Tips For Managing Social Anxiety On Campus
Tips For Managing Social Anxiety On Campus
Note about Author: Cara Ryan is an undergraduate student in psychology and a volunteer at our clinic. Today she is sharing some helpful insights on managing social anxiety in a university/college setting. Enjoy!
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Social Anxiety and Student Life
University and college campuses are jam packed with thousands of students and many faculty and staff; it’s an environment that can certainly be daunting but also exciting and fulfilling. Being a postsecondary student represents a time in your life where you will meet a number of interesting people from all different backgrounds. You can engage yourself in clubs, work alongside professors and other students in your class, and live with people you have never met before. Many people love the experiences university and college have to offer. Even though course work may seem difficult and overwhelming at times, it is a challenge that can be embraced while also growing interpersonally by joining interest clubs, meeting new people, and making new friendships that will last a lifetime.
If you are enrolled in university or college, you will understand how important it is to attend classes and put yourself out there to get the best experience possible. It is important to network as well as participate in class and extra-curricular activities or clubs in order to network and grow in your chosen field of study.
For some students, meeting new people, participating in class, joining clubs, and putting oneself out there may be nerve-wracking. Although it is normal for everyone to experience anxiety in new environments and social scenarios, for those with moderate to severe social anxiety, it may be extremely uncomfortable and exhausting to speak to others, meet new people, and engage in new opportunities that are beyond a certain comfort zone.
Having a social anxiety disorder is more than just being shy. It is better described as symptoms that may include an intense fear of being judged by others, feeling very self-conscious about yourself, not wanting to stand out in a crowd, feeling nervous while speaking to others, and/or a fear of taking on challenges that involve uncertain social expectations. People suffering from social anxiety tend to avoid the situations that make them most nervous. In university and college, such avoidances could include going to class, talking to professors, opening one’s self up to new and avoiding having to meet new people. Social anxiety can start becoming a problem when it keeps us from doing the things we enjoy and starts to interfere with our daily lives. In the case of university and college students, social anxiety can negatively impact a student’s grades, future opportunities, quality of social interactions, and mood, among other things.
Along with avoiding certain situations that may make you nervous, there are many other signs and symptoms that make dealing with social anxiety challenging. For example, you may blush, sweat, tremble, feel nauseous, find it hard talking to others, have a rapid heart rate, have difficulty concentrating, feel a sense of depersonalization, or feel your mind going blank, just to name a few. If you are experiencing these symptoms, you may benefit from therapy targeting social anxiety.
There are a variety of different options you can seek out to help cope with your social anxiety, thus making your life and university or college experience more enjoyable and less stressful.
First, learning about what anxiety is can be a good start to understanding why you may feel the way you do. Developing an understanding of anxiety triggers is a good way for you to recognize the symptoms you have and recognize that you are not alone. Along with understanding what social anxiety is, learning relaxation exercises, such as breathing techniques and muscle relaxation techniques, can also help you to relax as well as lower your levels of anxiety. Next, challenging any disruptive thoughts you may hold can help you gain more control over your thinking and reduce the impact of your anxiety on your performance in various situations. Next, you can also learn to help deal with your social anxiety by facing your fears. You can start out by writing a list of your fears and things you avoid from least fearful to most fearful (a fear hierarchy). At your own pace, you can try and tackle each fear in order from least uncomfortable to most uncomfortable. By doing this, it can help motivate you stop avoiding many situations that make you anxious, thereby allowing you to challenge your anxiety rather than accommodate it with avoidance.
One of the most important things to understand is that you are not alone. If you, or any loved ones think they may be experiencing social anxiety and would like more expert assistance in improving your symptoms, please feel free to contact Waterloo Psychology Group for more information.
If you are experiencing a crisis and need immediate assistance, you can contact HERE 24/7 for immediate access to crisis counsellors. Just call 1-877-688-5501.
Article Author: Cara Ryan, Undergraduate Student Volunteer at WPG