Social anxiety, as its name suggests, is the anxiety that arises in social scenarios. Those who go through it know that it is not something to be taken lightly. You may not tell if someone is having trouble in social situations on a surface level. But internally, the body is tearing to take you away.
Symptoms of Social Anxiety can be classified into 3 types: Physical, Cognitive, and Behavioral. Physical symptoms tell you how your body reacts to a social situation, Cognitive symptoms are how the brain reacts, and Behavioral symptoms are how you deal with the feeling of social anxiety. The following are the 9 most common symptoms of social anxiety.
Physical Symptoms
1. Sweating
Sweating is the way of our body, telling us that it is operating on fight and flight reactions. It commonly happens when excessive hormones are triggered, heart rate is high, and the blood flow increases. Whenever you are thrown into the fight and flight reaction, the internal churning causes our body to heat up, leading us to sweat. If you want to lower down anxious sweating, you should follow these:
- Wear clothes that enable you to breath
- Try and maintain a healthy body weight
- Practice deep breathing exercises
- Make a workout or a jogging routine
2. Trembling
This is one of the worst symptoms of social anxiety and makes your condition apparent to everyone around. It can be embarrassing to have it experienced in front of others. This one is yet another manifestation of our body’s fight and flight response. It happens when our body’s adrenaline is on a high. You can use the same tips mentioned in the previous point.
3. Tension in the muscle
Muscle tension is not a direct symptom of stress. There are multiple works of literature to back this fact. But, it can happen due to the exaggeration of the symptoms of anxiety. In other words, staying preoccupied with stress and anxiety can cause you to lose track of how long your muscles have been in the tension. It is always a good idea to deal with muscle tension before it gets even worse. Some tips for dealing with it:
- Hot shower
- Body massage
- Routine yoga
4. Breathlessness
This is one of the most prevalent symptoms of social anxiety. It usually happens when the spotlight falls on you in a group discussion or if you are made to talk in a gathering. Shortness of breath can also lead to various problems; one of them is an anxiety attack. You can manage this symptom by following these tips:
- Practicing slow breathing- focussing on the stomach]
- Engaging in activities like walking, running, jogging which can help you maintain a healthy blood flow
- Distracting yourself with TV, games, and books to take away your mind from breathing
Cognitive Symptoms
5. Negative thoughts
People who have social anxiety have trouble and get flashbacks of embarrassing moments years after the incident. You must also be able to recall embarrassing moments from the past. Did you feel anxious about the thoughts that occurred to you? Having such negative thoughts is extremely detrimental as it can turn into negative beliefs. You can try and control negative thoughts by following these:
- Challenge your thoughts: Instead of just giving in to your negative thoughts, try and challenge them. Do not accept that you are a bad person based on just a couple of instances.
- Focus on your strengths: Try and look at the things you are good at and do better than others.
- Rephrase your thoughts: You must be able to detach yourself from the source of negativities. So, instead of thinking, “You are a …”, label it as “I am having thoughts that I am a …”
6. Negative Beliefs
The major difference between having negative thoughts and negative beliefs is that negative beliefs get you to believe things on the sub-conscious level. The problem is that most of the time, we do not even know when we have enabled thought to transform into a belief.
Behavioral Symptom
7. Escapism
When you let the anxiety take over you, you start finding a way to dodge opportunities in life. If being in a gathering makes you anxious, at first, it may seem like you are managing anxiety by avoiding the trigger. The truth is that it keeps you from living a rich life and loads of uncovered opportunities.
Aversive behavior
Actively trying not to make eye contact or avoid being noticed by others are signs of social anxiety. You may not entirely withdraw yourself, but you lookout for opportunities to retreat. In a way, you put a wall between you and others. You can follow these tips:
- Make trying new things a habit
- Do just the opposite of what your anxiety is telling you to do