Presentations. Meetings. Networking events. If you have social anxiety, just the thought of these scenarios probably makes you shudder. How about sales pitches? Or cold calling? The horror! As a social anxiety sufferer, being forced into these situations can lead to stress and sleepless nights. While most people dislike public speaking or meetings, social anxiety […]
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Ah, the dreaded group interview. If you’ve been invited to one, you’re probably asking: “What if everyone else loves talking about themselves – and I won’t be able to speak up?” “What if my mind goes blank?!” “Is it even worth going when I know a louder, extroverted person is going to get the job anyway?” […]
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One of my favourite quotes is from Albert Camus, a French philosopher: “Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” It neatly sums up the frustration with social anxiety: you have a very real, very serious anxiety that greatly affects your life…but your efforts to hide it make people think there’s nothing […]
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Did you hate giving presentations at school? I did. In fact, I dreaded any presentation from the moment the teacher announced it – even if I had months to plan. I knew my voice would quiver and I’d feel a nervous wreck – but my biggest fear was trembling or shaking hands. Many symptoms of anxiety are often easy to hide, […]
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Imagine a man walks into a doctor’s office complaining of knee pain. The doctor listens intently to his problems and symptoms. Then, after carefully considering the potential causes, he tells the patient: “My best advice to you is…stop having knee pain.” And the patient replies “ah, great idea! Thanks for your help!” Sounds crazy, right? […]
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Imagine walking down a busy street. You see a group of people, two men and two women, up ahead. As you get closer they burst into laughter. What’s your first thought? If you have social anxiety, there’s a good chance you’ll assume they are laughing at you. This is probably followed by a debate between the insecure and logical parts […]
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In a famous study, men were asked to rate the attractiveness of two sets of women in photos. The second set of photos were identical to the first – except for one crucial difference: The eyes of women the second set of photos were dilated to around twice the size (using Photoshop). When asked, up to 80% of the men said the women […]
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Do you believe you’re a fundamentally boring person? If you have social anxiety it might seem logical to assume this. Everyone else seems to find talking easy, while you struggle to think of anything to say (let alone something interesting). But where does this feeling of being really “boring” come from? And is it true? This feeling is actually a more […]
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Have you heard the story about training baby elephants? If you tie an elephant to a large stake, it learns it can only walk a short distance. The interesting thing is that when the elephant grows up it still believes the stake is holding it in place. The adult elephant could easily pull out the stake but it never […]
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You feel self-conscious. You can’t hold eye contact. You’re painfully aware of every movement. But one thing you are definitely not feeling is confident…let alone arrogant. So why is it common for people to mistake shyness for arrogance? Let’s start with why shyness happens in the first place. Extreme shyness is often caused by bullying or […]
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