Current Events > Tip for social anxiety that has worked great for me.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Assume that everyone around you, and I mean literally everyone, has even worse social anxiety than you do (a lot of them truly do even if it doesnt seem that way).

Ive always been able to confidently interact with those I know are more shy/awkward than I am, so now that I assume everyone is secretly like that, even if theyre not, it makes me totally able to make eye contact and be calm/confident in conversation.
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Thanks
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hmm you're onto something
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Good advice

The worse they can do is say they aren't interested or in a hurry. I hand out flyers on the weekends and if I took offense to every no I got I don't think I would be able to leave the house lol
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RedWhiteBlue posted...

Until some older jaded person looks at you like you're subhuman for trying to have a personality that hides the anxiety.

You dont gotta be loud/energetic and overcompensate to hide your anxiety, just be your normal self how youd interact with someone you know is more shy and awkward than you are.

Basically pretend everyone is introverted nerds.

I made pleasant small talk with my companys CEO the other day, I never wouldve been able to do that before.
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Bump, in case this helps anyone else.
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my issue is that I'm not just like anxious about talking to people, but I'm not very motivated to. It's hard to picture myself in a relationship
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I've tried similar tactics and they've never really helped, as I don't actually believe what I'm telling myself.

Honestly, what's helped me the most were the times I've been forced into prolonged contact with other people, which has mostly been various hospitalizations. The unfortunate thing is I always regress when I return home.
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