Vipassana meditation. There are centers all over the globe offering free 10 day courses.
Wellbutrin
Not being social.
I realized in my 40’s that my parents were wrong. You don’t actually have to be social butterfly to be happy.
I’m missing the need for social interaction. World didn’t end. I’m completely happy without it and there are plenty of jobs that don’t extensively need it.
So liberating. No amount of therapy really helped on the inside. It was all just pretending.
It’s tricky for me though because I’ve always had a social need. I don’t have a need for sex like the majority of other humans do, but I do have a need to be social. Lickily I fulfill most of my social needs by going to work, but it can be stressful at times.
Doing socialization anyway … is the therapist-backed approach.
Nihilism works wonders I guess. So does not going outside.
Moving to a walkable city. Turns out I just hate cars and I hated the fact that I had to drive to have any sort of social gathering.
Making a fool of myself on purpose and laughing along. Karaoke bars, stand-up comedy open mic nights, improv theater.
It helps you see that people can’t really see behind each other’s “mask” all that well. All confidence is made up, so play along and it just sort of materializes.
Another way to do that is to try and become fluent in a new language. You build a different persona for each language you use, so might as well become confident in the new one on purpose.
Self-criticism fueled my anxiety and depression. Compassion and acceptance have significantly improved my well-being.
This is also a big issue for me. When I felt embarrassed because of something I did, I would tall myself, “You’re so stupid!” Which launched me into a shame spiral.
What has helped me break out of the spiral is to notice when I tell myself I am stupid and actively respond, “No I am not”
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor
Not caring. When I was younger I used to stress out because I was concerned about peoples opinions, not fitting in, or doing something stupid and giving others the wrong impressions of me. As a result I came off as shy until I got comfortable around someone. (Then you couldn’t shut me up). Now as I’m getting older, I really don’t care much about some random persons opinion and will often talk to anyone I run into. (Even if it’s just a simple “Hello,” or “How’s it going?” It’s like we all have a little social egg shell around us sometimes that needs a tap or two to crack open. As an aside, you will meet some pretty interesting people too.)
And at the end of the day, it’s what YOU think of you that matters, no one else. Just be the best you that you can be, and don’t fret the little things. If someone doesn’t like you for that, it’s their loss and they’re missing out on all your gloriousness.
Restricting news. I look at CBC and BBC and that’s all. I feel like most other news sites try to increase anxiety.
The are many potential reasons for Social Anxiety, but for most tend to exaggerate enormously what other think of ourselves and the truth is, no one cares much. One single public smile does more for you social skills than talking for three hours. For me the cure was “age” or, better yet, wisdom. Now, if you are inpatient, there are things that you can do to accelerate the cure before that… do get expose, open the window blinds more often and enjoy the sun and wave hi if someone checks you out… Look for activities where you can excuse the talk level like biking.
Doing mutual aid
A combination of therapy and meds.
SNRIs, getting older, and being much more selective about the fucks I give.
