Advice for overcoming social anxiety would be great.
One bit of advice I've been given is to show up early and talk to students in the class on day one. Even if the hallway is completely silent, just say hello to a couple people around you and ask something that think about today relative to the class. The more people you talk to, the more comfortable you are in the setting,
Stop caring what people you don't know think.about you.
>>8040199
its not that easy for some people.
>>8040196
in my experience, it doesn't get better. Rehearsing hypothetical conversations is a waste of time. The best way I've found is to weigh the best-case versus worst-case realistic scenarios I can think of. In particular, in a classroom setting, either I make an ass of myself by answering a question wrong as hell (or I embarrass someone else by answering a question correctly). That's survivable. Best case? I don't have to talk to anyone I don't already know.
I know this only really works because my anxiety is mild as shit, but it DOES work.
>>8040206
I do this sometimes and it works but other times I just can't do it even though I know I'm not being rational.
I wish I wasn't mentally ill.
I used to have really bad social anxiety before working retail, it's much more mild now and more infrequent. It's a lot easier to deal with interaction in school as well. I'm still overcoming it, but it has been a long process of interaction then introspection. Don't do the introspection while socializing, in my observations, most the anxiety comes when you're heavily deposited in your own head.
There's many different pieces of advice I could give, but it's difficult to pick the best one to prescribe without knowing the sources of your anxiety. In fact, identifying the source would probably be the first step, then you can find a solution. For me I used to fear embarrassment and looking stupid. Learning to be able to laugh at my awkwardness, for example, has been a big help. Ultimately it's boiled down to no longer giving too many fucks. I still give some, just not as much. Why should I care if come off in a particular way? Actually acting and feeling with that kind of attitude has allowed me to be more expressive and free.
Meditation has been an instrumental tool for me as well. I also like to think of the mind as a machine. I've developed a very subjective conceptual model of how it works. The truth is that we exhibit very poor control over how it operates, it requires a great deal of effort to reprogram it.
>>8040199
>Stop caring what people think
This is a key factor and I have worked out a way to tackle it (somewhat):
You know how to prepare for an interview? You do research and you think about what you will say in advance, planning out possible eventualities?
Well now imagine if you hadn't prepared at all for the interview. You would improvise and make things up as you go, being more spontaneous (and probably lose the job lol).
Treat social interactions like an interview that you haven't prepared for. Don't think about the situation you are walking into AT ALL. Just fucking walk in and throw yourself to the wolves with no preparation.
Eventually you will get good at managing social interactions without overthinking.
>>8040196
That method really isn't going to work for everyone, especially not if you're the type to have social anxiety.
OP, it's simple. Talk about something you care about. If you can't find someone who's willing to listen, then you haven't found someone that you're supposed to be talking to. Forcing conversation for the sake of social anxiety is precisely why there's ever been social anxiety.
Quickest fix is to be in the moment and not paralyse yourself in thought speculating the various outcomes and possibilities, listen to your own breathing and respond earnestly in the present
>>8040196
I got to the point of caring so much that I stopped caring at all. If that makes sense.
>>8040196
