Anxiety and social anxiety can be really overwhelming, a constant cloud covering your thoughts when you least expect them too. Also, it can be really exhausting juggling both. While going through these moments of anxiety no matter what anyone says or tells you, your brain will still convince you that everything is wrong or everyone is judging you. Our hearts race, blood pumps, and sometimes we might even start shaking depending on how bad it is.
For someone who also deals with anxiety and social anxiety I understand how it feels to go through the processes of anxiety. I remember my first time I had an anxiety attack, I was in the 4th grade and it was the 2nd week of school. We had to do group work and I didn’t know anyone in the class besides my bestfriend, but they had other friends that they wanted to be paired with. So I ended up being grouped up with randoms, which was the most uncomfortable thing at the time, and when it came to presenting I never wanted to be the one who was talking in front of the class, I started to imagine having to be watched by everyone in class.
It felt like the whole world was watching me and if I messed up everyone would laugh or hate me. So I never volunteered to be the speaker. I ended up being one of the quiet kids in the fourth grade. Fast forward a couple years, and I was in middle school (6th grade). I started to express myself a little more and make more friends. Throughout middle school I had learned some ways of how to deal with anxiety and social anxiety with the help of my therapist and my counselor. So here are five ways to deal with anxiety and social anxiety.
Breathing technique- inhaling and exhaling
This technique can help lower your heart rate. Start by one big inhale through the nose and the hold it for five seconds, then follow by a 5 second exhale you’re gonna wanna do this 2 more times or whatever makes you feel better.
Temperature shock-
Splash freezing cold water directly on your face or hold an ice cube in your mouth until it melts or bite down on it. It will slow down your nervous system.
Writing- brain dump
Start writing down your feelings on a piece of paper or in a diary. You can time yourself when writing your stuff down and then when the timer is up close your notebook or rip the piece of paper, it helps to let the memory go.
Shift your focus-
Focus on something completely different, having social anxiety forces you to focus on your own breathing, the way you walk and the way you talk. So you would need to focus on something completely different like the other person’s eye color, color of their shirt, or the exact word they are saying.
Build exposure ladder-
Write down a list of social situations that scare you and then rank them from 1 to 10, 1 being the scariest and 10 being the least scariest over time you would start to practice the easiest ones working your way up to the hardest ones.
Calming your physical nervous system and confronting your fears so your brain learns that they are not dangerous. Both forms of anxiety are different for everyone, that’s why there are so many different techniques.
