Contrary to popular thought, social anxiety disorder (SAD, also called social phobia) is not the same as shyness or introversion. While the latter describe quite common personality traits, the former is a mental health condition that requires professional treatment. SAD is marked by intense fear of being judged, negatively evaluated or rejected in social situations […]
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You have just been called up in class. “Please read this passage out loud for all of us.“, the teacher says. You take a deep breath while checking how long the paragraph is. It is an entire page. Your heart rate increases, you feel the adrenaline running through your body, your breath gets short. While […]
For most people, socializing with others is a natural process that happens almost automatically. Although they may experience some initial insecurity when meeting new people, they warm up quite quickly and can immerse themselves in conversation without any major problems. For others, meeting and interacting with strangers, or even with well-known people, represents an important […]
Relaxation techniques, such as progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing, biofeedback and mindfulness meditation can successfully reduce anxiety for most individuals. However, this is not the case for everyone. For a certain subgroup of people, these same practices can have adverse effects, leading to increases in anxiety when engaging in them (Heide & Borkovec, 1983). Such […]
To some extent, social anxiety plays an important role for all of us. The psychosomatic arousal – alertness, shaking, sweating, etc. – is a signal from our bodies that it is important that we behave in a certain way, make good impressions, and help others to feel comfortable in our presence. These are the mechanics […]
There are many doubts that can make people feel anxious and insecure when going on a first date. “Do I look attractive enough?” “What are we going to talk about?” “Will I appear nervous?” “What if I say something stupid?” “What if we just sit their in awkward silence? Although these types of anxious thoughts […]
Social anxiety disorder (SAD), the excessive fear of being judged and humiliated, is a sadly common phenomenon among students. While about 6% of children are affected by the condition (Chavira, Stein, Bailey, & Stein, 2004; Ruscio, Brown, Chiu, Sareen, Stein, & Kessler, 2008), numbers quickly escalate with the beginning of puberty, with the disorder peaking […]
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is hard to live with. Not only does it cause the difficult emotions of fear, shame and sadness on a daily basis, but it also linked to significant functional impairment in various life domains. One of these is the workplace. Socially anxious people do not only feel bad in certain work […]
“Care about what other people think and you will always be their prisoner.” – Lao-Tze, ancient Chinese philosopher and writer Most of us have been there: You are having an interesting conversation but hold back a comment. You are giving a presentation and are overwhelmed by your nervousness. You would like to ask someone out […]
Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is an impressively common phenomenon. About 10% of people suffer from it at some point in their lives (Wittchen & Fehm, 2001). Usually, it begins during childhood or early adolescence. Affected people rarely ask for help, with only one in five individuals ever receiving professional treatment (Grant et al., 2005). This […]
Social anxiety refers to concerns about being judged, rejected, or negatively evaluated in social situations. When these concerns become excessive, we may speak of social anxiety disorder. But what does this mean? Is it a mental health condition? Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is considered a mental illness. It disables affected people to engage in everyday […]
Socially anxious people usually worry about seeming socially inept and being rejected. Given the intense anxiety they often experience in social situations, they wonder if their social anxiety is noticeable and whether or not others can tell they have it. Social anxiety often comes along with observable signs of physical arousal. However, affected people tend […]
If your child, your spouse, a friend, or even a complete stranger has an accident, you want to be able to help. You want to stop that bleeding, ease the pain, and prevent long-term consequences of the acute emergency. Just as we can provide quick assistance through regular first aid in the case of physical […]
Most of us are acquainted with feelings of insecurity and concerns of being judged. We may worry about the way we come across when meeting new people, starting a new job, or going on a date. While these concerns can be somewhat uncomfortable, they also help us make decent impressions on others and usually subside […]
Some people experience social anxiety more frequently and more intensely than others. For many, it is difficult to discern what exactly sets off their social fears. Gaining clarity about what triggers your social anxiety is helpful if you want to reduce it. Social anxiety is triggered when we are highly motivated to convey a specific […]
Whether it is your spouse, your child, or a student of a class you teach: it is heartbreaking to see how social anxiety can stop people from living their lives. Given the nature of social phobia, affected people rarely ask for help. This makes it even more important that their loved ones learn how to […]
“You should not worry about what others think of you.” – You have probably heard this many times. But is that really good advice? Is it sign of self-confidence if you do not care about other people’s opinions of you? Is this something to strive for? It is normal to care about the opinions others […]
Many of us have experienced that situation where we feel anxious but we don’t know why. People with social anxiety disorder (SAD) experience this quite frequently. Like everyone else, most of them have a hard time understanding where their fear comes from. According to psychoanalytic theory, the symptom has a meaning within our unique story. […]
When thinking of social anxiety, most people picture a shy, introverted, and precautious person who severely struggles to interact with others. However, not everyone with social anxiety fits this description. Social anxiety exists along a continuum, ranging from mild to severe. Mild social anxiety is a normal and helpful trait. It helps us worry just […]
For most of us, shame is simply the uncomfortable sensation that accompanies our social mishaps. For others, namely those with social anxiety disorder (also: SAD), shame is much more than that. Not only do socially anxious people tend to experience shame more intensely than others, but also is their threshold to experience it much lower. […]
With the pandemic hitting the whole globe and lockdowns being enforced, social isolation has become a real problem for many people. The number of social encounters we experience has dropped significantly throughout the last year and those who work from home and live alone may spend most of their days by themselves. While some people […]
Have you ever been in a social situation and started feeling insecure about the way you were coming across? Maybe you worried you would say something stupid, seem shy or boring, or you simply worried about being rejected. While concerns like this are pretty common and even adaptive in many situations, in some people they […]
Have you ever come up with big plans for changing your behavior in the new year just to find yourself not following through within the first couple of weeks? Something important came up so you had to interrupt your gym routine or your co-workers brought chocolate to the office and you simply could not resist, […]
“Try to pose for yourself this task: not to think of a polar bear, and you will see that cursed thing come to mind every minute.” Fyodor Dostoevsky, Winter Notes on Summer Impressions, 1863 Negative Thoughts and Psychological Disorder What if they notice my anxiety? What if they reject me? I can’t give this presentation, […]
“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.” William Shakespeare Want to Feel Good About Yourself? Be Above Average! Melissa is a 16-year-old high school student who gets good grades. Her parents are proud of her, and her teachers predict she will be able to study at her college of choice. Although […]
You suffer from social anxiety and are craving professional help, but there is one paradox holding you back: your fear of doing so. Like most people with social anxiety disorder (SAD), you refrain from seeking help because you are afraid of the potential in-person encounters with another human being that come along with psychotherapy. Admittedly, […]
