How to Calm Social Anxiety: 5 Ways to Ease Your Jitters in Public

 

How to Calm Social Anxiety: 5 Ways to Ease Your  Jitters in Public

Have you ever walked into a room full of people and felt your heart start to race or

maybe felt like you were about to faint? Perhaps your thoughts started racing and

you couldn't seem to get a handle on how to interact with others? For people with

social anxiety, these feelings are commonplace. Common interactions become

challenging and day-to-day life can be difficult to manage.

There are nearly 15 million Americans living with social anxiety today. If you're

currently someone living with this, continue reading for a few tips on how to calm

social anxiety. In this article, we'll go over 5 specific ways how to help social anxiety

and how you can calm your socially anxious thoughts. But first…

What is Social Anxiety?

In general, it is common to feel the occasional set of nerves. For example, when

getting interviewed for a job or going on a first date you may feel a little anxious.

Social anxiety is different in that the anxious feelings are amplified and can be

brought to the surface frequently and during everyday situations.

Social anxiety can be categorized as an intense fear of social interactions or

avoidance of regular life events due to anxious thoughts. Physical symptoms

typically manifest as sweating, dizziness, muscle tension, or nausea.

There are ways to help you get through these uncomfortable feelings and get back to

enjoying social situations.

1. Spread Kindness

One way to help lessen feelings of social anxiety is to do something good for

someone else. Performing a selfless act for someone else may help lessen your

feelings of social anxiety. For example, donating to a charity or offering to help carry

in a neighbor's groceries can counter potential feelings of anxiousness or potential

social rejection.

Extending kindness or a helping hand to others can help reinforce the positives of

social interaction and lessen feelings of anxiety.

2. Schedule 'Worry Time'

While it can feel difficult to manage your anxiety, one way to effectively calm anxious

thoughts is to set assigned a designated worry time. Generally, this time can be set

aside to record or write down anything that may be causing you to feel anxious or

stressed.

It takes some practice, as recognizing or labeling our internal thoughts can be

difficult at first. However, once you can recognize an anxious thought cycle, you can

then begin to disengage. Once you reach this point, make a note of what anxious

thoughts are bothering you. You can then come back to your list at your designated

worry time.

This helps you avoid ruminating and avoids allowing your brain to be stuck in a cycle

of anxious thoughts. Instead, you write them down and know that you can come

back to them later at a predetermined time. At that point, whatever was making you

anxious beforehand may seem less scary.

Remember patient practice will help us recognize our worries and retrain our brain to

direct our thoughts elsewhere.

3. Try CBD

Another form of social anxiety treatment comes in the form of CBD which provides a

natural way for you to cope with anxious or spiraling thoughts.

CBD interacts with certain receptors in the brain that are known for regulating fearful

and anxious behaviors. When neurotransmitters within our brain are out of balance,

feelings such as anxiousness tend to manifest. When CBD gets taken, said

receptors in the brain are able to fire correctly, thus balancing out necessary

neurotransmitters like serotonin.

CBD for social anxiety can act quickly and efficiently, providing relief as early as 30

minutes after use. CBD products available today range anywhere from capsules and

edibles to tinctures and oils. For those unsure where to start, Secret Nature provides

a wide variety of CBD products to choose from.

4. Get Physical

The mind-body connection truly is a powerful thing. By treating your body well, you

inadvertently treat your brain well. Exercise and a healthy diet can provide a really

powerful step toward eliminating social anxiety. Even so much as a 10-minute daily

walk can help boost confidence and lessen symptoms of anxiety.

In addition to the physical and mental positives that come from daily exercise, your

body will also be able to fall asleep better. Better sleep is associated with better

overall health, and this includes lessened symptoms of anxiety. Sleep deprivation

has been linked to many mood disorders, one of which is anxiety.

In general, caffeinated drinks as part of your diet are unhelpful for those with anxiety.

The stimulant nature of caffeinated drinks only worsens symptoms. Instead, set

reminders to stay hydrated with water. By having less caffeine throughout the day,

you may be able to fall asleep and stay asleep.

5. Exposure

One helpful form of social anxiety therapy is that of exposure. By being willing to

experience discomfort, you're already one step closer to mastering your social

anxiety. You may feel uncomfortable at first, but by gradually exposing yourself to

social situations in which you otherwise would have avoided, you are teaching

yourself to handle triggering situations.

If in-person interactions are too uncomfortable, imagine yourself going through a

common social interaction. Eventually, you can work up to something small like

chatting with a cashier in person or giving a compliment to someone you walk by on

the street.

Hopefully, over time, the fear will diminish and be replaced by enjoyment in the

moment.

How to Calm Social Anxiety

Hopefully the above-listed tips provide you with workable options on how to calm

social anxiety. With enough work and dedication, the symptoms can lessen and

you'll be on your way to living life to the fullest. You've got this.

If you're currently working on your own personal development or social anxiety

journey, be sure to read through some of the additional articles we offer in our Self

Development section!