1. Develop a New Attitude
For less severe cases of social anxiety disorders, counseling and behavioral or cognitive therapy can help a patient determine the cause of their anxiety and how to deal with it. A therapist may recommend that the patient keep a journal of their daily activities to find out which situations make them anxious. From there, the counselor helps the patient discover the underlying reason for their anxiety and develop behaviors to eliminate it.
2. Expose Yourself
Getting out in public and confronting your social phobia may be difficult at first, but with repeated exposure therapy, you'll learn new skills. The treatment can be as simple as going out to sing karaoke with friends or reciting a poem at a family gathering. If your symptoms are severe, a professional counselor can guide you on public outings until you are well enough to do it on your own or with friends.
3. Get Support From Friends and Family
Group therapy proves helpful for many people with anxiety and social phobias. By being around others with the same problem and discussing experiences with them, it can shed new light on the mechanisms that cause phobias and social problems. Enlisting family and trusted friends to help you cope, leads to improvement of the condition in many cases. If the people you're around most often in daily life understand your social anxiety, they can help you confront it and develop new behavior patterns with daily repetition.
4. Find the Right Pill
People who suffer from debilitating anxiety disorders, like panic attacks and total avoidance of social situations, usually receive prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications like Paxil, Prozac or Zoloft. Doctors recommend theses SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) to patients with general but consistent anxiety problems. They may prescribe MAOIs like Parnate, however, for anxiety sufferers with certain symptoms, like heaviness in a limb or fear of rejection, but these drugs aren't as effective as the more popular SSRIs.
5. Go Au Naturale
Natural supplements can aid you in the fight against social anxiety disorders. Kava kava, St Johns Wort and chamomile can soothe nerves and contribute to a happy and calm feeling. While herbal aids help resolve tension, they're best used in addition to cognitive or supportive therapy. Consult your doctor if you wish to take herbal supplements if you're on SSRIs like Lexapro, Paxil or Zoloft.
