Many people find it hard to be in social events such as gathering in events and speaking in public. You will notice that they are uncomfortable and nervous during such situations. Having a social anxiety disorder is more than just experiencing shyness. It can prevent them from doing their normal daily routine.
Nowadays, mental health illnesses are common to people. With that, a social anxiety disorder can happen to anyone, even kids. You can hire professional child counseling services if you want to monitor your kids’ mental health. Here are some helpful tips:
Know and Understand Social Anxiety Disorder
Having an anxiety disorder is overwhelming. There is so much going on inside your head and it keeps on weighing you down. But if you start recognizing the inevitable effects of your illness, you will be able to cope with it. You will not have the motivation to help yourself heal from this illness if you won’t accept your own condition.
Learn the Right Breathing Exercises
Shortness of breath is one of the symptoms of social anxiety disorder. It can be managed with proper breathing techniques. So you must learn the right way to do it.
Sit and relax your back and shoulders. Inhale for four seconds. Hold your breath for a few seconds. Then, exhale through your mouth within six seconds. You can continue the cycle until your breathing has normalized.
Breathing exercises must follow certain procedures to achieve complete relaxation. The number of seconds that you will breathe still varies. Especially, if you are not yet familiar with the exercise. If you are a beginner, you can try the 4-2-6 seconds rule in breathing. Then, you can try more difficult techniques as you master it.
Fight Negative Thoughts
Anxiety disorders usually start in the mind. If you keep on having negative thoughts, then there is a big chance that they will happen. For example, a week before your declamation contest, you already keep on thinking about the mistakes that you might make or the lines that you might forget.
To fight these kinds of thoughts, you can say to yourself, “Am I really going to make a mistake after all the practices I did?” or “Will people really think low of me if I forget my lines?” Try to weigh things more to avoid thinking of the worst scenarios.
Face Your Fears
Avoiding social situations is not an escape from your fears. It will just keep on troubling you if you don’t do something about it. If you want to overcome your social fear, then you must involve yourself in more social events. You can take small steps at a time.
If public speaking scares you, then start doing it in front of a small crowd. If you receive positive feedback, you will gain more confidence to face people. If not, take it as a challenge to become a better public speaker. Managing social phobia symptoms one at a time will help you treat your illness.
Social anxiety can be managed if you know how to control yourself. It is also better if you keep on thinking that you need to choose happiness always. Life has its ups and downs. Learn how to surf on it. Sometimes, it is better to be sad or dejected. Without it, you won’t appreciate real happiness.
