How Social Anxiety Is Treated
7 Effective Social Anxiety Treatments
Wish you could just feel confident, talk, meet people and get rid of social anxiety?
Almost everyone feels anxious in social situations occasionally, but if you feel socially anxious frequently and it restricts your life or causes feelings of depression, exploring some form of treatment is a good idea. Many social anxiety treatments fall under the category of self help, and are easy to do on your own, while others require the help of a therapist, doctor, counsellor or specially trained coach.
Here's a list of social anxiety treatments and some info about each.....
Medications
It can be tempting to seek an instant cure for social anxiety. As humans we have a natural affinity for treatments that work fast with little effort on our part. We are programmed to conserve energy and so these instant no effort options are very appealing! Plus social anxiety can feel so painful, we just want it to stop!
While anti-anxiety pills do quickly reduce feelings of anxiety and can make you feel temporarily numb, comfortable or relaxed they do nothing at all to address the core issues that make you anxious in the first place, meaning when the pill wears off you still have your original problem.
Plus anxiety meds tend to be highly addictive as well.
It's for those reasons that I am not so keen on medications as a treatment for social anxiety.
Therapy
If you can find a therapist, counsellor or coach that specializes in overcoming social anxiety, go there! Effective therapy for social anxiety includes cognitive behavior therapy, mindfuless, cognitive restructuring, thought challenging, emotional regulation, ACT, social skills training, self esteem building, body language, hypnotherapy, desensitization, communication skills and others.
All forms of therapy, counselling and coaching require active participation. Sometimes you will feel uncomfortable while you learn new ways of interacting, but the discomfort is temporary and the skills you learn will stay with you forever and help you in every area of your life.
This form of social anxiety treatment is available in-person or online.
The 2 most important things to consider if you choose this form of treatment are to choose a therapist, counsellor or coach you feel comfortable with, and one that specializes in social anxiety.
You receive customized private one-on-one help and the benefit of accountability. This option can be the most expensive, but many people feel the benefits are worth the cost, and consider it an investment in their health, well being and future.
If you can find someone good and can afford it and are willing to put in the effort to make change in your life - this is a great option!
Social Anxiety Treatments You Can Do Yourself
Social Anxiety Treatment Books
Check out this blog post for reviews of some good books on social anxiety.
In addition, another good book is "Feeling Good" by David Burns, one of the founders of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. It's all about using CBT to manage thoughts and emotions.
Meditation and Mindfulness
How can learning how to meditate and practicing mindfulness can be helpful for treating social anxiety?
It's because both of these practices focus energy on the present moment instead of the future or the past. Anxiety is always all about fear of what might happen, so stayng present helps disolve anxiety. It also helps you to connect better with others. In fact, one of the elements of charisma is being firmly present and in the moment.
Hypnotherapy for Social Anxiety
Not the stage show variety of hypnosis! Therapeutic hypnosis is usually done with the help of a hypnotherapist or it can be conducted at home using recorded hypnotherapy sessions specifically made for overcoming social anxiety. Hypnoitherapy helps to firmly embed thoughts and feelings of relaxation, comfort, and confidence into social situations.
Workshops and Courses
You can take workshops and courses to help build skills in social confidence. These are great ways to learn either on your own or with a group of others. And they are available online or in-person.