Get over social anxiety in 5 steps
MODEL-actor Darasing Khurana, an active philanthropist, came up with the Pause.Breathe.Talk Foundation last year to offer mental health services to the needy.The foundation was launched after the suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.
The past year has revealed that many people suffer from social anxiety, a serious mental health condition, where every day social interactions cause anxiety, fear or embarrassment. So Darasing, with leading experts in the field, have come up with five things to overcome social anxiety.
Watch your breathing
Breathing techniques are often recommended to promote relaxation or for dealing with stress or anxiety attacks. When you breathe, your blood cells receive oxygen and release carbon dioxide. When people are anxious, however, they tend to take rapid, shallow breaths from the chest.
Whenever you are anxious, focus on your breathing. Breathe in, hold your breath and count till 5, and then breathe out. If you do this for 70-80 times, you’ll feel calmer.
Behaviour modification
Remember, nothing will change around you. So, the best way is to plan thoroughly for a social situation that makes you nervous.
The idea is to recognise what triggers your anxiety and try to minimise the activities that might trigger anxiety. Also, if you feel socially anxious and you want to work on it, you must start going out with people who are close to you and who will take care of you when you’re feeling anxious.
Have a gratitude journal
You must write down the positive things that have happened to you throughout the day. One thing that counters anxiety a lot is gratitude.
Initially, your negative thoughts might be too overpowering, but you must understand the negative thoughts are already there within you, so you must cultivate thoughts of gratitude to balance things out.
Sweat it out
When we feel anxious, our body is primed for fight or flight, and releases the stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline which can cause elevated blood pressure, a racing heart, and sweating. Exercise can help us burn off this negative energy.
Open up
Sharing your feelings and speaking to people is pertinent. Listening is also important.
If you shift the focus of your thoughts towards someone else, that can help in containing anxiety. |