finding a walking group would be cool. Have you heard of Meetup? I wonder if there any any walking groups in your area.

[mydiamondsandpearls]

@Yimpa I'm not in the US/Europe, I do enjoy walking alone though. Good music and comfy shoes is all I need:)

[Lila9]

Graduate exposure to intimidating situations, celebrating small successes, finding the negative beliefs about yourself that fuel the anxiety and strongly questioning them, replacing them with other beliefs, maybe being honest about it with people when you talk to someone and experiences symptoms. You don't have to tell that you have SA but maybe let them know that you are a bit nervous in advance, it may help to decrease the level of anxiety.

Good and simple breathing when you are overwhelmed by the symptoms is to exhale the air in your lungs very slowly and completely before you take another inhale.

This technique is helpful for all anxiety types btw.

Mindfulness is an amazing tool as well, it trains your brain to focus on what is happening in the current moment and be more present rather than on the stories in your mind that create the symptoms.

I hope it was helpful and I wish you lots of good luck and strength to overcome it.

 

Edited July 30, 2023 by Lila9

[Leo Gura]

You can start by just going to the mall on the weekend and striking up conversations with the old lady clerks at the department stores. The objective should be to do small talk and keep the conversation going as long as possible while keeping your body relaxed and having fun.

Edited July 31, 2023 by Leo Gura

[Miguel1]

9 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

You can start by just going to the mall on the weekend and striking up conversations with the old lady clerks at the department stores. The objective should be to do small talk and keep the conversation going as long as possible while keeping your body relaxed and having fun.

Yup. And if this is too much, then you can start with just by asking for directions or perhaps even time.

[integral]

We need chat-gpt assisted augmented reality situationally relative conversation prompts.

Edited July 31, 2023 by integral