[header] How to manage your partner's family gathering with social anxiety [title] Research social anxiety. [step] You can't start managing your social anxiety until you fully understand it. Go online or check out a book at the local library to educate yourself. 
As a person with social anxiety, you may fear that you will be publicly humiliated or embarrassed in front of others. It's this fear that triggers the symptoms of anxiety, and in worse case scenarios, possible panic attacks.