NEWS OF MIND

Three friends walk into a bar. One instantly turns to a group of strangers and launches into boisterous conversation. Another sits back, momentarily, before joining in (while longing for something more intimate). The third, in an attempt to mask a spiralling mind, has their head down and appears disengaged. It's a vicious cycle. "Someone with social anxiety disorder will go into that social situation already being primed by thinking 'no one's going to talk to me,' or 'they're going to think I'm boring.' So when they get into that situation, they are already in an anxious state," told by Professor in Clinical Psychology Kim Felmingham told "They are more aware of their anxiety and therefore they are less engaged with the actual conversation. Inadvertently, they can appear disengaged to others who then may actually remove themselves from that interaction. "It's a vicious cycle." The distinction between introversion, shy...

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been exploring the subject of shyness. In our first post, we talked about the nature of shyness and its symptoms. In last week’s article, we outlined the faulty thinking that leads to self-consciousness and anxiety, which in turn fuels shy feelings and the desire to avoid socializing. Today we’re going to take the points we’ve made so far, and connect them with action steps grounded in cognitive behavioral therapy. Keep in mind that it took years for you to develop your faulty thinking about socializing, so it’s going to take awhile to transform that habitual, familiar mindset. Don’t expect overnight success. As you implement these tips into your life, slowly but surely you’ll find yourself becoming less and less shy. Build the Foundation Start with the easy stuff: hygiene and dressing well. Self-consciousness drives shyness, and the easiest way to start mitigating that self-consciousness is by practicing good hygiene and dressing well – no ...