Mental HealthWhen Should You Get Social Anxiety Treatment?

Do you sometimes wonder if you need social anxiety treatment? Fortunately, it is more accessible than ever before. Here is what you need to know.

If you find it difficult to meet new people and to engage in conversation, you may be struggling with social anxiety. Social anxiety is a fairly common mental illness, with an estimated 7.1% of American adults suffering from it. However, many people suffer in silence rather than asking for help.

One reason for this is that they don’t believe they need social anxiety treatment. So, how do you know if you should seek it out?

Why people don’t get treatment

There are a number of reasons people don’t get social anxiety treatment, including the stigma still associated with mental health. But even those who have the option of treatment readily available to them may not get treatment.

The reason is that they do not recognize their social anxiety as an illness. On the contrary, they see it as a lacking within themselves. Instead of showing themselves kindness, they berate themselves for not being “normal” or never knowing what to say. When they blush and sweat in a difficult social situation, they leave it feeling ashamed and as if something is wrong with them.

People treat their own social anxiety as they would a stomach ache when they have overeaten. Yes, it’s uncomfortable, but they believe they brought it on themselves. If they could just do better next time…

If you find yourself thinking like this, chances are that you could benefit from social anxiety treatment. In fact, you may discover that getting treatment is a life-changing decision, relieving you of a tremendous amount of pressure you put on yourself every single day.

Still wondering whether your social anxiety warrants treatment? Here are some indications that it does.

You often feel distress before, during, and/or after social interactions

Social interactions can be difficult even for people who don’t suffer from social anxiety. When there is pressure to make a good impression, for example, someone may feel tremendous anxiety around the meeting.

However, if you often feel distress around social interactions, including those that are not associated with more pressure than usual, you will benefit from social anxiety treatment. In therapy, you will spend time learning about the foundations of your social anxiety, while developing skills to manage your anxiety. Over time, you will get to a point at which you no longer expect to feel distress around social interactions.

Of course, there will be occasions which are particularly stressful and your social anxiety may rear its head, but you will be better placed to manage it.

You avoid people or gatherings because of your anxiety

Some people do not like parties. Some people prefer to be alone than out with friends. But in certain cases, one may avoid people or gatherings because it heightens their anxiety. If you would really like to be around people more often but feel it is “not worth the stress,” you will benefit from social anxiety treatment. It will help you overcome your fears so that you can more fully enjoy life.

But what about those who just don’t enjoy parties or spending time with people? While there truly are many people who consider themselves introverts, it is possible that you don’t enjoy these things because you associate them with your anxiety. You may not even be able to imagine enjoying a party.

How do you know if this is social anxiety or just a matter of preference? Consider how it impacts your life. If you often feel lonely or spend time wishing you had something to do, it may well be that you would, in fact, love to spend more time with people. In this case, social anxiety treatment will help you learn to enjoy these interactions, rather than dreading them.

You blush and sweat

Everyone blushes and sweats sometimes. For some people, it is a once-in-a-while experience that indicates they place value in a specific person’s opinion of them. However, people with social anxiety blush and sweat in day-to-day social interactions and feel a lot of distress because of it.

If you find yourself blushing during an interaction or even in anticipation of one, you will benefit from social anxiety treatment. You can work on challenging thoughts of self-sabotage, as well as the thoughts that catastrophize blushing and sweating.

You struggle to engage with people in authority

For some people, social anxiety specifically comes through in interactions with people in authority. These may be teachers, professors, bosses (or people looking to hire), police, and any other form of authority. They may even be elder members of family or people who specifically represent authority to you.

Although this social anxiety will not be present much of the time, it can still be incredibly distressing and can make it difficult to advance in your career. Getting treatment will help you improve your ability to engage with authority in a healthy way.

Social anxiety treatment can change your life for the better. Finding a therapist to help with social anxiety is a turning point in many peoples’ lives. If the above resonates with you, you deserve the relief you will get from treatment.

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