Social anxiety is defined as an anxiety of

falling into an embarrassing situation in

the eyes of other people and this
embarrassing situation is associated with
falling into a bad situation in the eyes of
others, a rejection, or a fear of being

WHAT IS inadequate. Individuals with social anxiety

SOCIAL
may feel the anxiety of being examined in
a negative way, criticized, and judged by

ANXIETY?
their verbal or nonverbal behaviors in a
social environment.
 IN WHICH SITUATIONS DO WE COMMON NEGATIVE COMMON PHYSIOLOGICAL
FEEL SOCIAL ANXIETY? BELIEFS IN PEOPLE SYMPTOMS THAT ARE

ASSOCIATED WITH SOCIAL
WITH SOCIAL ANXIETY
Social anxiety can affect several aspects of
ANXIETY
your life. It can be felt while you are talking in "I won't know what I will say, and I will
crowded social environments like a party, a be stand freeze." Individuals are expressing their social
meeting, or a class, it also can be experienced anxiety that they experienced
"I will talk absurd, and people will commonly on these below physiological
in face-to-face conversations. It can be felt symptoms:
while you are meeting with new people or ridicule with me."
entering a new social environment, it can also "I will tremble, go beetroot red and I · Nausea or wanting of vomiting,
be experienced with old friends and familiar will be ashamed." dryness of the mouth
· Flushing, sweating, hot flash
groups. To have social anxiety, it is not "People will talk behind me and they · Tremors, rapid heart rate, feeling of
necessary that a person should be in a tightness in the chest
will ridicule with me."
physically social environment; individuals may · Quavering or hoarseness, difficulty
"Everyone thinks that I am very weird." making eye contact
feel social anxiety in video talks and
"They will judge me and think bad · Contraction of the muscles more
telephones. Using public transportation, and than normal
public toilets, and eating lunch in a restaurant things about me." · Rapid breathing and inability to
are also factors that create social anxiety. regulate breathing, dizziness, or muddle
headedness

Up to a certain level, feeling social anxiety is

normal and it can be an encouraging factor that
makes people excited to be in different social
environments. However, a high dose of social
anxiety may cause avoiding and it may prevent
people's daily (social and/or academic)
activities.
 AVOIDING
AND
There are other SAFETY BEHAVIORS
common coping
methods that These are examples of safety
individuals consulted behaviors:
to decrease the
Leaving social surroundings
density of those early or producing excuses
feelings. Among not to go to there
Alcohol and/or drug using
these, avoiding Not contribute to meetings or
social surroundings conversations anything
Having social interactions
that make people with just "safe" people
feel like that and Not respond calls
acting safety Carrying some anti-
Studies indicate that
individuals with
social anxiety use
safety behaviors very
frequently and those
behaviors are not
effective in
decreasing social
anxiety, merely they
may bring instant
relief and then they
may create regret.

depressants around you with

behaviors come first. saying "just in case"
 Create a hierarchy
Understand which conditions you feel

social anxiety and how your body Put the social interactions that you perform
reacts against this in order from easy to difficult. When you

HOW DO WE COPE

reached the position that you perform the
Examine which social conditions and what interactions that come you easier more
ways your feeling of anxiety emerges and
WITH SOCIAL ANXIETY?
comfortable, try to make progress in the
think about the reasons for those and note hierarchy. For example, your first step can
them in your mind. Listening to your inner be saying "good morning" to your
voice may help you to discover the neighbors in the mornings, and on the
expressions that create social anxiety. higher orders it can be joining a student

club that you do not know anyone. If using
Control your breathing
public transportation is a behavior that


encourages your social anxiety, you can
Because physiological symptoms, to
use the bus for one station, and then you
understand people's social anxiety that they
can increase the number of stations.
experienced, are one of the most apparent

factors; giving priority to coping with these

factors can be an important step to make

people comfortable. Trying to be calm and

controlling your breathing may provide that you

Practice
can think more comfortable and clearer.

As you continue having social interactions, the

difficulty of these interactions will decrease. As

with learning any skill, the confidence in being
Consider your experiences
able to do that job will increase with practice.


Remember that skills develop with practice
Before having social interaction, you might
over time, not in a day.
imagine some negative scenarios that might Aim to decrease avoiding and safety
be real during that social interaction in your behaviors
mind. It will be beneficial that thinking about

all your social interactions and asking that
"What can I learn from this situation?" You
can consider whether the things that you
thought they will be before they do not
happen really happened or not. Generally,
you can realize that your expectation about
the event creates more anxiety than the
actual event. Considering your experiences
will provide that you will be more prepared for
anxiety-disorder-more-than-just-shyness
the situations that you will experience in the
future.
Anyone doesn't like staying in a situation that References
makes feeling anxiety or fear. However, if we ● https://w3.bilkent.edu.tr/www/saglik-
avoid these situations, we let social anxiety merkezi/psikolojik-danisma-ve-gelisim-
merkezi/koruyucu-onleyici-calismalar/brosurler-
manage us and this may cause that we are yayinlar/utangaclik/
far away from our aims that we wish to be ●https://www.cci.health.wa.gov.au/~/media/CCI/Consu
real in a long term. You can remind yourself mer-Modules/Stepping-out-of-Social-Anxiety/Stepping-
that the feeling of anxiety is normal and out-of-Social-Anxiety---Module-1---Understanding-
Social-Anxiety.pdf
temporary. ●https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/social-
●https://web.ntw.nhs.uk/selfhelp/leaflets/Social%20Anx
iety.pdf
● https://www.southwales.ac.uk/story/2435/
●https://nationalsocialanxietycenter.com/2017/08/13/th
riving-college-student-social-anxiety/
 If you think that you need more support on the subject, you can get
support from psychologists at Koç University Guidance Service (KURES)
or from a mental health specialist outside the university.

For detailed information:

https://kocunikures.ku.edu.tr/
E-mail: kures@ku.edu.tr
Instagram: kocunikures