Have you ever wanted to make friends and go to events, but every conversation is a struggle? Deep within you are fearful that you may say something awkward, embarrass yourself and get judged. People may think you are anti-social, yet you are not. What you may be experiencing is Social Anxiety Disorder, and you are not alone. Approximately 5 to 16% of adults in US have been diagnosed with a Social Anxiety Disorder in their lifetime 1,2.  Social Anxiety is a situation where you have excess fear in social interactions because you think you may be judged or scrutinized by others, you worry about embarrassing or humiliating yourself, or offending someone. Social Anxiety may change over time and can flare up under stress. Having Social Anxiety may affect your school, work, and other social activities.

A person with Social Anxiety may want to avoid certain situations including but not limited to:

• Interacting with unfamiliar people or strangers
• Attending social gatherings
• Going to work or school because of the social interactions
• Starting conversations
• Making eye contact
• Entering a room if people are already seated
• Using a public restroom
• Eating in front of others
• Dating

Avoiding such situations may SEEM to make you feel better but that does not solve the issue. There are several evidence-based interventions that have been proven to work in addressing Social Anxiety.

1. Psychotherapy/ cognitive behavior therapy which teaches you different ways of thinking, behaving, and reacting to situations in ways to feel less anxious and fearful.
2. Joining a support group with people who have social anxiety
3. Medications such as anti-anxiety medications/ antidepressants or beta-blockers.
4. A combination of both psychotherapy and medications
5. Mindfulness training
6. Social skills training
7. Exercise and relaxation techniques

The first step to treatment is talking to your health provider who will establish a diagnosis and advise you on what to do. Your provider may refer you to a psychologist, psychiatrist, clinical social worker, or counselor.

Visit either National Social Anxiety Center or Center for Clinical Interventions.

1. Stein DJ, Lim CCW, Roest AM, et al. The cross-national epidemiology of social anxiety disorder: Data from the World Mental Health Survey Initiative. BMC medicine. 2017;15(1):143.
2. Miloyan B, Bulley A, Brilot B, Suddendorf T. The association of Social Anxiety Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder and reproduction: Results from four nationally representative samples of adults in the USA. PLoS ONE 12(11): e0188436. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0188436. 2017.
3. Bandelow B, Michaelis S, Wedekind D. Treatment of anxiety disorders. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2017;19(2):93-107.

Social wellness is about relationships, how we interact with one another, and build a community. It involves establishing close, healthy, and trusting relationships at home, work, or in the community, which can provide us with support during difficult times. Social wellness requires building healthy relationships with others and learning to develop genuine connections with those around you. It also requires nurturing the connections we have made to enable them to grow into a strong bond over time. The benefits of social wellness are endless. A socially healthy person has a better quality of life and increased longevity. Our social connections/ networks also help us to stay focused on tasks, enhances responsibility, and allows others to hold you accountable. On the contrary, when someone is socially isolated or has few social connections, they have increased risks of developing negative physical and mental health outcomes including substance use and misuse, high blood pressure, heart diseases, mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety, and increased risks of dying by suicide.

To enhance social wellness, one needs to be self-aware, to have a non-judgmental attitude, and to have genuine acceptance for others. Having a positive attitude, listening to others, being willing to compromise, being caring, and empathetic also creates a safe support system. In addition, having good communication skills facilitates positive interactions with others in different settings and minimizes conflict. Most importantly, practicing self-care can strengthen our social connections and provide motivation for others to live a healthy lifestyle through exercising, eating healthy, understanding, and making better life choices.

With the current COVID 19 crisis, maintaining physically distancing has been shown to curb the spread of the virus. At such times while physically isolating, it is important to still stay connected with our networks and nurture the connections that we have. Though we may not be able to gather and have our usual face-to-face social interactions, it is important to stay in touch with family, friends, and other support systems through phone calls, video chats, and other creative ways using technology. One can also engage in an online community that shares similar interests. When taking walks, we could also wave and/or say hello to our neighbors while maintaining 6 feet distance. We could also use this time to strengthen the relationships with the people we live with and engage in acts of kindness in the community such as helping the elderly to grocery shop while still maintaining physical distance or making cloth masks for people in need. Most importantly, practicing self-care may help us manage our own stress and by nurturing ourselves, we are able to nurture others and our relationships.

Courtet, P., Olié, E., Debien, C., & Vaiva, G. (2020). Keep socially (but not physically) connected and carry on: preventing suicide in the age of COVID-19. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 81(3), 0-0.

Saltzman, L. Y., Hansel, T. C., & Bordnick, P. S. (2020). Loneliness, isolation, and social support factors in post-COVID-19 mental health. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy.