Social anxiety
Social anxiety disorder is a severe fear of being judged, scrutinized, embarrassed, or rejected by others.
Definition
In its mild form, it may mean tension in social situations, but as a disorder it involves persistent, intense anxiety and avoidance of situations that make functioning difficult. It applies not only to public speaking, but also to conversations, meetings, asking for help or eating in front of others. It needs to be distinguished from ordinary shyness.
Key ideas
- Fear of being judged
- Social avoidance
- Impact on everyday functioning
Practice and life
Choose one small social situation and treat it as an experiment: what I predict, what I will do, what actually happened.
Common misconceptions
It is a mistake to assume that social anxiety is simply introversion. It is also a mistake to strengthen anxiety by constantly avoiding every social situation.
> Other people's gaze can be the hardest when a person is facing himself.
> — Guru Element
Questions for self-reflection
- What grade am I most afraid of?
- Which situations do I avoid because of anxiety?
- What safe micro-experiment can I do?