Successfully Navigating Social Situations

Our focus this week will be Social Anxiety (& how to successfully navigate social situations). According to Thomas A. Richards, Ph.D. the Director of the Social Anxiety Institute, "Social anxiety is the fear of social situations and the interaction with other people that can automatically bring on feelings of self-consciousness, judgment, evaluation, and inferiority." https://socialanxietyinstitute.org/

Social anxiety is much more common than previously thought, social anxiety (used to be known as social phobia) is the third largest mental health care concern in the Unites States. Social anxiety can be overcome, just entails some persistence and consistency and we will go over some useful ways in which this can be accomplished.

You can start with the small things - say hello to whom you make eye contact with during the day, ask people for the time (more than once in a day), say thank you and please every time possible to those around you. By honing in on etiquette, it can be used as a tool to overcome social anxiety by starting small, and by use and practice, your social skills will improve. 

Add a social task per week on your to do list - hang out with a small group of friends or even just a couple of friends somewhere outside of the home, talk to your siblings, interact with coworkers outside of just what is necessary to get the work done. Try and add some social interaction each week. Join a group - it can be a support group, a book club, a sport - building in that social structure into your weekly/daily/monthly life can be a great way to overcome social anxiety. 

Be up to speed on current events, read about current events, having something to talk about can be a great asset in navigating social situations successfully, even with those you may not be close with like family and friends. Knowing what is happening in the world will help you keep a hold on the conversation without feeling out of place. 

Dressing in a way which makes you feel good will also help in interacting in social situations. Once you feel good about yourself, even in outward appearance- can give a boost of confidence and may ease a social situation. 

Make social interactions a priority on your to do list, make sure its at the top and it gets done. The more you do it, the more practice you get, the better you will become at it and the easier it will be. More is better in this instance. The more you practice, the more results you will yield which will become more incentive to continue improving social skills.