FLOW #18 - Managing Social Anxiety | Introverts Guide to Parties & Gatherings

You're listening to the 18th episode of the Humans 2.0 podcast, solo-series, FLOW! Today's episode is about how I beat and continue to manage my social anxiety as an introvert at social gatherings like parties with many people you don't know.

Social anxiety is the fear of social situations that involve interaction with other people. You could say social anxiety is the fear and anxiety of being negatively judged and evaluated by other people. It is a pervasive disorder and causes anxiety and fear in most all areas of a person's life. It is chronic because it does not go away on its own. Only direct cognitive-behavioral therapy can change the brain, and help people overcome social anxiety.

People with social anxiety are many times seen by others as being shy, quiet, backward, withdrawn, inhibited, unfriendly, nervous, aloof, and disinterested.

Paradoxically, people with social anxiety want to make friends, be included in groups, and be involved and engaged in social interactions. But having social anxiety prevents people from being able to do the things they want to do. Although people with social anxiety want to be friendly, open, and sociable, it is fear (anxiety) that holds them back.

The feelings that accompany social anxiety include anxiety, high levels of fear, nervousness, automatic negative emotional cycles, racing heart, blushing, excessive sweating, dry throat and mouth, trembling, and muscle twitches. In severe situations, people can develop a dysmorphia concerning part of their body (usually the face) in which they perceive themselves irrationally and negatively.

Lack of professional and knowledgeable therapists is the biggest and most relevant problem to overcoming social anxiety. While it can be done, and a vast amount of clinical and research evidence supports this, overcoming social anxiety is difficult because of the scarcity of treatment facilities for people with this persistent anxiety disorder.

Often, we are led to the conclusion that effective therapy -- whether from a psychologist or from a non-licensed person -- comes only from people who have experienced this disorder themselves. Twenty years of experience points to the fact that people who have lived with this disorder and overcome it, make the best group leaders.

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