Overcoming Social Anxiety

I feel like I have to meet people and am uncomfortable with them - been told that it is important to do whats uncomfortable.

Social anxiety is a real burden to live with. I'm in the same boat that you are, even when people are being very friendly with me and are obviously interested in getting to know me I can seem so uncomfortable that it is off-putting to them. I've been accused of being stuck up before when honestly I'm just very shy. If I could suggest anything that is fairly easy to start thinking about, I would suggest garnering a sense of style. Buy clothes that make you feel comfortable and make

It’s a skill and like any other skill it becomes less anxiety inducing the better you get at it. You could start with complete strangers at (say) a coffee shop, so that if you get embarrassed well it doesn’t matter, you’ll never see them again (this is how I improved). Also, learning how to be rejected and bail out is part of the skill. I still get into awkward situations sometimes, but it’s happened enough that I can cut the conversation off and the embarrassment doesn’t bother me all that much

I've had a lot of what you're describing, down to the exact events. What worked for me was no trick, just deciding to lean into social interaction more and more. When I needed to I would remind myself that more good than bad has come out of me putting myself I'm vulnerable positions, and that "no one really know what they're doing", and we're all socially awkward and trying not to be.It gets easier - think of the hockey stick curve. Nothing happens for a whi

Some advice a friend once gave me is to “pretend” you’re more social than you are and kinda act the part, even if it doesn’t feel like it’s “you”. Eventually it will start to feel more natural.

Since, you're asking for personal reports, I may as well chime in.I've managed to improve my ability to feel at ease when confronted with new people and places. This is something I did on my own, but like others have said, seeking professional expertise may help you achieve your goals more effectively, or may uncover things that need to be addressed in other ways.It may help to identify which specific parts of social interactions make you uneasy. For me it was feeling like I woul

Hi! I did. This is what worked for me.First: Work a job that is socially embedded. Restaurants, grocery stores, front desk retail, anything customer service related. Getting comfortable with people has a weird out-of-order solution where if your discomfort is visible, the interaction will sour; find something that forces a fix to the initial discomfort, like the jobs above. They'll act as a shim that'll let you bypass the initial anxiety.Second: The emotions you wear on your face

You are overthinking it.If it doesn't come naturally to you (like the author by her own admission), there is likely a good reason that you find it uncomfortable. Like maybe you actually don't have anything interesting to share. Or you don't really care about the people you are meeting. In either case, no point in faking it or pretending, find a social context that you actually enjoy.Lots of people are shy in general gatherings but completely light up in the company of others

Back when I started my apprenticeship, I was a socially anxious, awkward kid. I found it very difficult to speak to adults without stuttering and sounding confused. But over the years, I've completely changed. I still wouldn't say I'm an extrovert but I find it much easier to talk to people and my heart doesn't feel like it's going to pound out of my chest when I'm placed in an unfamiliar situation. I think there's a sort of psychological training involved that

What helped me was agreeing to the fact that most interactions are going to be awkward (to some extent). Real conversations are not like movie dialogues, so acknowledging my anxiety and that awkwardness is normal made it much easier to approach people for me.