Social anxiety can feel like shyness or fear, but it goes beyond that. It shows up in your body as a racing heart, shortness of breath, trembling, or nausea in social situations. Social anxiety or social phobia is physically exhausting. After a social interaction, many people experience extreme fatigue. That’s because they are socially anxious.

What Is Commonly Mistaken for Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety disorder is frequently mistaken for introversion, avoidant personality disorder, autism, panic disorder, depression, or shyness.

Understanding the difference between them is crucial because the "fix" for one might actually make the other worse.

• Introversion:

  Introverts might not go to the party because they find it socially draining. However, a socially anxious person avoids parties due to fear of being scrutinized.

• Avoidant Personality Disorder (AvPD):

  Social Anxiety often focuses on specific situations (like public speaking). On the other hand, AvPD is a pervasive pattern of feeling broken or unlikable.

• Panic Disorder:

  In social anxiety, you fear people. In panic disorder, you fear the physical sensations of the attack itself.

People often get misdiagnosed with social anxiety because its symptoms often overlap with several other conditions. Most of the time, they misinterpret or mask the symptoms that make the diagnosis more complicated.

Symptoms of Social Anxiety Disorder

This is how you know you have social anxiety.

Behavioral Symptoms

• You avoid eye contact and ignore people whenever you go out.
• You completely skip the social events, whether it is from school or work.
• You don't actively engage with people, start conversations, even if you know them.

Physical Symptoms

• Your body goes into fight-or-flight mode in social conditions. Rapid heartbeat, trembling, sweating, nausea, dizziness.
• The pain can be so intense that people mistake it for heart attacks or other medical emergencies.
• Muscle tension or feeling like your mind is just blank.

Emotional Symptoms

• Fear of negative judgment, humiliation, or rejection by others.
• Self-consciousness, which is the excessive concern that others notice your anxiety.
• Persistent rumination about social encounters.

How Do You Fix Social Anxiety?

Social anxiety is a highly manageable mental health condition. With proper treatment, you can reduce symptoms to the point where they no longer significantly disrupt your daily life. However, it may not disappear completely, and some level of social anxiety can remain over time.

But that does not mean you build your life identity around this mental illness. Use these expert tips to cope with the social anxiety issue.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a time-limited talk therapy that helps you change the damaging thought patterns and behaviors. According to the research, most patients have experienced reductions in social anxiety, and many also improved in depression and overall psychological distress by taking CBT therapy.

CBT disrupts automatic negative thoughts like mind-reading ("They're judging me") or ("I'll embarrass myself forever") and replaces them with evidence-based neutral thinking through structured exercises.

Medication Treatment

Another route you can take to treat social anxiety is medication treatment. SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) or SNRIs (serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors) work effectively.

Some people use medication temporarily while learning coping strategies; others find long-term medication helpful.

Self-Help and Lifestyle Strategies

If you are experiencing social anxiety and are conscious of it, you can manage it yourself in the short term by:

• Practicing calm breathing (inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 7, exhale for 8) or progressive muscle relaxation to lower physical tension.
• Mindfulness exercises, like grounding yourself by focusing on your senses or taking a mindful walk.
• Drop safety behaviors like avoiding eye contact or over-preparing.

Take Help From the Experts: Contact Social Anxiety Therapy Near You

The best way to overcome social anxiety is to reach out to a mental health therapist who specializes in anxiety disorders. Talk to our experts at Boston Neurobehavioral Associates. Our team of specialists can help you manage your symptoms.