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Reduce Social Anxiety, Focus on Your Strengths

Social anxiety can be a miserable experience. Symptoms range from mild to extreme, but regardless of the degree of severity, the feeling it creates is miserable. When we're plagued by a fear of being judged, and not just judged but judged negatively, it's hard to relax and enjoy interactions with others.

Social Anxiety and Self-Doubt

Social anxiety can make us focus on all of our perceived weaknesses. By shifting our focus to our strengths, we can diminish social anxiety. Learn how.A big component of social anxiety is self-doubt. With social anxiety, it's common for people to be hard on themselves, to recognize all perceived shortcomings and weaknesses. Have you ever worried before a social event, fretted during it, then obsessed through the night afterward, rehashing all the thing you did wrong and finding evidence that people think you're ridiculous? When we do things like that, we're focusing on our perceived weaknesses.

One way to break that self-doubt is to begin to focus on your strengths. Look for the good in you, positive things about who you are and what you can do. Focusing on your strengths takes your attention away from any weaknesses you fear you have, and in doing so, you're taking power away from dreaded social anxiety.

In this brief social anxiety video, I examine this a bit more.

More information on Social Anxiety

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APA Reference
Peterson, T. (2013, November 17). Reduce Social Anxiety, Focus on Your Strengths, HealthyPlace. Retrieved on 2024, November 21 from https://www.healthyplace.com/blogs/anxiety-schmanxiety/2013/11/focusing-on-strengths-can-reduce-social-anxiety



Author: Tanya J. Peterson, MS, NCC, DAIS

Tanya J. Peterson is the author of numerous anxiety self-help books, including The Morning Magic 5-Minute Journal, The Mindful Path Through Anxiety, 101 Ways to Help Stop Anxiety, The 5-Minute Anxiety Relief Journal, The Mindfulness Journal for Anxiety, The Mindfulness Workbook for Anxiety, and Break Free: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in 3 steps. She has also written five critically acclaimed, award-winning novels about life with mental health challenges. She delivers workshops for all ages and provides online and in-person mental health education for youth. She has shared information about creating a quality life on podcasts, summits, print and online interviews and articles, and at speaking events. Tanya is a Diplomate of the American Institution of Stress helping to educate others about stress and provide useful tools for handling it well in order to live a healthy and vibrant life. Find her on her website, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

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