Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be highly effective in reducing social anxiety. A therapist can help you recognize your fears, teach you relaxation tips to cope with them, and help you overcome them by confronting them 1 stage at time. For severe cases, an antidepressant may be prescribed to help lower anxiety levels so that the therapy will be more effective. If you have social anxiety, get in touch with a therapist as soon as possible. Everyone feels anxiety. It is the body's natural response to stress or danger. Some people — whether because of genetics or environment — have an overly developed response. Fortunately, there are proven strategies you can use to help control your anxiety. Getting to work early will allow you to settle in and prepare yourself for the day. You are also much more likely to meet people one on one as they filter in this way, as opposed to entering an office with everyone already present. Social anxiety is driven by exaggerated fears: Everyone is staring at me… This is going to be a disaster… I'll sound like an idiot. Writing down such thoughts will help you identify and combat such exaggerations. Replace them with realistic expectations. For example, if you're about to give a presentation, you might be worried that it will go terribly, you will look overly anxious, no one will listen to you, etc. Replace these thoughts with more realistic expectations: I have prepared well and have a convincing presentation; if things don't go well, it's not the end of the world. The symptoms of anxiety — increased heart rate and breathing, elevated alertness, a tendency to sweat — are more or less identical to those of excitement. It might sound trivial, but how you think of what you are feeling matters. Instead of thinking you are anxious, relabel it as being excited. This will help produce confidence instead of fear. Breathing deeply and regularly triggers a calming response that decreases heart rate, blood pressure, and muscle tension. Practice these breathing techniques at home so that you will have them on hand to help fight anxiety:  Slow Breathing — Breathe in for a count of four, hold it for one to two seconds, then out for a count of four. This will help to calm your nervous system.  Resistance Breathing – Creating resistance while you breathe out has a calming effect. This can be achieved by breathing out through the nose, by pursing the lips when breathing out (as if blowing out air), or by making a sound when you breath out (like "ohm" or the word "relax"). Anxiety mounts as you observe your own performance: I'm not persuasive enough; My hands are sweaty; I'm anxious; This will be a disaster. It can help to turn your focus to the things around you. This both removes the focus from yourself and causes you to focus on the present as opposed to future worries.  Describe the objects around you — Focus in on your environment: the carpet, the walls, the furniture. Describe it in detail, e.g. this table is oak, very solid, with a dark finish. It sometimes helps to touch the object you are describing.  Focus on the people around you — Listen closely to what they are saying. Examine their mannerisms or clothes. No matter how many coping strategies you know, the truth is that you will be anxious sometimes. That's ok. Everybody is. Sometimes you must accept discomfort in order to do something that is worthwhile. Focus on why you are doing the task. For example, "I am anxious, but it is worth it to get this job." Or, "I am anxious, but it is worth it to further my career."
التحدث مع الأخصائي المعالج. تعلم تقنيات التعامل. الوصول للعمل مبكرًا. سجل وقيم أفكارك. أعد تسمية قلقك بالإثارة. القيام بالتنفس العميق. حوّل تركيزك على الخارج. اقبل توترك.