Social Anxiety
Social Anxiety is, simply, feeling an overwhelming anxiety from the thought and experience of social interaction. There are many influences to cause us to develop this anxiety related to social engagement and most everyone feels different levels of anxiety in social situations at one time or another. Recognizing this can relieve much of the worry and self-judgment, which, in itself perpetuates and strengthens the anxiety. When an anxiety or fear begins to impact our choices, behavior and physical and emotional state to a point where we isolate ourselves in attempts to avoid the experience related to the anxiety, it is time to explore the anxieties more deeply while developing effective ways to feel calm, comfortable and confident in social experiences in our lives.