Shyness and Social Anxiety
25OVERCOMING SOCIAL ANXIETY
Two general approaches have been shown to be useful for overcoming social anxiety: 
psychological strategies and medications. We’ll discuss each of these brieﬂy. 
Psychological Strategies
Although there are many different types of psychotherapy practiced by mental 
health professionals, there are only a small number of strategies that have been shown to 
be effective for reducing social anxiety in a relatively brief amount of time. The chapters 
in this book discuss three general approaches that repeatedly have been shown to be 
effective for treating social anxiety disorder:
1. Exposure-based strategies will teach you to approach feared situations grad -
ually, over and over again, until they no longer provoke fear. 
2. Cognitive strategies will be used to help you to identify your anxiety-  provoking 
thoughts and to replace them with more realistic ways of thinking.
3. Instruction in basic communication skills will teach you to communicate 
more assertively, meet people more easily, give effective presentations, and 
use nonverbal communication appropriately.
Medications
There are a number of medications that have been shown to be effective for decreas -
ing social anxiety. These include a range of antidepressants as well as certain tranquil -
izers. As long as the person continues to take the medication, these treatments are about 
as effective as the psychological strategies discussed in this book. For some people, the 
combination of medication and psychological treatment is the most effective approach. 
In chapter 5 we will discuss the beneﬁts and costs of using particular medications for 
treating your social anxiety.