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The Neuroscience of Social Anxiety: The Power of Your Dopamine Balance

Social anxiety, often also referred to as social phobia, can be hard to live with. If you are affected, you are probably all too familiar with the excessive fear of disapproval and negative judgment that go along with it. Recent research suggests that an imbalance in key neurotransmitters, including dopamine, might be one of the […]

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The Serotonin-Social Anxiety Link: What You Need to Know

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is a frequent mental health condition that can significantly impact a person’s quality of life. Affected individuals commonly fear being disapproved of, rejected, or negatively evaluated by others (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). Recent research has shown a strong link between an imbalance of serotonin, an important neurotransmitter in the brain, and […]

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How to Help Someone With Social Anxiety? A Complete Guide

Feeling insecure in certain social situations is normal and adaptive. When we perceive that we run the risk of conveying an undesirable impression on others, we may react with greater alertness, making sure that we do not behave in a way that may offend others or reflect poorly on ourselves (Leary, 2000). However, for some […]

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Social Anxiety at School: A Complete Guide for Affected Students

Going to school and getting a basic education is a human right that not all children get to experience. For good reason, it is hoped that those who have the privilege of attending primary and high school will be grateful and take advantage of this possibility. That is why skipping classes is considered a trait […]

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Social Anxiety & Romantic Relationships: Practical Advice for Couples

Social anxiety disorder (SAD) is incredibly common, accounting for one of the most common mental health conditions in the world (Kessler et al., 2005). Even people who do not qualify for a diagnosis often struggle with social anxiety (Porter, Chambless, & Keefe, 2017), which can affect a range of different life domains. One of the […]

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The 10 Most Serious Consequences of Suffering From Social Phobia

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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Fear of Reading Out Loud: Why You Panic & How to Prevent It

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 […]

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Facial Muscle Twitches During Socialization: Causes & Remedies

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 […]

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Relaxation-Induced Anxiety: Why You Get Anxious When Trying to Relax

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 […]

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Social Anxiety in College Students: The Neglected Pandemic

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 […]

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Dating With Social Anxiety: 15 Tips To Help You Thrive

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 […]

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How to Help a Student With Social Anxiety?

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 […]

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Social Anxiety at Work: Obstacles, Opportunities & Job Ideas

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 […]

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Stop Worrying About What Others Think of You | A Complete Guide

“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 […]

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Does Social Anxiety Get Worse With Age?

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 […]

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The Vicious Cycle of Social Anxiety: Stopping the Underlying Triggers

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 […]

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Does It Matter What Others Think of You?

“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 […]

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Some people suffer from mild social anxiety, which is mostly a good thing, as it helps us to make good impressions.

When Nerves Turn Into a Problem: Mild Social Anxiety and Its Implications

Social anxiety is a common condition that affects millions of people worldwide. While severe social anxiety can be debilitating, milder forms of social anxiety can be a normal and helpful trait in certain situations. In this article, we will explore the nuances of mild social anxiety, including its advantages and disadvantages, and how it differs […]

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The eye of a woman which is painted in the face.

Shame Attacking Exercises For Social Anxiety: Scary But Effective

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 their threshold for experiencing it is also much lower. […]

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AN older man who is sweating.

Fear of Visible Anxiety Symptoms: What to Do?

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 […]

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Metacognitive Therapy for Social Anxiety Disorder

“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 In anticipation of a feared social situation, many people with social anxiety disorder (SAD) experience some form of negative thinking. “What […]

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Self-Compassion: An Antidote for Social Anxiety

“Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, as self-neglecting.” William Shakespeare What are you great at? In what areas are you above average or perhaps even outstanding? Everyone is exceptional at something, and recognizing that can boost our self-esteem. But what happens when we fail in our areas of expertise, in our uniqueness […]

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