Social anxiety and self-esteem ”I don´t know what to say when I talk with other people”
If you have social anxiety you probably avoid social situations more or less which in turn can lead depression. The alterntive is sometimes that you endure social situations you are exposed to for example; coffee rests at work, social gatherings related to work, social gatherings with friends etc. but if you constantly think about that other people think that you are boring, nervous, weird etc.
Behaviors that are common in social anxiety are that you:
– Talk a lot (so that other people don´t think that you are boring while you worry about not having anything to say).
– Talk little (because of fear that you will say something weird, stupid or uninteresting).
– Avoid having eye contact with other people (because of fear that they will see that you are nervous, weird or stupid which is what you think about yourself).
– Focus on your voice (to reassure yourself that you talk with a balanced voice).
. Hold things firmly (to be sure that you don´t shake).
-Move slowly in order not to risk to be drop something or do something else that is embarrassing.
– Think that you must force yourself to relax.
– Talk too fast because you feel nervous.
These behaviors are examples of what is common if you have social anxiety.
If you don´t recognize yourself you can anyway try to analyze what behaviors
you have when you feel anxiety in social situations. Remember that the behaviors that you feel are anxiety relieving in the short run usually make you get more anxiety in the long run.
Cognitive Behavior Psychologist Monica Emanell