Anxiety in social interactions

Post Reply New Topic

I can't seem to shake these feelings off. It's like when I stop being self conscious about one thing, I find a new thing to be self conscious about. I always get really self conscious over the most trivial s**t in social interactions.

I tend to overanalyze every social interaction and if I even f**k up a little bit, it will bother me for days, weeks, or even months. I've tried diverting my attention to something else, thinking positive, etc... and it still doesn't help enough to eliminate my problem.

It's a vicious cycle and a self fulfilling prophesy. The anxiety makes it harder to think clearly and it makes your muscles tense, which severely interferes with my ability to socialize. It's f*****g frustrating...

Does anyone know any effective self help methods of eliminating this type of self consciousness? All help is appreciated. Thank you for reading

deep breathing and meditation may be worth a try

This is something I learned that helps a little.
I began memorizing a Buddhist text called the Dhammapada years ago, but you can use anything you want. When I need to focus my mind, or just to divert my focus from something unpleasant, I recall the memorized passages in my mind. The process of trying to recall each line is enough to suppress a lot of my self consciousness, even if it leaves me a little detached from what is going on around me. I can do this when there is a pause in conversation and then pick back up if someone says something that I feel like responding to. When my mind is calmer, I can usually engage more fully.
I hope this helps a little. Give it a try sometime.

That sounds a lot like me: I'm haunted by my regrets. Every mistake I make becomes amplified in my subconscious, and it hurts me every time I think about it. I don't have any suggestions to deal with this condition tho.

Whenever I get an anxiety attack, I try my best to understand where I went wrong afterwards so I could do even just a little better the next time I'm in a similar situation. It sure beats drowning myself in misery and worry over something that's already done with.

I find that learning from my mistakes is the best, if not the only way to get something positive out of a scenario that's seemingly all too negative. I used to be so dreadful over every little detail that I messed up with but nowadays I actually find myself thinking "I actually did pretty good back there". And while it's never really perfect (then again, what is?), I still keep at it.

Practice doesn't make perfect, but it does help with improvement. If I find myself in the same situation enough times, I'm less anxious and not as jumpy as I was the first time. Granted, there are days when I do f*** up more than I was expecting to but I just keep trying anyway. And I still overanalyze interactions, particularly when it's unfamiliar.

I just calm down, take a deep breath, and see where things go from there.

Tim

I do a lot of those things too - the anxiety, the overanalyzing, it's all me. I'm posivitively terrified of social situations. Yet I seem to have no lack of ability - I can actually be quite sociable when I'm not afraid.

When I get anxious in social situations, it's usually because I think people are watching or judging me. They really aren't. If you think you've said or done something foolish, just let it slide. Chances are that no one noticed, and even if they did, they probably don't give a damn because their thoughts are focused on their own lives. Focus on the present. You're only hurting and inhibiting yourself when you think about past mistakes.

Anxiety is a hard to deal with. It makes it so hard to make it in a social based environment.

I always over and over re-create the conversations I have had. Should I of said that? Should I not of said that? Was I to quite or said to much? Was something I said inappropriate?

Wish I knew what to do. Luckily I am semi-hermit so I can avoid this more than a typical person.

If it is something you have as opposed to something you are, maybe you should try SSRI antidepressants. They helped me with that a lot.