I’m anxious all the time socially, what do I do?
HELP YOURSELF
- First of all, thank you for writing your story. Sometimes it’s really hard to ask for help and a lot of people never do. It’s even harder for people who suffer from anxiety. So, good for you for stepping forward and sharing your story with the TeenCentral community.
- Next, I really want to encourage you to click on the “Learn” tab on the website and scroll down to the ANXIETY section. There’s a lot of helpful information there, PLUS there is a place where it guides you through making a PLAN for when you feel anxious. I think this could really help you. At least it’s a place to start for learning to cope with your anxiety.This tab also has information about various types of COPING SKILLS for anxiety – check it out!
- Here is a suggestion, as long as what makes you feel anxious is generally a safe situation (like going to lunch at school, going to a school dance, hanging out with friends, etc.) One of the best ways to ease anxiety about anything is to slowly and patiently expose yourself to the thing that makes you feel anxious a tiny bit at a time until you feel more and more comfortable. FOR EXAMPLE – I would recommend finding a friend who can go with you into the social situation, someone to sit with, someone to walk in with, etc. Go to whatever it is for a short period of time (like stay at lunch for 20 minutes, if it’s supposed to be for an hour) and then let yourself leave and go to a place where you feel more comfortable (like the library if allowed) for the rest of the time. Slowly increase the amount of time you stay in the social situation until you feel less anxious. Be patient with yourself!
CONSIDER THIS
- You are not alone. I encourage you to read other stories on TeenCentral.com that are tagged with categories related to anxiety. Hopefully this will remind you that many people struggle with social anxiety and it can improve over time if you work on building skills.
- Exercise is a great coping skill for anxiety. Do you like being outside? Walking or different kinds of sports?
- If traditional exercise isn’t your thing maybe consider something like yoga and mindfulness, which has shown a lot of promise in helping people with anxiety feel better.
