In this post, I’ll be sharing my top tips for supporting someone when they’re feeling socially anxious, from the perspective of someone who has experienced social anxiety myself. 1. Avoid blame and shame If the person is a friend or family member, avoid blaming and shaming them for what you may at first perceive as…
Breathing. Pfft!! How could breathing possibly help with anxiety? I used to feel so annoyed that anyone would even suggest the idea of using breathing techniques. “This isn’t something I have any control over!” I’d think with a roll of my eyes, “Don’t people know how paralysing the fear is for me?” It’s going to take…
Have you noticed how so many of us live with a mindset that tells us “I’ll be happy when I’m… thinner/have a job/in a relationship/earning more (whatever ‘it’ is for you)”? Maybe we really will be happy then. Maybe not. The harsh reality is, if we’ve become so focused on the darkness in life, and…
There was a time not so long ago when all I wanted to do was change everything about myself. There was no particular reason for this, nothing I could pinpoint or put my finger on anyway. There was just a nagging self doubt that lingered relentlessly. I thought that if I changed the way I looked, changed my…
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How do you cope when you feel anxious in social situations? My go-to strategy was always avoidance. I’d choose not to do anything that would put me in what I’d imagine to be an uncomfortable situation. Sometimes, I’d wish so hard that I would become sick so I didn’t have to go somewhere, that I…
It’s easy to think that self-compassion is something you can get by without. You can be compassionate towards others, and that’s all that really matters right? But is this true? You only have so much compassion to give. If you’re not re-filling that reservoir of compassion, you’re going to dry up. And then what? Your…
How is it possible that two people can experience the same situation so differently? How can one person feel confident while the other is anxious? Because our thoughts and feelings seem real to us, we believe they must be true. But what if they’re not? Could we just be jumping to conclusions? The way you think…
The one that doesn’t speak Have you always been the quiet one? The one that doesn’t speak? Me too. I’d listen to friends’ discussions from the sidelines. I’d hear the constant chatter, but I wouldn’t chip in. I didn’t know how to talk to people. Did I have any thoughts worth sharing? I often couldn’t…
When was the last time you made a decision that you knew, deep down, was the wrong thing to do? We’ve all done it, haven’t we? We’ve all got a story to share about a relationship that shouldn’t have been entered into; a job that made you miserable; or that time you invested in education…