men of reddit , how do you deal with social anxiety any tips ?

15 comments

1. Force yourself to interact with people. The worst thing you can do is stay secluded. After I got a job that made me talk to people, it’s gotten tremendously better.

2. Slap myself and scream and get ready to tackle people down.

   Also listen to Manowar warriors of the world

   Or close eyes and meditate with breathing exercises while listening to rain sounds

3. I don’t. I’m a social recluse and that’s fine with me. Better off alone where I have time to pursue my passions without other people bogging me down (my wife excluded). My friendships, if one could call them that, are shallow and casual. I don’t ever interact with strangers in public.

   I just had to teach myself to be content with solitude. I have a world of opportunities to explore. Games to play, books to read, stories to write, things to build, sights to see. I love being alone and the FOMO is not really something I have to worry about anymore.

4. it takes practice. You need to have social interactions that go well, or at least don’t wind up in disaster, to become comfortable with them. You need to desensitize yourself to them. Go through enough and you realize that it’s no big deal and everybody else is as goofy and weird and awkward as you are.

5. Man most of my life I did not have meaningful social anxiety but after working from home the last few years being in an office or meeting freaks me out because I have been somewhat isolated. I really find that the more you are around groups of people it goes away pretty quick. If not maybe try and get a short script for a small dose benzo or gabapentin to get you started just be careful with the benzos long term

6. Exposure therapy, aka, you just have to make yourself do it. Find clubs or groups for your interests in your area and make yourself go to them. Socialising, like everything, gets easier with practice.

7. People say “force yourself” but I think it needs to be done within socially acceptable context. A job working with the public is a great start. Malls or grocery stores typically have openings.

   Alternatively find a social activity you want to do. Swimming, board gaming, video games, hiking, biking, etc.

   If in person interactions seem like too much at the start, try getting involved in online communities. Reddit, forums, discords, omegle, etc.

8. Exposure therapy

9. I work out, the good brain chemicals help.

   When I’m out on the town for a night and I want to meet women I take a few shots of whiskey at wherever I go to first. Enough to feel my lips get a lil numb and then I’ll coast with a beer or two. In the long run, the more I interact with people the easier it gets. When I isolate for extended periods of time I become weird.

   If I get to a point where it begins to feel unmanageable i will talk to a doctor and get put on medication for a month or two while i mentally sort myself out enough to go back to raw dogging reality.

10. Usually I got to force myself to go to most social events, which is the easy part. The hardest part imo is getting in a positive mindset for said social even. I tend to get very irritable, hateful, and stressed when I know I’ll have to be around people. Going to the store has always been the one that gets to me the most.

    When I go, I try and get in and out as fast as I can, and if it’s some kind of party or gathering, I usually still to a small group of friends, or a less dense area. Another thing I feel like is over looked, is I usually tell people who I can tell I’m going to be around for awhile something along the lines of “I got sevre anxiety in these kind of situations, I tolake medication for it, but if I seem kind of off just know it ain’t nothing y’all are doing.” And people tend to understand after that which kinda lessens it up on me.

    Some other advice I’d give would be to get a Dr prescribed medication to help of possible, I can kinda tell before hand what kind of day I’ll have anxiety wise and I try to plan accordingly, and having a SO who is more of the talker in the relationship has been such a relief for me. Not only does it make our relationship flow a lot more smoothly, but in social situations she tends to draw a lot of the attention from me, and that’s a nice relief.

11. Not necessarily a complete and sound advice but think of it as a little cherry on top,

    Show a sense of curiosity, people for some reason pick up on innocence of a curious fellow and may actually feel inclined to invite you socially such as starting a convo.
    Example of this is actually with my first ex, she saw me staring at a retro games poster ad and started a convo because “she saw [me] interested in old school games”

12. What’s Anxiety?

13. Kolonopin

14. Force yourself to interact with people but start with small goals. Like saying hi to someone. Or going somewhere and staying 1/2hr. If you go out start with not too crowded place and try having a friend you trust with you. Trust yourself ! If i can do it you can!!

15. You just eventually realize as you get older that other peoples opinions don’t mean anything and are not important. Once you realize that you just go out and do what you want without giving a crap