You may be a bit compulsive by nature, being a mom and all, but there will come a time when you have to stop and think about whether or not your anxieties are preventing you from living your best life. There are different types of anxiety that impact the way people live inside and outside of their homes, and the most severe ones can keep you home when you really just want to paint the town red. If you feel that your anxiety is keeping you home on those rare nights that you manage to have to yourself, find out how you can address your fears without having a panic attack.
Why Social Anxiety Is More Than Just Being an Introvert
Lots of people love to have quality time to spend by themselves. Naturally introverted people are nearly allergic to high energy social situations, and understandably, they’d much rather stay solitary than accept an invitation to a block party. On the other hand, social anxiety affects much more than social situations. You can feel anxiety just as you are ready to give a presentation at work, or get nervous and sweaty when you’re about to go to your first PTA meeting.
How to Know If Anxiety Is Impacting Your Social Interactions
The thing about anxiety is that it affects more than your mind. If you don’t feel adequately relaxed before social situations, you accidentally botch introductions and make yourself feel self-conscious about how the way you deal with interpersonal interactions. Simply put, social anxiety can cause you to feel like everyone around you is judging you, staring at you or even laughing at you when they barely notice you’re even around. Having one bought of social anxiety can lead to others, so try not to ignore the feelings of anxiety you have just before you have to interact with a group of people.
Ways to Make Socializing Less Anxiety Inducing
If you have gotten to a point where you simply don’t want to deal with other people when you don’t have to, you can probably safely deduce that you have severe social anxiety. Of course, you’ll need a doctor to actually make this diagnosis but if you are able to accept this reality yourself, you won’t be shocked when you are told that you are suffering from social anxiety. A doctor can put you on medication to treat different types of anxiety, but that’s not always the kind of solution that is best for social anxiety sufferers.
If you have been isolating yourself because of issues with anxiety, what you need to do is first fully relax. Instead of worrying about the outside world, start thinking about what you can do for yourself to help you feel better about your social interactions. Meeting up with friends that you haven’t seen in a while should aid you in feeling enthusiastic about social interactions for the first time in a while. Spending time laughing and relating to those that know you best will have you feeling more confident about social interactions with those that you do not know.
