Anxiety & Stress
Social Anxiety Disorder
Intense fear of being judged, embarrassed or watched in social situations, often far out of proportion to the situation itself.
What it can feel like
- Blushing, sweating, trembling before or during social contact
- Rehearsing conversations in advance, then reviewing them afterwards
- Avoiding speaking up, eating in public or meeting new people
- Mind going blank when attention turns to you
- Physical dread in the hours before an event
Not everyone has every symptom, and you do not need a label to deserve support.
Things that help
Shift attention outward
Anxiety turns attention inward to how you seem. Deliberately notice the other person, the room, the conversation, and the self-consciousness loosens.
Drop the safety behaviours
Rehearsing, over-preparing or hiding in the corner keeps the fear alive. Try one small situation without them and let the evidence build.
Practise in graded steps
List situations from mildly to very uncomfortable, then work through them from the bottom. Repetition, not bravery, is what changes the response.
Want to actually do these? Save them to your practices and tick them off as you go.
Add to my practicesWhen to reach for more support
Seek help if social fear stops you doing things you want to do. CBT with graded exposure is the first-line treatment.
Often looked at together
Agoraphobia
Fear of situations it would be hard to escape from or get help in: public transport, queues, open spaces, shopping centres, being far from home.
Burnout
Exhaustion that sleep does not fix, built up from prolonged work or caregiving stress. Often paired with detachment from the things you used to care about.
Generalised Anxiety Disorder
A persistent, free-floating worry that rarely settles, even when there is nothing specific to worry about. The body stays on alert, so rest feels impossible.