Human nature is to judge. If judgment is in our nature, why do so many people worry about being judged?
Social anxiety is nervousness in social situations. While only five per cent of the Canadian population has been diagnosed with some form of social anxiety disorder, social anxiety is much more prevalent in childhood, teenage and early adult years, according to Statistics Canada.
Oct. 18 marked mental health day at Carleton, a day dedicated to mental health awareness and workshops. Social anxiety was one of many topics that were touched upon and perhaps one of the most common.
Like many, I have always had a fear of being judged, thinking I’m so different from everyone else, assuming people were talking about me and analyzing my every move.
It wasn’t until the last couple of years that I realized my social anxiety was unjustified. Exposure to complex social situations through my fraternity was really the tipping point for me. While the stereotypical fraternity image may be a group of popular confident jocks, there is far more to the modern fraternity.
It is a social structure that allows people to better themselves through close-knit friendships with a mutual interest in becoming a better man. This experience allowed me to view social interactions in a different way and become a more confident, outgoing person.
Many people have similar struggles and feel as though anxiety is inhibiting their success—which it absolutely is. Social anxiety applies to a multitude of activities, almost anything that you do in the public eye or in an intense interaction.
I remember being interviewed for a position, then afterward not being able to recall a single question that I was asked. The high-intensity social interaction mademy memory completely block out the situation.
People with social anxiety can experience it in a variety of ways. However, here are some common situations that people tend to have trouble with: going to parties, talking to strangers, public speaking, dating and interviews. Some of these things may be easy, others may be difficult for different people under different circumstances.
For example, you may find giving a speech to be easy, while going to a party might be very difficult. You could be an effective communicator one-on-one, but freeze up in front of an audience or vice-versa.
You may start having symptoms and getting anxious immediately before an event, or you might spend weeks worrying about it. Afterwards, you could spend a lot of time and mental energy worrying about how you acted. The bottom line is, social anxiety affects people in different ways and can take a toll on mental health.
Overcoming social anxiety is not easy and can take a long period of time. University of Toronto psychology professor Jordan Peterson explains an effective way to overcome social anxiety is to analyse your rational behind it.
You’re anxious about going on a date? Why? You think you’ll embarrass yourself? Why’s that? The method is breaking down the big things into little things that seem less intimidating, and in turn causing less anxiety. People with social anxiety often overanalyze things anyway, so this channels that habit into something positive.
Too often we get caught up in the little things rather than thinking big picture. For people with social anxiety, this can be a huge inhibitor of success and snowball into larger mental health issues.
File photo.
