Those who suffer from social anxiety know it’s not a joke. On the surface, everything may seem okay but internally, your body is screaming for you to get away.
There are three main types of social anxiety symptoms: physical, cognitive, and behavioral.[1] Physical symptoms are how your body reacts to a social situation. Cognitive symptoms are how your mind reacts to it. And behavioral symptoms are what you do with those feelings.
This article will discuss 13 of the most crippling social anxiety symptoms and how to deal with each of them. By the time you are finished, you will have some strategies for dealing with your social anxiety
Physical symptoms
1. Blushing
It’s common for blood to rush to your face when you are feeling anxious. It can, however, be super embarrassing and cause you to pull back even further from social situations.
If you find yourself blushing, try these steps to stop it:[2]
- Acknowledge the blushing.
- Breathe deeply and slowly.
- Make sure you are hydrated.
- Close your eyes for a few moments.
- Accept the blushing.
- Smile and laugh.
The key is to accept that this is normal that nobody is going to criticize you for blushing.
Most of the embarrassment you feel is internal; this is why closing your eyes, breathing deliberately and practicing smiling/self acceptance are so effective. It pulls you back to the present moment and makes you aware that you are in control.
2. Sweating
Sweating is actually a natural stress response related to the fight or flight system. Sweating is the body’s response to an internal trigger of excessive hormones, and increased heart rate and blood flow due to anxiety.
You are sweating because your body is being thrown into fight or flight mode and the internal churning is causing your body to warm up.
If you want to decrease anxious sweating, then follow these tips:[3]
- Maintain a healthy body weight.
- Have a regular jogging routine to help reduce and manage stress.
- Use deep breathing to calm yourself.
- Wear clothes that “breathe.”
3. Shaking
This is probably the worst physical symptom (and the hardest to control). It can be super embarrassing to have such an easily observable manifestation of your anxiety. This can also lead to some of the other social anxiety symptoms such as blushing and sweating.
Shaking is another physical reaction created by your body’s fight or flight systems. It’s a byproduct of excess adrenaline in your system and thus, the best solutions are usually physical.
Here are some solutions for dealing with shaking:[4]
- Jogging.
- Deep breaths.
- Yelling (this helps use up some of that excess adrenaline).
4. Muscle tension
A review of the literature surrounding muscle tension and anxiety has actually found that muscle tension is not a direct result of anxiety.[5] Muscle tension, as it relates to anxiety, may be a result of an over-exaggeration of the symptoms of anxiety.
A more likely explanation, however, is that being preoccupied with excessive worry can keep you from being aware of how long your muscles are in tension.
Whatever the reasons for muscle tension, it’s useful to find ways to deal with this symptom before it becomes too bad. Here are some ways to do that:[6]
- Take a hot shower.
- Get a massage on a regular basis.
- Start a yoga or stretching routine.
5. Trembling voice
Stress and anxiety can affect the quality of your voice.
Often the source of this particular symptom is the fear of being judged, self-doubt and overthinking. This causes your body to change as it does with the other symptoms and make your voice tremble, shake or crack.
If you want to address this symptom, here are some things you can try:[7]
- Embrace regular exercise to reduce anxiety as much as possible.
- Have some conversation topics committed to memory to help you when you run out of things to say.
- See conversation as a back and forth, not a one way street.
It is not your responsibility to keep a conversation going. Each party needs to bring something to the table in order for conversation to flow smoothly
