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How to Cure Your Social Anxiety in 30 Seconds

6 points by travelhead 12y ago

Instead of focusing on other people, focus on creating an internal positive state within yourself.

mkal_tsr 12y ago
Easier said than done, hehe, but still good advice. I'd definitely recommend mindfullness and meditation to those that suffer from social anxiety, it's worked wonder for me (and may or may not work for you ... ymmv)
- travelhead 12y ago
  Yes, it definitely takes practice! :)
  - mkal_tsr 12y ago
    This is the Android app I've been using that has helped me more than any other app or forum or any other resource - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nwalex.meditation https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nwalex.med... (I am not associated with this app at all, I'm just linking because it's helped me so much). The real win with it is that you can place a widget on your homescreen with 1) the number of days in a row you've reached your daily-duration goals, and 2) your all-time best chain. So simple but so effective.
ChrisAntaki 12y ago
Yesss. This is right on.
- travelhead 12y ago
  Yeah try it! It works wonders :)
Houshalter 12y ago
This is the most useless advice I have ever read. 1) Other people can tell you are having social anxiety. Oh, ya, that makes me a whole lot less nervous. 2) Stop having anxiety. By thinking really hard about it or something.
jbeja 12y ago
I don't get or know any of the keywords expressed in this advice. A bunch a words with no meaning given the context.
parasight 12y ago
The title is nonsense. But I think there is some truth in this advice. I feel a lot more secure when I am happy and relaxed. On the otherside I feel very insecure around others when I am stressed out. I learned that I can actvely influence the way I feel and it is something I can get better in. So I want to add the advice: Learn what makes you happy and relaxed. Also learn what makes you feel bad and stressed out.
- WorldWideWayne 12y ago
  This is certainly true for me. I've convinced myself that feeling happy is just a choice. The philosophy has done wonders for me. When I'm paying the proper attention, I can take a bad situation and make it positive just by deciding to relax my body, release my concerns and realize that happiness is something I can decide to feel no matter what else is going on.
mileszim 12y ago
Wow! I had no idea that 2 ambiguously-phrased suggestions would completely stop the biological processes causing my overactive amygdala! This is it everyone, the field of therapy is dead. Let's destroy all the benzodiazepines prescribed for anxiety, and simply give out a piece of paper with this article on it to everyone who ever seeks help for panic attacks!
- mkal_tsr 12y ago
  Metta-meditation (similar to what is described by OP) is starting to be researched by the west (as well as general mindfulness and meditation without religious undertones) and is showing some promising signs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett%C4%81#.22Compassion_meditation.22_research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett%C4%81#.22Compassion_medita... Will this solve everyone's problems? Absolutely not. But, don't immediately discredit a technique due to a knee-jerk reaction, look into it and form your opinion after researching it, not before.
  - mileszim 12y ago
    Meditation, undertaken through rigorous discipline, shows evidence for something. What that is, is still up for debate. If you're referring instead to feedback techniques to curb anxiety responses, that is used in legitimate therapy. Neither of those represent the content of this article. Furthermore, it suggests that anxiety can be simply reasoned away in 30 seconds. That is insulting to anyone who has ever had anxiety.
    - mkal_tsr 12y ago
      I've had social anxiety for 25+ years. > When you focus only on boosting your internal state, your social anxiety will disappear. That is the line I drew the connection from. The first part of metta is to focus on yourself before moving onto others. Again, I explicitly said it would not work for everyone (and I disagree with the word "cure" both in title and text), but to outright dismiss everything about it is equally absurd. Furthermore, one of the larger benefits that people find in meditation is that they can more easily detach themselves from their emotions, which could allow them to see that they are not only their emotions and may have more control over how they respond to emotions than they previously had. None of that cures anything ... but, it can help an individual in showing them that they have more control over their internal state than they had previously believed.
robobro 12y ago
I'm a fan of the Buddhist way: breathe in, breathe out. Vipassana, samatha, and jhana are a bit more complicated than that, but it's enough.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

6 points by travelhead 12y ago

Instead of focusing on other people, focus on creating an internal positive state within yourself.

Easier said than done, hehe, but still good advice. I'd definitely recommend mindfullness and meditation to those that suffer from social anxiety, it's worked wonder for me (and may or may not work for you ... ymmv)

travelhead 12y ago
Yes, it definitely takes practice! :)
- mkal_tsr 12y ago
  This is the Android app I've been using that has helped me more than any other app or forum or any other resource - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nwalex.meditation https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.nwalex.med... (I am not associated with this app at all, I'm just linking because it's helped me so much). The real win with it is that you can place a widget on your homescreen with 1) the number of days in a row you've reached your daily-duration goals, and 2) your all-time best chain. So simple but so effective.

ChrisAntaki 12y ago

Yesss. This is right on.

travelhead 12y ago
Yeah try it! It works wonders :)

Houshalter 12y ago

This is the most useless advice I have ever read. 1) Other people can tell you are having social anxiety. Oh, ya, that makes me a whole lot less nervous. 2) Stop having anxiety. By thinking really hard about it or something.

jbeja 12y ago

I don't get or know any of the keywords expressed in this advice. A bunch a words with no meaning given the context.

parasight 12y ago

The title is nonsense. But I think there is some truth in this advice. I feel a lot more secure when I am happy and relaxed. On the otherside I feel very insecure around others when I am stressed out. I learned that I can actvely influence the way I feel and it is something I can get better in. So I want to add the advice: Learn what makes you happy and relaxed. Also learn what makes you feel bad and stressed out.

WorldWideWayne 12y ago
This is certainly true for me. I've convinced myself that feeling happy is just a choice. The philosophy has done wonders for me. When I'm paying the proper attention, I can take a bad situation and make it positive just by deciding to relax my body, release my concerns and realize that happiness is something I can decide to feel no matter what else is going on.

mileszim 12y ago

Wow! I had no idea that 2 ambiguously-phrased suggestions would completely stop the biological processes causing my overactive amygdala! This is it everyone, the field of therapy is dead. Let's destroy all the benzodiazepines prescribed for anxiety, and simply give out a piece of paper with this article on it to everyone who ever seeks help for panic attacks!

mkal_tsr 12y ago
Metta-meditation (similar to what is described by OP) is starting to be researched by the west (as well as general mindfulness and meditation without religious undertones) and is showing some promising signs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett%C4%81#.22Compassion_meditation.22_research http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mett%C4%81#.22Compassion_medita... Will this solve everyone's problems? Absolutely not. But, don't immediately discredit a technique due to a knee-jerk reaction, look into it and form your opinion after researching it, not before.
- mileszim 12y ago
  Meditation, undertaken through rigorous discipline, shows evidence for something. What that is, is still up for debate. If you're referring instead to feedback techniques to curb anxiety responses, that is used in legitimate therapy. Neither of those represent the content of this article. Furthermore, it suggests that anxiety can be simply reasoned away in 30 seconds. That is insulting to anyone who has ever had anxiety.
  - mkal_tsr 12y ago
    I've had social anxiety for 25+ years. > When you focus only on boosting your internal state, your social anxiety will disappear. That is the line I drew the connection from. The first part of metta is to focus on yourself before moving onto others. Again, I explicitly said it would not work for everyone (and I disagree with the word "cure" both in title and text), but to outright dismiss everything about it is equally absurd. Furthermore, one of the larger benefits that people find in meditation is that they can more easily detach themselves from their emotions, which could allow them to see that they are not only their emotions and may have more control over how they respond to emotions than they previously had. None of that cures anything ... but, it can help an individual in showing them that they have more control over their internal state than they had previously believed.

robobro 12y ago

I'm a fan of the Buddhist way: breathe in, breathe out. Vipassana, samatha, and jhana are a bit more complicated than that, but it's enough.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]